Quarterbacks

With the departure of Sam Hartman, the Irish reached into the transfer portal once again by getting Riley Leonard from Duke. Riley Leonard started the entire 2022 season and seven games in the 2023 season before injuries forced him to be out for the remainder of the season. At 6’4” and 216 pounds, Leonard brings in a build and playing style not seen since DeShone Kizer started in the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He brings in career stats of the following:

● 4,450 passing yards (4,069 were from 2022-2023), 24 passing touchdowns (23 were from 2022-2023), 10 interceptions (9 were from 2022-2023).

● 1,224 rushing yards (1,051 were from 2022-2023), 19 rushing touchdowns (17 were from 2022-2023), and a 5.3 rushing yard average on 229 rushing attempts.

While his career stats at first glance do not look like a large amount, one must consider that he did not become the starter until his second season with Duke and most of his 2023 stats were from the first five games as his injury at the end of the Irish’s thrilling win in primetime at Duke severely affected him in the following two games. He has eight career games where he had at least one passing and rushing touchdown in the same game. Leonard also posted some pretty big games during the 2022 and 2023 seasons where his numbers for total offense were quite impressive:

● 2022 vs. Temple: 392 total yards (328 passing, 64 rushing) and 2 touchdowns (both passing) in a 30-0 win.

● 2022 at Kansas: 378 total yards (324 passing, 54 rushing) and 1 touchdown (passing) in a 27-35 loss.

● 2022 vs. North Carolina: 375 total yards (245 passing, 130 rushing) and 2 touchdowns (one passing and one rushing) with 1 interception in a 35-38 loss.

● 2022 vs. Wake Forest: 416 total yards (391 passing, 15 rushing) and 4 touchdowns (all passing) with 1 interception in a 34-31 win.

● 2023 vs. Clemson: 273 total yards (175 passing, 98 rushing) and 1 touchdown (rushing) in a 28-7 win.

While Riley Leonard was brought in to start, the Irish have a deep quarterback unit as presumed backup Steve Angeli played a decent amount last season when the Irish were up big in multiple games and started the Sun Bowl victory over Oregon State. Angeli brings in decent numbers from the 2023 season with 34 completions on 44 attempts for 504 yards (77.3 completion percentage) with 7 touchdowns and 1 interception. In six regular season appearances, Angeli would make a notable amount of impact in three games (Tennessee State, Pittsburgh, and Wake Forest) but a smaller amount in three others (Navy, Central Michigan, and Stanford). Angeli would play almost the entire second half against Tennessee State in the home opener after the Irish led 35-3 at halftime with three total drives with two ending on touchdown passes after the first drive ended in a punt. Against Pittsburgh, Angeli played nearly the entire fourth quarter (except for a couple of kneel downs by Kenny Minchey to end the game) with two drives that both ended in touchdowns. In the final home game of the season against Wake Forest, Angeli came in for one drive in the fourth quarter that led to a touchdown pass to Jordan Faison. For the Sun Bowl, Angeli got the start as Sam Hartman opted out of the bowl game and he had his best game of his career with 15 completions on 19 attempts for 232 yards with 3 touchdowns. The Irish would get nine total drives on offense for the game as five ended on touchdowns, one for a field goal, one on a missed field goal, one on downs, and only one punt. Angeli also had a solid performance in the Blue-Gold game back in April with 17 completions on 25 attempts for 228 yards with 2 touchdowns to Kris Mitchell on a 62 yard play and another to Eli Raridon.

Kenny Minchey would make three appearances last season as a true freshman to preserve a season of eligibility and had 2 completions on 2 attempts for 12 yards. He would play more during the Blue-Gold Game when he had 12 completions on 19 attempts for 123 yards with 1 touchdown to Micah Gilbert and 1 interception to go with 40 rushing yards and 1 touchdown. Early enrollee CJ Carr also played during the Blue-Gold game as well and played for both the Blue and the Gold. He had a combined stat total of the following: 15 completions on 23 attempts for 165 yards with 1 touchdown to Micah Gilbert. Both will likely see some playing time, with Carr likely getting in no more than 4 games to preserve a season of eligibility. Overall, this is the deepest this unit has been since at least 2021 when either of the backup quarterbacks in Tyler Buchner (now a wide receiver) or Drew Pyne (now at Missouri after getting his degree at Notre Dame) both could have started that season.

