Notre Dame Football Mailbag: Tackling the transfer portal mess, young defensive tackles in the room, and skill players in 2026

Latest Notre Dame football mailbag tackles the transfer portal mess, some skill position players to be excited about in 2026, and more.

Ryan Roberts — National College Football Writer
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Oct 18, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman and the defense celebrates a turnover on downs in second half against the Southern California Trojans at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Notre Dame football is just at the beginning of a very important offseason. With how the 2025 college football season ended for the Fighting Irish, head coach Marcus Freeman and his squad have a bit of a chip on their shoulder and have championship aspirations heading into the 2026 season.

All the talent is there for this team to make a run, but there are still several holes to fill.

With that fact in mind, Notre Dame fans were anxiously waiting for the Irish to make some big moves when the transfer portal opened up on Jan. 2. I anticipated this week to be filled with plenty of portal news and analysis to follow. Now a week into it being opened, fans are left waiting as patiently as possible, but the lack of news can be a bit frustrating.

It feels like the perfect time to bring back the Notre Dame Football mailbag. As you can imagine, there were a ton of portal questions, so I ended up combining a few. There were also, however, several fun questions about the 2026 version of the Fighting Irish. Let’s get into it.

Let’s get the portal 

Let’s start with the elephant in the room. There are two separate realities that can coexist when discussing the transfer portal. On one hand, yes, Notre Dame still has plenty of time to address its early struggles, and it already has a great core on the roster. There is a reality that Freeman and the staff managed to turn things around, and as a fan of the team, that’s what I’m hoping for. 

There is also the reality that Notre Dame made multiple missteps at the beginning of this process. The staff chose not to host any players during the first weekend it opened, and two targets that were supposed to come this past Monday didn’t even get to campus.

For whatever reason, you chose to let some other schools get a head start, which makes no sense in the chaotic world of the transfer portal. We are also in a world where deals get done before the portal ever even opens, a lot of the time anyway. Over the last couple of years, there were several of those deals that Notre Dame had ready to go when the portal opened.

Yet, nothing was done ahead of time this year. That’s concerning.

This is the first time that general manager Mike Martin is handling the portal to this level, so I am going to cut him some slack. I am, however, surprised Freeman hasn’t stepped in and vetoed some of the strategy. This isn’t the first year of the portal, and as the head coach, Freeman should have the final say in every decision. I’m confused about the power dynamic for beginning this portal cycle, and there appears to be some lack of alignment between the front office and coaches.

Younger defensive tackles that Notre Dame needs 

There are two young defensive tackles that I am most interested in on this roster right now. From the sound of it, Christopher Burgess is quickly growing into an interior player and is now up around 290 pounds. That is an explosive kid who should be able to compete for playing time if his body is developed.

I am not sure how much, if any, we will see true freshman Elijah Golden in 2026, but that kid is super talented. It will all depend on whether he is physically ready, because athletically, he has the goods.

Irish skill position in 2026 

I am excited to see true freshman Kaydon Finley play. He strikes me as a kid who can come in and compete due to his maturity and physicality.

For the best-case scenario, I really hope Cam Williams has a breakout offseason. The Notre Dame offense desperately needs his combination of speed and length. They just don’t have enough of that on the roster right now. If both players can play substantial roles in 2026, it would be a great sign for Mike Brown and his development.

Kenny Minchey’s transfer decision 

I am in the slight minority here, but I don’t like the fit with Kentucky right now. The fit with Will Stein is cool, but Kentucky is about to overhaul its roster, and there is a lack of talent right now.

I am not sure Nebraska is a stellar option, but I would prefer it right now to a full rebuild, especially for a player who has only two years of eligibility remaining. However, I will be rooting hard for Mincey to succeed.

Drayk Bowen’s NFL Draft upside 

Bowen would have been a mid-late Day 3 (rounds 4-7) player if he had declared for the 2026 NFL Draft. He is a good college football player, but I do think he is slightly limited in terms of upside on the next level. Bowen can carve out a niche as a backup MIKE and special teamer, but that is the most likely outcome right now.

Notre Dame and the ACC 

I haven’t heard much else after Pete Bevacqua met with Jim Phillips a couple of weeks ago. If I were Notre Dame, I would start keeping my eyes open for other options.

Even outside of how the program was treated down the stretch of the playoff decisions, that is a league that doesn’t feel like the most sustainable for the long-term future. Being proactive with options would be wise.

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