Notre Dame is heading into the 2025 college football season with some extremely high expectations. Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish staff have done a tremendous job building up a new potential championship roster. Their impact in high school recruiting has especially been impressive. 

This Irish staff has also done a really nice job of finding good fits from the transfer portal over the years. While they won’t have a transfer quarterback this year, Notre Dame did have some crucial pickups. Here’s what you should expect from each. 

WR Malachi Fields 

Every Notre Dame fan is really excited about Fields being a part of the team, and they should be. The 6-4, 220-pounds pass catcher brings the outside presence this program has been lacking in the boundary. If healthy, Fields is a strong candidate to be the team’s leading receiver along with junior Jaden Greathouse. That duo should be an impressive pairing. 

WR Will Pauling 

Pauling has been extremely productive during his times at Cincinnati and Wisconsin, but he’s coming off of a rough season in 2024. At around 5-11 and 190 pounds, he has made his living as a short to intermediate separator even though he supposedly has big time speed. In an ideal world, Pauling is your No. 3 or 4 receiver, but his connection to Mike Brown might raise those expectations. 

TE Ty Washington 

The Arkansas transfer has a solid skill set to work with, but very limited production while with the Razorbacks. With two years of production remaining, the hope is that he provides good depth behind Eli Raridon in 2025. Does he end up just being a solid player? Does he tap into his overall upside? Nobody really knows, at least on the outside. 

DT Jared Dawson 

At around 6-1 and 295 pounds, Dawson does his best work when given the opportunity to one gap and penetrate. The Louisville transfer is built low to the ground, has a quality first step, and is slippery. He should provide some impact behind the line of scrimmage, which would be big for this group. 

DT Elijah Hughes 

I really have no idea what to expect from Hughes in 2025. He’s a pretty nice athlete from the position but he has very little experience, and also needs physical and technical refinement. If the USC transfer was open to it, I’d actually be pretty intrigued with a redshirt. That gives Hughes a chance to start building for the future, and potentially have a substantial role in 2026. 

NB DeVonta Smith 

For the third straight year, Notre Dame went to the portal to find their starting nickel. Smith was a starter in the slot for Alabama last season, and has a nice blend of physicality and movement skills. He hasn’t always been assignment sound, so the mental side is going to be huge for Smith. It’s possible that he ends up being their best nickel over the last three years, but I think he ends up somewhere between Thomas Harper and Jordan Clark. 

S Jalen Stroman 

A transfer from Virginia Tech, Stroman has played a lot of football during his college career. He has been still recovering from an injury, but is expected to be fully healthy for fall camp. Stroman is going to have to fend off a ton of younger safety talent. His combination of physicality and experience should give him a good chance to find a big role. 

K Noah Burnette 

While at UNC, Burnette had some nice moments, but was also extremely consistent. With true freshman Erik Schmidt behind Burnette, it will be interesting to see just how long the leash is. 

CJ Carr, Bryce Young, and an underrated secondary piece highlight sophomores that Notre Dame needs to breakout most in 2025

Sophomore breakouts that the Fighting Irish need