Running Backs

With the departure of Audric Estime to the NFL, the Irish will lean on Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price along with true freshman Aneyas Williams and Kedren Young with Devyn Ford providing additional depth as well. Gi’Bran Payne was expected to be the third back in the rotation along with being used on third downs, but suffered an injury that will keep him sidelined this season. As Payne redshirted in 2022 as a true freshman with minimal appearances, it is possible that he could gain an additional year of eligibility from a medical redshirt allowing him to be eligible to play through the 2027 season. Jeremiyah Love will be the starter and after seeing some discussion about him being used as a receiver as well will remind Irish fans of Theo Riddick who was quite effective doing both during his career at Notre Dame that led to an NFL career that lasted through the remainder of the 2010’s after playing for Notre Dame from 2009 to 2012. Jadarian Price will likely see a good amount of plays in terms of running the ball as well after making an impact during the season as well. Devyn Ford was the fifth back in the rotation last season and looks to keep the same spot as well. During the Blue-Gold Game, Jadarian Price and Kedren Young were both out which led to Love and Williams getting a decent amount of playing time with 36 and 39 yards on the ground, respectively while also each having a rushing touchdown. Devyn Ford only made two plays in the Blue-Gold Game with a 13 yard rush and a 13 yard catch, but will still be an important part of the rotation. These are the following stats of the returning players not affected by injury:

● Love had 385 rushing yards on 71 attempts which gave him a solid 5.4 yards per attempt and he added 8 receptions for 77 yards with a 9.6 yard average to go with 2 total touchdowns (1 rushing, 1 receiving).

● Price had 272 rushing yards on 47 attempts which gave him a slightly higher average at 5.8 yards per attempts and also he had 5 catches for 65 yards with a 13 yard average along with 5 total touchdowns (3 rushing, 1 receiving, and 1 kickoff return).

● Ford had 44 rushing yards on 8 attempts with a 5.5 yard average and he had 4 catches for 34 yards with an 8.5 yard average and 1 touchdown (receiving).

With Riley Leonard having the skill of running the ball effectively, it brings a useful dimension to the ground game that has not been seen since Ian Book was the starting quarterback. Having a quarterback that is capable of running when necessary gives opposing defenses more to worry about, especially when considering that there is the possibility that Jeremiyah Love can line up with the receivers on plays as well which can mean having three players who can run the ball on a given play. It could mean bringing back in reverse plays, but with a running back instead of a wide receiver.

Wide Receivers

The Irish lost a total of four receivers to the transfer portal, but made solid gains with the transfer portal and in terms of recruiting. A position that had been the weak link to the offense suddenly appears to be a strength while also being very deep as well. The Irish gained three players out of the transfer portal in Kris Mitchell, Beaux Collins, and Jayden Harrison while gaining three true freshmen in Cam Williams, Micah Gilbert, and Logan Saldate. In addition, Tyler Buchner returned to the Irish after spending a season at Alabama and converted to receiver. The seven players join a unit that returns the following players: Deion Colzie, Jordan Faison, Jaden Greathouse, KK Smith, and Jayden Thomas. With a unit that consists of that many players, it will mean a very deep rotation. It will also help even more to have one or two players separate themselves from the rest as the last time the Irish have had a wide receiver have a 1,000+ yard season was in 2019 when Chase Claypool had 1,037 yards on 66 catches with 13 touchdowns. Having 1,000+ yard wide receivers in the 2010’s happened more often than not with it happening in the 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2019 seasons. Having a playmaker or two will help with having a difference maker against the more challenging opponents, and combining that with a deep rotation will help should the Irish make a run in the playoffs. The three players from the transfer portal bring in the following career stats:

● Kris Mitchell comes from Florida International with 100 receptions for 1,663 yards with an average of 16.6 yards per catch with 12 touchdowns over the course of the 2020-2023 seasons. Last season, with the exception of two games, Mitchell had at least 73 or more yards in every game with three games of 100 or more yards, and one game with 200 or more yards.

