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College Football: Notre Dame Jaden Greathouse (1) in action, runs on the field with teammates vs Texas A&M at Notre Dame Stadium. South Bend, IN 9/13/2025 CREDIT: Erick W. Rasco (Photo by Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X164774 TK1)
Fans of Notre Dame football have become accustomed to bad injury news before and during the season. Look, you’re not alone. Many college football programs deal with injuries much in the same way as the Irish, because that’s just the name of the game out there.
That’s what depth is for.
Injuries suck and there’s no way around it, but they also create opportunity. There are some recent examples that show the “positive” (in huge quotation marks) happenings that come from injuries. We have the trials of Charles Jagusah and the emergence of Anthonie Knapp over the last two years. We also saw Notre Dame’s best cornerback in Ben Morrison go down who was replaced with Leonard Moore.
Again… DEPTH with several dashes of coaching.
On a recent Cover 3 Podcast, Bud Elliott talked about how Notre Dame is a title contender, but needs a lot of injury luck — otherwise they are maybe just a 10 win team this season.
Nevermind the fact that this statement could be made about any team with a real chance at winning a national championship, he pulls a number right out of his hat — three. Three players (no names mind you) that need to stay healthy that are injury prone, otherwise the Irish just don’t have enough playmakers to be an elite team.
What year is it?
I’m guessing that the three he’s thinking about are Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Jaden Greathouse, and Charles Jagusah — but I suppose Leonard Moore could be a name tossed in there as well (maybe). Those are great players for sure, but is the hyperbole hitting hard here?
The single greatest injury threat to the season is CJ Carr, the Irish starting quarterback. I’m no genius, but I suspect it would be incredibly difficult for just about any team to win the national championship if the starting quarterback goes down.
Are there major injury questions going into camp? I mean — kind of. Those three names specifically are definitely ones to keep an eye on, but for it to become a talking point as of the entire season rests on their health seems pretty bogus.
If you want to check the depth, check the depth.
| Player/Class | Freshmen | Sophomore | Junior | Senior | Graduate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | Noah Grubbs, Teddy Jarrard | Blake Hebert | C.J. Carr | – | ` |
| Running Back | Javian Osborne, Jonaz Walton | Nolan James | Aneyas Williams, Kedren Young | – | – |
| Tight End | Preston Fryzel, Ian Premer | James Flanigan | Jack Larsen | Cooper Flanagan | Ty Washington |
| Wide Receiver | Dylan Faison, Bubba Frazier, Kaydon Finley, Devin Fitzgerald, Brayden Robinson | Elijah Burress, Jerome Bettis Jr., Quincy Porter | Cam Williams, Micah Gilbert, Logan Saldate, Mylan Graham | Jaden Greathouse, Jordan Faison | – |
| Center | – | Cameron Herron | – | Joe Otting | Ashton Craig |
| Guard | Sullivan Garvin, Tyler Merrill, Gregory Patrick | – | – | Chris Terek, Sullivan Absher, Devan Houstan | – |
| Tackle | Ben Nichols, Grayson McKeogh, Charlie Thom | Will Black, Owen Strebig, Matty Augustine | Peter Jones, Anthonie Knapp, Styles Prescod, Guerby Lambert | Charles Jagusah | – |
| Defensive Tackle | Tiki Hola, Elijah Golden | Christopher Burgess, Davion Dixon, Gordy Sulfsted | Cole Mullins, Sean Sevillano, Francis Brewu, Tionne Gray | Armel Mukam | Elijah Hughes, Jason Onye |
| Defensive End | Ebenezer Ewetade, Rodney Dunham | Dominik Hulak, Joseph Reiff | Bryce Young, Loghan Thomas, Keon Keeley | Boubacar Traore | – |
| Linebacker | Thomas Davis Jr., Kobe Clapper | Madden Faraimo, Ko’o Kia, | Teddy Rezac, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Kahanu Kia | Drayk Bowen, Jaiden Ausberry | Jaylen Sneed |
| Safety | Ayden Pouncey, Joey O’Brien, Nick Reddish | Ethan Long, Brandon Logan | Tae Johnson | Adon Shuler, Luke Talich | – |
| Cornerback | Chaston Smith, Khary Adams | Dallas Golden, Mark Zachery, Jayden Sanders | Leonard Moore | Christian Gray | DJ McKinney |
| Specialists | Jasper Scaife, Micah Drescher | Erik Schmidt | Spencer Porath | – | – |
| Totals | 30/105 (29) | 53/105 (23) | 78/105 (25) | 93/105 (15) | 99/105 (6) |
Notre Dame, as with any team in the country, needs to stay as healthy as possible to win a national championship this season. Welcome to brain surgery 101.
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