Notre Dame football kicks off fall camp on Thursday, and with it comes the annual flood of storylines about breakout stars, position battles, and surprises.

Head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff will spend the next few weeks sorting through all of it before the 2026 college football season arrives. The Fighting Irish carry legitimate expectations this year. While the new information will dominate the conversation, there are known commodities on this roster that deserve attention for the baseline they create.

The breakout candidates and camp surprises will come. They always do. But before we get lost in projecting the unknowns, here is everything I feel confident about for the 2026 version of this Notre Dame team.

Leonard Moore is an elite corner and maybe the best defensive player in college football

There is plenty to discuss in the Notre Dame secondary. How good will Christian Gray be at nickel? Can DJ McKinney get back to his 2024 version from his time at Colorado? What do the backup situations look like at each corner spot? All fair questions.

But the one thing we know for certain is that Leonard Moore will lock down the field’s boundary, and he can move around because he is an elite-level defensive back.

At 6-foot-2, 197 pounds, Moore is projected to be a top-10 selection in the 2027 NFL Draft for a reason. His impact and sheer presence on the field cannot be understated for this Notre Dame team. Barring injury, opposing offenses will have to account for him on every snap, and that changes the math for everything else the defense wants to do.

Jordan Faison is the sure thing at wide receiver

The offseason conversation at wide receiver has been dominated by questions.

Is this the year Jaden Greathouse finally stays healthy and puts it all together? Can Quincy Porter or Mylan Graham be a huge breakout? Is this finally the year we see something from Cam Williams? Can Micah Gilbert stay on the field and make a huge impact on the boundary?

There is a ton of talent at the position, but also a ton of question marks.

Lost in all of that is the leading returning receiver from a year ago. Jordan Faison is Mr. Reliable. He can play in the slot and can play the Z. His ability after the catch makes him a steady force in the passing offense led by quarterback CJ Carr. The one exciting layer to Faison heading into 2026 is that for the first time in his athletic career, he is focusing solely on football after giving up lacrosse this offseason.

There is still a potential next step he could take, a ceiling left to tap into. But even without that leap, the floor of understanding for Faison and the consistency he provides cannot be understated.

Anthonie Knapp will be a butt-kicker in the run game

Even while playing left tackle over the last two seasons, Knapp’s biggest strength has been his impact as a run blocker. He creates a lot of movement at the point of attack. He can work to the second level. He can work laterally. That ability has been there from jump.

Now that he is moving inside to guard, that skill set should only be highlighted more.

There will be questions about how smoothly the transition goes at a new position. But the running game impact should be one of the easiest translatable things on this roster. You feel like you have a great understanding of what Knapp is going to be in 2026, even while changing positions.

Boubacar Traore is going to flash off the edge

The secondary pass-rusher conversation has real intrigue. Is Bryce Young going to take a step forward? Is Rodney Dunham going to make a huge impact? Is Keon Keeley finally going to hit the five-star status he carried coming out of the 2023 recruiting class?

Those are all fair questions. But there is no question that Boubacar Traore is going to be a force off the edge.

Traore led the team with 6.5 sacks a year ago and seemingly left some meat on the bone for how good he can be. Whether he finishes with five sacks or 12 sacks in 2026, there is a certainty that No. 5 is coming off the edge. He is a very known commodity for this defense.

The defensive trio will create game-changing plays

This last one comes with an injury caveat, but if and when Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa gets back healthy, I can trust that he, combined with safeties Adon Shuler and Tae Johnson, will always be around the football creating impact plays. Takeaways, forced fumbles, interceptions, sacks, pressures. Those three players just have a knack for being around the ball.

Outside of Moore, this trio is the best sure thing to produce game-changing plays on the second and third levels of the defense. I feel great about Johnson, Shuler, and Viliamu-Asa heading into 2026, assuming health, of course.