● Beaux Collins comes from Clemson with 91 receptions for 1,290 yards with an average of 14.2 yards per catch with 11 touchdowns over the course of the 2021-2023 seasons. Collins does not have the type of numbers Mitchell had last season, but he will likely be important as a receiver that helps move the chains and be a decent sized target in the red zone as well.

● Jayden Harrison comes from Vanderbilt (2020) and Marshall (2021-2023) with 71 receptions for 779 yards with an average of 11 yards per catch with 4 touchdowns over the course of the 2020-2023 seasons. However, his main strength is in returning kickoffs with 3 return touchdowns (more on this in the special teams section), but he did have an impressive showing in 6 catches for 132 yards in the Frisco Bowl that Marshall played in at the conclusion of last season.

All three will most likely make significant contributions, but it should be noted that it is also important to make use of the rotation as the three players from the transfer portal also only have this season for remaining eligibility. Not making full use of depth in positions has sadly hurt the Irish in times past and this has extended to other position groups. One of the most notable examples of this was in the 2006 season, when backup quarterback Evan Sharpley was nearly restricted to handing off the ball and only attempting to throw twice despite appearing in 8 games and also with the wide receivers as players not named Jeff Samardzija, Rhema McKnight, and David Grimes had minimal catches that season and combined for only 5 catches for 42 yards that season. This wound up hurting things for the following season and had there been a stronger rotation might have possibly meant an improved season. Being able to get backups in along with meaningful plays and minutes will help long term. The remaining players that return from last season had the following stats:

● Jordan Faison had 19 receptions for 322 yards with a 16.9 yard average and 4 touchdowns in just seven games.

● Jayden Thomas had 21 receptions for 310 yards with a 14.8 yard average and 2 touchdowns.

● Jaden Greathouse had 18 receptions for 265 yards with a 14.7 yard average and 5 touchdowns.

● Deion Colzie had 3 receptions for 45 yards with a 15 yard average and 1 touchdown.

As noted, Jordan Faison is the leading returning receiver with stats that look even more impressive considering he only played in seven games. Based on averages, had he played in all 13 games his stats would have looked like this: 35 receptions for 598 yards with 7 touchdowns which all would have been team highs. The true freshman was a player that only got better as the season went on as from his second game on his receiving yard total would only go up along with grabbing touchdown receptions in the final three games and he also had career high numbers in the Sun Bowl with 5 catches for 115 yards with 1 touchdown and was named MVP of the Sun Bowl. The stats that Jayden Thomas had last season were comparable to his stats from 2022 and he projects to be a major player in the rotation. Jaden Greathouse made an instant impact in the season opener against Navy, becoming the first true freshman in school history to have two receiving touchdowns in their first career game. While he did drop off during the mid season four game gauntlet due to injury, he did make some plays to close out the regular season. Deion Colzie only played in four regular season games plus the Sun Bowl and will help provide depth as an upperclassman. Micah Gilbert made an impressive impact in the Blue-Gold Game as he had 5 receptions for 79 yards with 2 touchdowns and if he keeps that kind of production up could wind up playing more than the four games allowed for the redshirt rule. The remaining players will all likely see the field at some point as well.

