The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are a couple of weeks into fall camp, and head coach Marcus Freeman’s roster is starting to take shape ahead of the 2026 college football season.

Players are separating themselves, position battles are heating up, and enough data is now available to project how the offensive depth chart could look as the regular season approaches. From quarterback CJ Carr’s grip on the starting job to an intriguing offensive line shuffle, here is a position-by-position breakdown of where things stand on the offensive side of the football.

Quarterbacks

No. 1: CJ Carr, redshirt sophomore | No. 2: Blake Hebert, redshirt freshman | No. 3: Noah Grubbs or Teddy Jarrard, true freshmen

There’s no question that CJ Carr is the starting quarterback for this team after throwing for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns a year ago against only 6 interceptions and completing over 66% of his passes. The battle behind him continues to rage on. Blake Hebert just missed a week of fall camp due to dealing with a personal issue, so that does threaten his opportunity to be the backup. However, I do envision most likely that Hebert will serve as the de facto quote-unquote backup quarterback for Carr during this season, and I anticipate that Freeman and Co. will be patient with the two freshman quarterbacks and continue to prepare them for life after Carr.

Running backs

No. 1: Aneyas Williams, junior | No. 2: Nolan James Jr., redshirt freshman | No. 3: Kedren Young, redshirt sophomore

Young has had a strong preseason camp, which is very good for his chances to compete going into the 2026 season. Williams has not hurt his stock as the potential starting running back for this team, bringing a nice all-around game to the table and putting together a strong overall offseason so far. James is a player Notre Dame is incredibly high on, so barring some unforeseen injuries, that could be the top three running backs for the Irish this fall. Also expect true freshman Jonaz Walton to figure into the rotation at some point during the season. We will see how much fellow true freshman Javian Osborne can crash the party as well.

Wide receivers

X (boundary) receiver: No. 1 Micah Gilbert, redshirt sophomore | No. 2 Quincy Porter, sophomore

Z (field) receiver: No. 1 Jordan Faison, senior | No. 2 Matt Jeffery, redshirt sophomore

Slot receiver: No. 1 Jaden Greathouse, redshirt junior | No. 2 Mylan Graham, redshirt sophomore

In the slot, I expect a nice rotation between Greathouse and Graham. Both will play a ton going into this year. With Porter still coming back from injury, I expect him to play a lot this season when he is fully healthy. Gilbert, though, has gotten an opportunity to separate himself and is reportedly trending upward to being the starting boundary wide receiver for this team. Faison is the most known commodity and returning receiver, serving as the biggest and most consistent element of the passing attack going into the fall. Jeffery, meanwhile, has been a huge camp riser.

Tight ends

No. 1: Cooper Flanagan, redshirt junior | No. 2: James Flanigan, redshirt freshman | No. 3: Ian Premer, freshman

I expect Premer to have a role in this offense as a pass catcher in 2026, although expect both Flanagans to play massive roles. Cooper has reportedly had a strong offseason after playing in only one game a year ago while coming back from an Achilles injury. Each is listed at 6-foot-6, and soon all three should be over 250 pounds, bringing a very intriguing trio of tight ends to the table.

Offensive line

LT: No. 1 Will Black, redshirt freshman | No. 2 Styles Prescod, redshirt sophomore

LG: No. 1 Anthonie Knapp, junior | No. 2 Devan Houstan, redshirt junior

C: No. 1 Joe Otting, redshirt junior | No. 2 Sullivan Garvin, true freshman

RG: No. 1 Ashton Craig, redshirt senior | No. 2 Sullivan Absher, redshirt junior

RT: No. 1 Guerby Lambert, redshirt sophomore | No. 2 Owen Strebig, redshirt freshman

We know that Will Black is going to be the starting left tackle for this team. We also know that Lambert will be his bookend. Knapp has a chance to be one of the best guards in college football this upcoming season.

The question will continue to be who is going to be the starting right guard. Notre Dame has toyed with the idea of moving Craig over to guard during camp. Craig served as the starting center for this team over the last two years when healthy. With how well Otting played a year ago in his absence, there is some flexibility. It is not certain if that’s the route they will take, but for now, that’s what I am projecting.

The next couple of weeks of fall camp will provide even more clarity on where things stand. Keep an eye on the right guard battle and the wide receiver competition at the boundary position. Both could have a significant impact on how Notre Dame opens its 2026 season.