There have been years along the way I thought maybe Notre Dame could have a chance if like 5 different things went their way, but in all of those years, deep down I knew it wasn't very likely. For instance, the end years of the BK era there were years I thought we had a shot but knew things like lacking a elite QB, speed at wide receiver, or any depth on defense would hold the team back. Even last year I thought it might have been possible, but the early season schedule worried me with Carr as a redshirt freshman.

This year though? It's probably first time since 2006 I am entering a season thinking Notre Dame, not only can win a title, but just might really do it. All of things thta held back the very good Notre Dame teams from being really elite in the past aren't there this year.

- QB? Carr is elite and just might mess around and win the Heisman
- WR? Would love for the room to be a bit more healthy, Porter specifically, but between Faison, Greathouse, Gilbert, and Graham and then the young guys like Burress, Bettis, and Fraizer; this room is loaded compared to past years. In almost any other year before Freeman, one or two of those young players who aren't quite ready yet would be starting.
- DL? If you built a DL out of the best players of the last 5 years of the BK era and compared it to the 2026 DL, it would be close.
- LB? We might have the best LB in the country
- DB? We might have the best secondary in the country and have two guys who could legit win a Thorpe Award.
- Depth? Backups on this team would start for a majority of the BK era teams.
- Coaching? Freeman seems to have gotten over a lot of his first time head coach issues and the staff from top to bottom is loaded.

A lot still has to go right for Notre Dame to win it, but there won't be a single team in the country that Notre Dame faces this year where we will enter a game thinking, "how the hell are we going to compete with them at X, Y, or Z position"

Season can't get here soon enough

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Should.be a fun season.

On the other hand, we have 2 proven receivers (one of whom has iffy hamstrings), and a 3rd likely very good inc portal WR (Mylan Graham) who can be used at Boundary, Field, and Slot which will still work. I wish we had another year with Malachi Fields.
The best shot at filling the hole is Micah Gilbert. He has had a lot of positive comments from coaches, but he needs to show that he can do it in games. Perhaps his problem is that he has been going against Leonard Moore in practice...we shall see.
Less likely would be Cam Williams who has lacked consistency or one of the you players - 2nd yr Burris, or Bettis or freshman Fitzgerald.
A lot of possibilities rather than proven options at that spot.

I think that we will see teams sneaking up on us until we prove that downfield threat with someone.
Luckily, having CJ Carr makes that a lot less of a problem since he tends to put the ball on the money.

Too many options available to be worried. Another idea is using Premer like Tyler Eifert split wide.

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still gonna hold my breath on every extra point (of which, there should be a very large number this year).

Cannot be understated

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get him reps during blow outs..

If there is some team that has a proven backup, I can't think of one.

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