Tight Ends

The only loss in this unit was Holden Staes to the transfer portal who would have been the second tight end on the field with his 15 catches for 176 yards (11.7 yard average) with 4 touchdowns. With that being said, Mitchell Evans returns from a season ending injury that he had during the win over Pittsburgh. Evans was a very reliable safety net for Sam Hartman with moving the chains and making impressive catches. His backups: Eli Raridon, Cooper Flanagan, and Davis Sherwood all found the endzone at least once last season. This means that any tight end could be a target in the endzone and when playing with personnel sets that involve multiple tight ends will give opposing defenses a lot more to cover. The Irish only have one incoming freshman player in early enrollee Jack Larsen. Larsen played in the Blue-Gold Game and had 4 catches for 41 yards (10.3 average per catch). Here are the following stats for returning players:

● Mitchell Evans had 29 receptions for 422 yards with a 14.6 yard average and 1 touchdown. Evans also had a rush attempt for 2 yards as well.

● Eli Raridon had 5 receptions for 51 yards with a 10.2 yard average and 1 touchdown.

● Davis Sherwood had 2 receptions for 18 yards with a 9 yard average and 1 touchdown.

● Cooper Flanagan had 1 reception for 19 yards with 1 touchdown.

Mitchell Evans will be the main target when it comes to the tight ends. He made a strong impact moving the chains during the middle four games and had his best game against Duke when the Irish were very shorthanded at wide receiver due to injuries and had 6 catches for 134 yards (22.3 yard average).. Evans has also been used in short yardage situations before, notably in the second half of the 2022 season when he had a rushing touchdown against UNLV. Eli Raridon will presumably be the next tight end in play, but Flanagan and Sherwood will also play as well. Not to be forgotten in the unit is Kevin Bauman who last played in 2022 and missed last season due to injury. While Mitchell Evans will likely not post Michael Mayer level numbers in the stat sheet, he should easily continue on the tradition of Tight End U for the Irish.

Offensive Line

The Irish lost both starting offensive tackles to the NFL in Joe Alt and Blake Fisher who were drafted in the first and second round, respectively. The offensive line allowed only 16 sacks last season and 54 tackles for loss. Charles Jagusah was slotted in to take over for Joe Alt as starter at left tackle before suffering a season ending injury in a training camp practice. Tosh Baker was assumed to be the starter at the spot, but in a recent practice showed a surprising development that saw true freshman Anthonie Knapp with the first string along with redshirt freshman Sam Pendleton at the left guard spot. This will be an interesting area to watch especially with the first game in a hostile road environment in Texas A&M.

Aamil Wagner takes over the right tackle spot with Blake Fisher going to the NFL. There was some thought after Jagusah went down in practice that Wagner would take his spot, but right now, Wagner keeps the right tackle as the Irish make the choice to have the five best on the field for the offensive line. The right side of the line is more settled as Billy Schrauth has the right guard spot locked down while Ashton Craig came in as the starting center after Zeke Correll went down in the last third of the season. Craig embraced the philosophy of “next man in” and was an immediate improvement at the important center position. While the offensive line might be a question mark for some, it is still a solidly deep position group and it is likely that the backups will get playing time and getting playing time is absolutely vital for backup offensive linemen. Overall, the offensive line has been a position group that has been able to reload in recent times with many names having gone on the NFL for Offensive Line U and this position group will certainly be one to keep an eye on this season.

Defensive Line

On the opposite side of the line, the main loss was Javontae Jean-Baptiste who provided arguably one of the best plays of the season when he recovered a blocked field goal and returned it for a touchdown in the season finale at Stanford. The biggest strength of the defensive line is in the interior with Howard Cross and Rylie Mills both returning for final seasons. The Irish also gained R.J. Oben out of the transfer portal from Duke, who brings in five seasons of experience to the line. Also returning from last season are the following players: Jordan Botelho, Joshua Burnham, Donovan Hinish, Jason Onye, and Junior Tuihalamaka. Here are the stats from last season of the returning players along with R.J. Oben’s career stats:

● R.J. Oben brings in the following career stats (2019-2023) from his time at Duke: 67 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, 24 quarterback hurries, 4 forced fumbles, and 1 interception.

