Spring has officially come to a close for Notre Dame and like every offseason, there’s a lot to digest, a lot to take away and a lot more practice to come before they have to take the field. The bulk of the offseason awaits and the Irish still have summer workouts and 25 fall camp practices to get to before their season opener against Wisconsin in the Shamrock Series.
We saw a lot of good from the Fighting Irish offense this spring, but they still have a ways to go before they’re game-ready. This is a team that’s poised to do some big things this season. They’re the one of the favorites to win the national title, they’re one of only two teams at the P4 level with their over/under win total set at 11.5 and they have a returning Heisman contender at quarterback. Here are some of the main takeaways from Notre Dame’s spring training session.
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With offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock heading into year three and rising redshirt sophomore quarterback CJ Carr going into year two, we thought there’d be an uptick in efficiency at practice and we saw that this spring. Right or wrong, some fans and analysts will look too deeply into the Blue-Gold game, but you have to evaluate spring as a whole. Looking at the 15-practice training window as a whole, this offense looked the part of a top unit with Carr at the helm.
We’ve also seen Carr’s leadership take significant strides along with players like Jordan Faison and Anthonie Knapp, two of the most veteran starters on offense. Faison elected to forgo the lacrosse season to focus on football and it’s showing so far this offseason. The entire wide receiving room has elevated from a talent and athleticism perspective, especially due to the presence of Ohio State transfer Mylan Graham who was very impressive this spring.
The outlook on the offensive line also looks extremely promising. Coming into the spring, it was looking like Will Black would step in at left tackle, Knapp would be bumped inside to left guard and Guerby Lambert would kick out to right tackle and that’s exactly what we saw for the duration of spring. After the first day of spring, we needed to see offensive line coach Joe Rudolph keep Black and Knapp at left tackle and left guard to continue to grow; we saw that as well.
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Outside of Faison, the receiving room is still an overall question mark heading into the summer. We know this room has talent and we know this room is athletic, but we don’t know the rotation and we don’t know who the leading candidate at boundary is quite yet and there’s reasons for that. Ohio State transfer Quincy Porter missed the spring with an injury but it’s looking like he’ll be back for fall camp. Other players like Cam Williams, Elijah Burress, Devin Fitzgerald, Bubba Frazier and Micah Gilbert continue to grow.
We also don’t know who will emerge as a the dominant pass catcher, or catchers, from the tight end room. One thing is certain after spring: this unit will be significantly better in the run game. But we have yet to see any separation as far as pass catchers are concerned. That will be something I’ll be monitoring closely over the summer and into fall camp.
The running back room showed promise, especially with the emergence of Nolan James Jr. and Jonaz Walton. But we haven’t seen this offense in a full-go scenario with Aneyas Williams or Kedren Young who are both working back from injury. There were certain areas of the spring that were difficult to evaluate due to both Williams and Young’s injuries. From the sounds of it, we won’t be having that problem when fall camp rolls around.
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For the last couple of seasons, there’s be a issues with wide receiver’s effort in fighting for the football in one on one scenarios. One of the best contested catch players on the roster, Jaden Greathouse has been limited by a lingering hamstring injury since the end of September in 2025 and we have yet to see him in any team period this spring as a full participant. This is an area that absolutely has to be fixed throughout the remainder of the offseason.
Carr also has room to develop. I thought it was a strong spring from the Michigan native, but there’s another level he has to reach if he’s to become what we think he can be. Last year, he was great for a redshirt freshman. Now, it’s time to be one of the best quarterbacks at the collegiate level. That’s something that’s well in reach and continuing to elevate throughout the summer and fall will get him there.
Obviously, injuries are always a topic of conversation. There weren’t any significant injuries in spring this year, but getting back to health will be something that greatly benefits the Notre Dame offense. We’ve yet to see guys like Greathouse, Porter, Young, Williams, true freshman Javian Osborne or center Ashton Craig in much, or any, capacity this spring. Once this side of the ball gets healthy, I think we’ll start to see an even more explosive and efficient unit.
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