Notre Dame Football Mailbag: Making sense of the defensive turnover, Keon Keeley’s 2026 outlook, and CJ Carr’s NFL upside

The latest Notre Dame football mailbag discusses CJ Carr and his NFL upside, Marcus Freeman’s defensive identity, and more.

Ryan Roberts — National College Football Writer
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Oct 18, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr (13) drops back to pass the ball in the second half against the Southern California Trojans at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

While we are still at the beginning of the offseason, the Notre Dame team is diligently preparing for spring practice, and the Fighting Irish staff is busy recruiting at a high level behind the scenes. With head coach Marcus Freeman and Co. navigating so many different things right now, there is still a lot to talk about. That makes it a perfect time to open up for this week’s Notre Dame football mailbag.

On this week’s edition, I had a chance to discuss the defensive identity of Notre Dame, quarterback CJ Carr’s upside as an NFL prospect, and several other miscellaneous topics. As always, thank you to all the readers that submitted questions this week.

Notre Dame’s defensive identity

I think that ideological shift gave you some insight into exactly what Freeman wants his defense to look like. At his core, Freeman wants to run a ton of man coverage and be aggressive with his second-level pressures. Would he like to get home more at four at times? That is probably fair, but that man coverage preference on the back end allows a defense to do so much. That is who I believe Freeman wants to be as a defensive mind.

Should we worry about the Notre Dame defense?

As of right now, no, I am not. That can obviously change, but I am very comfortable with the team bringing in Charlie Partridge and Brian Jean-Mary to coach the defensive line and linebackers, respectively. Losing Mike Mickens as the secondary coach does give me some pause, but having Chris Ash return as defensive coordinator, as well as head coach Marcus Freeman, I still think this defense figures it out. It also helps that Notre Dame has a very manageable beginning of their 2026 season.

A defensive relapse

I think seeing aggressiveness up front will be a huge indicator. Chris Ash got in trouble early last season by being very vanilla up front. I want to see some movement and second-level pressures at times. Other than that, the percentage of man coverage will be a big indicator. When Notre Dame played their best defense last season, the group played a higher percentage of man coverage, and they were aggressive. We need to see that same formula from start to finish.

Notre Dame’s cornerback room in 2026

I do believe there is going to be an intention to see what Christian Gray looks like inside at nickel, particularly in the spring. We know that Leonard Moore is going to be the starting boundary cornerback, and I also expect Colorado transfer DJ McKinney to become the starting field cornerback. If Gray isn’t an easy fit inside, then keep an eye on sophomore Dallas Golden locking down the starting spot. I am most interested to see who backs up Moore at the boundary spot. Keep a close eye on true freshman Khary Adams.

Keon Keeley’s outlook in 2026

I think seeing Keon Keeley lose some weight is a great sign. My ideal weight for him would be somewhere between 265 and 270 pounds. I do like the idea of him rushing on the interior at times, but Keeley does feel like the ideal fit coming off the edge. Along with Bryce Young, that could be a dynamic duo as the strong side defensive end in the defense.

Notre Dame’s linebacker room in 2026

In terms of NFL upside, I think that Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is at the very top of the list. His combination of size, movement skills, and versatility is exactly what the NFL is looking for. With KVA coming off an injury, I wouldn’t project him to be in next year’s class. It might be a small surprise, but I would actually go with Jaiden Ausberry next, even though I doubt he is in next year’s class. His ability to navigate space fits the modern game perfectly, especially if he takes a step in terms of physicality. Drayk Bowen would come in next. He is a very good college football player, but I am not sure that the NFL will love him as a prospect. There are just some limitations to his game in terms of navigating space and changing direction. Jaylen Sneed will then come in last. Sneed is a really talented athlete, but he has just never developed enough as a player. He will get a look, but I am not sure if he sticks right now.

CJ Carr’s NFL upside

I appear to be a slight outlier when discussing CJ Carr, but I do want to see a lot more. I do believe he has the profile that could be valued greatly by the NFL, and perhaps even become a top-10 overall draft pick, but it does feel a bit too much hype this early. Carr needs to show improved decision-making, like any young quarterback, as well as show more upside for making plays on the move. There is some nice upside to buy into, but let’s see what type of jump Carr makes this offseason.

Boundary wide receiver depth chart

I think Micah Gilbert will receive every opportunity to try and earn a role on this team in 2026, if not start. When spring practice opens up, he will get the first crack at the position, and Quincy Porter being out due to injury for the time being helps his case to start next season. The issue with Gilbert is that he just hasn’t been able to stay consistently healthy during his first two seasons with the team. I do believe that Porter eventually takes over as the starting boundary, but Gilbert staying available and making a push is something that I really want to see.

Youngsters on the rise

I love these types of questions. Here are the youngsters who I can see making a huge impact next season (I added an extra for fun):

RB Javian Osborne: Osborne won’t begin the season at the top of the running back rotation, but I am excited to see how quickly her earns playing time throughout the season. His combination of explosiveness and long speed could offer a different skill set for the running room.

WR Kaydon Finley: The son of the former Green Bay Packers tight end Jermichael Finley, his son comes into a good wide receiver room that won’t be easy to crack the rotation. The younger Finley, however, brings an advanced feel to the wide receiver position, which could allow him to get on the field sooner than expected. Finley will be ready to play if needed.

S Joey O’Brien: O’Brien is a tremendous combination of size, length, and movement skills. With O’Brien being a bit of a skinnier player, there could be some legitimacy to bring him along slowly. There is a world where O’Brien’s coverage skills and playmaking impact could earn him some sort of role early in the season.

DT Christopher Burgess: After coming in as a defensive end, Burgess now sits at 6-4 and 299 pounds. His combination of size, movement skills, and length could be an absolute star on the interior eventually. If Burgess does break out next year, the defensive tackle group could go from very good to exceptional.

OT Will Black: Black is expected to be in competition to potentially start at right tackle next season. At 6-7 and 316 pounds, Black is an extremely gifted mover with tons of length. There is a chance that Black could be their next star offensive tackle if given a chance.

TE Ian Premer: The five-star talent walks into a tight end room that has some big questions heading into the 2026 season. Premer isn’t an early enrollee, which could hurt his chances to play a lot early in the season. At some point next season, however, I imagine that Premer finds a substantial role.

NIL and College Football

I think there are some things you can do to improve some parts of the pay-for-play issues, but I don’t have confidence that things will get any better until you completely burn it down. You need to be able to separate the transfer portal and NIL space as much as possible. The minute that you created both in the same time period, and allowed agents to be a part of it, things were going to get messy. At this point, I do think it is a bit too far gone. You either need to make some drastic changes now (probably won’t happen), or you have to wait for legality and other issues to break it down to the foundation. Something big needs to force the change.

Expectations for other CFB programs

I wouldn’t phrase it as schools not caring about winning. Different programs just have a different interpretation of what being successful is, which is usually connected to their history and resources available. For Notre Dame, winning ten games but not making the playoffs, it is considered a failure. For a school like Maryland or Rutgers, that would be a fantastic season. It really just depends on your perspective.

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