● Howard Cross had 66 tackles (2nd on the team), 7 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 pass breakups, 4 quarterback hurries, and 2 forced fumbles.

● Rylie Mills had 47 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 4 quarterback hurries, and 2 fumble recoveries.

● Jordan Botelho had 32 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, and 3 quarterback hurries. ● Joshua Burnham had 18 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 2 quarterback hurries.

● Jason Onye had 17 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sack, 2 quarterback hurries, and 2 blocked kicks.

● Donovan Hinish had 10 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 sack.

● Junior Tuihalamaka had 10 tackles.

The unit is strong as the first string by gaining R.J. Oben, but making sure to rotate players is the key to a strong defensive line. The entire first string will be out of eligibility after this season. Getting experience will be absolutely vital for the next season. Like the offensive line, the interior line of the defense is a strong part of the unit.

Linebackers

J.D. Bertrand and Marist Liufau have both gone on to be drafted in the NFL this past Spring, but Jack Kiser returns for a final season to lead the linebacker unit. The Irish did not get any linebackers out of the transfer portal, but a notable addition is incoming freshman Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa. Like former linebackers Manti Te’o and Jaylon Smith before him, Viliamu-Asa is expected to play a significant amount of time. It would not be surprising among the true freshman that Viliamu-Asa has either the most or among the most playing time. Viliamu-Asa was an early enrollee who had 4 tackles and 1 pass breakup in the Blue-Gold Game as well. Other incoming freshmen in Teddy Rezac and Bodie Kahoun are likely going to play a fair bit. It would not be surprising if all three play more than four games. Notable returning players include the following: Jaiden Ausberry, Drayk Bowen, Jaylen Sneed, and Preston Zinter. The position was expected to be deeper with Kahanu Kia expected to contribute, but he was lost for the season due to injury. Here are the following stats from last season of the returning players:

● Jack Kiser had 62 tackles (3rd most on team), 1.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 3 quarterback hurries, and 1 forced fumble.

● Drayk Bowen had 14 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, and 1 forced fumble.

● Jaylen Sneed had 14 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack, 2 pass breakups, 5 quarterback hurries, and 1 forced fumble.

● Jaiden Ausberry had 3 tackles and Preston Zinter had 2 tackles with 1 quarterback hurry.

Losing two NFL draft picks in the same position group will lead to at least some degree of a drop off, but having a highly regarded true freshman that will most likely be the first linebacker off the bench will be certain. This position group will be the defense’s equivalent to the offensive line, a position group that is certainly worth keeping an eye on this season. Rotating players will certainly be essential, especially early on when the competition is not as strong for a brief period of time after the opener at Texas A&M.

Defensive Backs

What is most likely the strongest unit on the entire team is the defensive backs. Returning a likely top 10 draft pick in Benjamin Morrison and a unanimous All-American in Xavier Watts will most certainly mean a unit that might just be the best in the nation. The Irish also gained Jordan Clark and Rod Heard out of the transfer portal as well. Even with the losses of Cam Hart and Thomas Harper to the NFL along with Clarence Lewis and Ramon Henderson to the transfer portal, this is an extremely impressive unit. Notable returning players include the following: Christian Gray, Jaden Mickey, Chance Tucker, Adon Shuler, and Luke Talich. Rod Heard will likely start opposite Xavier Watts in the safety unit, while either Christian Gray or Jaden Mickey will be opposite Benjamin Morrison for cornerback. Jordan Clark will also play significantly, especially when the personnel for plays calls for 5 or more defensive backs. Here are the stats for the returning players plus the career stats for those from the transfer portal:

● Xavier Watts had 52 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, 7 interceptions, 4 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery (returned for a touchdown), and 1 forced fumble.

● Benjamin Morrison had 31 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, and 10 pass breakups.

● Christian Gray had 11 tackles, 1 interception, and 2 pass breakups.

● Jaden Mickey 11 tackles, 1 interception (returned for a touchdown), and 2 pass breakups.

