Notre Dame football released its first depth chart of the 2025 season, and here are a few thoughts on what we saw.
Notre Dame football’s first depth chart of the 2025 season was released on Tuesday, as it will play on the road against the Miami Hurricanes on Sunday during the first official week of the season.
While there weren’t some surprises, like CJ Carr being QB No. 1, there were some others that many weren’t quite expecting. Virtually everyone who was expect to be there was, and a pleasant surprise finding out that defensive end Jordan Botelho will be ready to go after suffering multiple injuries over the last year.
There is no doubt that this will change as the season goes by, but here are a few thoughts on Notre Dame’s first depth chart of the year.
It’s time to unleash Bryce Young
It was a bit surprising to see Young getting the starting nod over a more seasoned Joshua Burnham, but like at quarterback, Freeman is going with a younger, but more talented player. The former high 4-star prospect came into the program with plenty of hype and didn’t disappoint during his freshman year. Young was credited with 23 tackles, 1.5 sacks and blocked a few punts as well. There will be a rotation, but the true sophomore getting the start shows that the Irish aren’t going to block talent, even without the production.
(Reminder, Young changed his number from No. 30 to No. 95, so if you are wondering who that is, now you know.)
The right guard battle continues
Shortly after the depth chart was released, Freeman spoke with the media and this OR was one of the questions asked. He went on to say that both of them could play, but needs to make a decision who to start, Guerby Lambert or Sullivan Absher. Both are great players, and are absolutely massive humans. Regardless of who Freeman ultimately ends up picking, the Notre Dame offensive line will be just fine.
There is another impressive ”freshman” class in the secondary
It seems like very year, a young member of the Irish secondary emerges and takes over the spotlight. Last year it was Leonard Moore, and recently Benjamin Morrison can be added into that group. Christian Gray didn’t have the huge breakout, but has been a very complete corner. There are three new names that showed up as the No. 2 player on the depth chart who are freshman or redshirt freshman: Dallas Golden, Tae Johnson and Mark Zackery IV. Cree Thomas and Ethan Long were both listed as well, just as the No. 3 player at their respective positions. Notre Dame continues to reload its defensive backfield, and another impressive group of players just entered the program.
Bonus: Quick hitters
Shout out to Tyler Buchner, as he’s going to play a big role on this team. He’s the No. 3 quarterback and the No. 1 holder, so we might see a trick play or two when he’s back there. Both starting running backs will get shots at returning kicks, as it was thrown around earlier in camp that Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price could be back there. Will Pauling is a surprise, but a pleasant one, after a so-so career at Wisconsin. The Irish have had some luck with former Badgers, see Jack Coan, and could have found another one.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Thoughts on Notre Dame’s first depth chart of the 2025 season
Category: General Sports
