Notre Dame football’s season ended abruptly in 2025, but that doesn’t change the fact that the program’s future is still incredibly bright. Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish staff have done an outstanding job of finding talent, mostly via high school recruiting, but also through the transfer portal when need be.

There have been many success stories for this team’s ability to find value, especially on the defensive side of the football.

Heading into the 2026 college football season, expectations for the Irish will be sky high, and there will be more than a few National Championship predictions out there. With the portal opening on Jan. 2, this team will change quite a bit. Still, it is never too early to project what the depth chart might look like. Here is my early guess for the defense.

Defensive line 

The biggest question up front is whether Boubacar Traore will return for another season or explore his options in the 2026 NFL Draft. While I think that he will gain feedback from the league, I also expect the talented pass rusher to return for one more year.

Along with Bryce Young and Joshua Burnham, the defensive end room would be pretty firm. Defensive tackle is a much more interesting conversation. The Fighting Irish will have to attack the transfer portal for at least one defensive tackle, and potentially two. That rotation will look much different once August rolls around.

DE – Boubacar Traore (RS Jr.)

DE – Loghan Thomas (Jr.)

DT – Elijah Hughes (Sr.)

DT – Cole Mullins (RS So.)

NT – Donovan Hinish (RS Sr.)

NT – Armel Mukam (RS Jr.)

DE – Bryce Young (Jr.)

DE – Joshua Burnham (RS Sr.)

Linebacker 

For the third straight season, the Notre Dame linebacker rotation is going to be extremely deep. Star defender Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is working back from an injury, which could hurt his availability to begin next season.

There is also a question about whether Jaylen Sneed will return for his final year of eligibility. I wouldn’t worry too much about a depth chart at linebacker. The top four to five guys will play a lot.

(Note: I didn’t include Rover in this breakdown since Notre Dame uses it less and less. Notre Dame will have options when it goes to more 4-3 personnel.)

MIKE – Drayk Bowen (Sr.)

MIKE – Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (Jr.)

MIKE – Madden Faraimo (So.)

WILL – Jaiden Ausberry (RS Jr.)

WILL – Jaylen Sneed (RS Sr.)

WILL – Bodie Kahoun (RS So.)

Secondary 

It will be interesting to see if Notre Dame entertains taking a transfer portal nickel for the fourth season in a row, or if it finally feels like it has the right combination of talent in that defensive back room. As long as Christian Gray returns for his senior season, we should once again see the same starting cornerback duo.

If Adon Shuler bypasses the 2026 NFL Draft, we should also see a similar safety rotation in 2026, besides the departed Jalen Stroman. This is an elite secondary that has a chance to be the best in the country next fall.

(Note: BC = boundary cornerback, FC = field cornerback, BS = boundary safety, FS = field safety)

BC – Leonard Moore (Jr.)

BC – Khary Adams (Fr.)

BS – Adon Shuler (RS Jr.)

BS – Luke Talich (Sr.)

FS – Tae Johnson (RS So.)

FS – Joey O’Brien (Fr.)

FC – Christian Gray (Sr.)

FC – Mark Zackery IV (So.)

Nickel – Dallas Golden (So.)

Nickel – Ben Minich (RS Jr.)

Notre Dame Fighting Irish News

Way too early Notre Dame offensive depth chart projections: A new set of weapons for CJ Carr, and an elite offensive line 

Here is an early look at the Notre Dame offensive depth chart heading into the 2026 college football season.

Ryan Roberts