● Adon Shuler had 6 tackles, Chance Tucker had 3 tackles, and Luke Talich had 2 tackles.

● Rod Heard had over the course of the 2019-2023 seasons the career stats of 194 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions, 8 passes broken up, and 5 forced fumbles.

● Jordan Clark had over the course of the 2019-2023 seasons the career stats of 139 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions (1 returned for a touchdown), and 17 pass breakups.

The Irish can easily play six players in Watts, Morrison, Gray, Mickey, Heard, and Clark and can bring in others into the rotation. The passing defense was among the very best last season being ranked third in the nation by allowing 157.3 yards per game. With Morrison and Watts leading the way in the defensive backfield, this unit will most likely be ranked in the single digits in terms of passing defense.

Special Teams

The Irish brought in some new faces in the special teams department with kicker Mitch Jeter out of the transfer portal from South Carolina. They also brought in punter James Rendell from Australia and kickoff return specialist Jayden Harrison from Marshall. Jadarian Price will line up opposite Harrison on kickoff returns, which makes for a dangerous duo in the return game that will basically mean opposing teams will try to aim for touchbacks over kicking to either of them and Jordan Faison is slotted in as punt returner. Here are the stats of the returning players and the career stats of those from the transfer portal.

● Mitch Jeter had over the course of the 2021-2023 seasons the following stats: 23 field goals on 25 attempts along with 77 extra points made on 80 attempts. Jeter was a perfect 11 of 11 in 2022 and 12 of 14 in 2023. He was notably 3 of 5 on field goals of 50 or more yards with a long of 53 back in 2022. All field goal attempts were in 2022 and 2023 as he only went 2 for 2 on extra points in 2021.

● Jayden Harrison had 64 returns for 1522 yards (23.8 yard average per return) with 3 returned for touchdowns. Harrison averaged an astounding 30.6 yards per return in 2023 with 23 returns for 705 yards. Considering this, he would easily help in the game of field position.

● Jadarian Price had 10 returns for 344 yards (34.4 yard average per return) with 1 touchdown. His 99 yard kickoff return in the win over USC last season helped stop any concerns of a Trojans rally in the fourth quarter.

● Jordan Faison returned 2 punts for 28 yards (14 yard average) with a long of 20 yards.

While special teams did not have the “Mason Magic” that they had in 2022 with an astounding 7 blocked kicks when the Brian Mason coached special teams and it felt like a blocked punt could happen anytime the opposition lined up for a punt, the Irish still blocked 3 kicks this past season. Jason Onye blocked 2 kicks and will likely be a key special teams player on kick and punt coverage this season. James Rendell standing at 6’6” could be used on plays other than punts and it would not surprise me to see him get used on a few fake punts or even on other plays. As mentioned before, having two kickoff returners that are capable of taking it to the house or into good territory will be truly valuable and will help make things easier for the offense in reducing the amount of yardage needed on offensive drives.

Final Thoughts

With the usage of the transfer portal and strong recruiting, the Irish have a very good roster that is capable of making a run in the regular season and the playoffs. With the expanded playoffs going from four to twelve teams, making efficient usage and rotation of players will be important. Whether this means rotating defensive players or making sure backups get a meaningful amount of minutes when the Irish have an insurmountable lead, it is important. It also means staying healthy as well as while the Irish do not have the gauntlet that was the middle four games, they do have some games that are in difficult places. For example, Navy is a late October game rather than the season opener, but at least a bye week follows after the physical matchup against the Midshipmen. Taking one game at a time is also important as well, as the Irish have to do extensive amount of traveling at the end of the regular season, as they go from a primetime against Army at Yankee Stadium to what will most likely be a primetime game against archrival USC in the Colosseum. While the Irish are unable to get one of the top four seeds and get a first round bye, they technically get a bye by not playing in a conference championship. If all goes well, the Irish will be able to host an opening round playoff game against a warm weather school while there are below freezing temperatures at kickoff.

As always, GO IRISH!