UHND.com - Notre Dame Football, Basketball, & Recruiting

Aneyas Williams would have been a starter on almost any other team. He'll enter 2026 as a true junior, with very fresh legs and multiple years of S&C to go on top of what he already was coming in. His initial burst of speed has gotten even better.

Kedren Young coming back at full strength will be nice.

Nolan James got his feet wet.

The two freshmen coming in for next year, though, are high ceiling guys who are also pretty polished coming out of high school.


For the WR room, there's plenty of talent coming up. Maybe we pick up another veteran WR in the portal, but I actually feel very good about the recruited guys from the 24-26 classes.

Given the passing game production this year, and with Carr at the helm, we should have an easier time finding one of the better portal WR's.

Too bad but we have a deep RB room so I get it.

He's been injured this year and is in line to get major run next year, even if Price comes back.

Next year, if healthy, he'll be front and center on the biggest stage there is in CFB.

Price is gone -- period. It makes no sense for him to return to college when he is presently considered the #2 RB in the draft and is unlikely for him to go any higher in the 2027 draft. With Love, the best RB in the country earning somewhere between $1.5 and $2.0M in NIL (and Price is simply not as good as Love so unlikely to get even that) and the contract value for the last pick in the 3rd round somewhere around $1.3M, the numbers don't add up to warrant the risk of injury as well as one more college year on his legs. It is not as if he has anything left to prove in college.

The key factor re: Williams I suspect is playing time. The staff is very high on both Young and James and Payne may be in the mix if he is healthy. Plus, ND is in on Spell, the #1 RB recruit and we have 2 RBs on the way in. All that makes for a very crowded RB room. Add to the fact that the RB coach who recruited him is gone. ND isn't going to pay a NIL premium for a RB who is only part of a rotation, and probably not RB1, so it is reasonable to assume that there might be other schools where he could be RB1 and get more NIL $ than ND might give. ND's NIL money has to be planned carefully (it is not a bottomless pit) and, with a deep RB room, Williams isn't going to warrant a large NIL payment from ND and another school might be able to give him more $$ and more playing time.

All that adds up to a significant possibility that Williams leaves which I would guess almost as likely as Minchey leaving.

he's a really talented player in his own right when healthy. If Price leaves, he's a 3 down back who's probably RB1.

If Estime had stayed in 2024, he would have been RB2 behind Love and would have lost carries to Price. Both are better overall backs than Estime.

That is what I think Williams is concerned with. Yes, he looks like a RB who would get a significant playing time. Is he "better" than the Young and James? I don't think you can assume that. He may be RB1 in the 1st two games in 2026 and then get surpassed by other RBs.

I don't think he would be "shying" from competition as opposed to the fact where there are many schools he could go to where he would be RB1, get more NIL$ and more playing time.

ams leaves and Price goes pro (still TBD), ND will definitely have to hit the portal. ND isn't going to rely on a redshirt sophomore, player returning from injury and 2 true freshmen.

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It is a rumor which is inherently conjecture.

I don't know whether it is true but considering that his position coach is not the guy who recruited him and that fact that he (Williams) knows the talent of the other RBs, he perhaps wants to keep his options open if he believes he won't get the carries he wants.

Btw, anyone who thinks Price is coming back is going to be disappointed. Price has very little to gain and a lot to lose in returning to college.

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Considering that he is already considered the 2nd best RB in the draft (after Love), he is unlikely to improve that with another year of college. And it isn't as if he hasn't already has put enough tape to assess him in his 4 years of playing.

Assuming he is a 2nd day pick, the lowest contract for a 3rd rounder is around $1.3M, he is unlikely to garner nearly enough (Love's NIL estimate is somewhere between $1.5 and 2.0) to offset the injury risk as well as the risk of going lower in the 2027 draft. And he isn't going to return in hopes of winning the Heisman since only 3 RBs have won Heismans since 2000 and Love is in great shape to win it this year but is getting little ink about that possibility.

We'll see but I'd put up my house that Price is gone.

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Sometimes the gossip pans out. I could see Minchey, Williams and Price leaving but it wouldn't surprise me if all or some were here in 2026.

...what it was.

I see a real path where Price stays...which many don't

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bert is ready, a kicker, 1-2 TE's..one for blocking and one for catching, 2 DT's as it appears a few signed a few years ago are not going to pan out, 1 WR but only if Malachai level and potentially 1 RB but only if Price goes pro and the RB would be a clear #1. Naturally, some guys could leave, but I don't see ND needing to dip into the portal for much outside of quality depth.

With that said, I see ND going hard after the RB from South Carolina unless Price has communicated he's staying (which I think he should), 2 big bodied DT's, 1 TE and a kicker. I could see a serviceable back up QB and blocking TE coming in from the Ivy Leagues or a DII school.

keep in mind, unless the player is a Freshman or graduate, it's tough for ND to bring them in. The pool for ND gets small quickly.