Where Notre Dame lands in national position group rankings

Notre Dame has a reputation as one of the most well-rounded teams in college football, and that is reflected in various national position group rankings.

Here’s where every Fighting Irish position group lands, according to three magazines (Athlon Sports, Lindy’s Sports and Phil Steele’s) and one website (Pro Football Focus).

National position group rankings: Where do the Fighting Irish land?

Position group	Athlon	Lindy’s	PFF	Phil Steele’s
Quarterback	—	—	—	No. 64
Running back	No. 2	No. 3*	No. 2	No. 2
Wide receiver	—	—	No. 10	No. 14
Offensive line	No. 1	No. 10	No. 9	No. 3
Defensive line	No. 6	—	—	No. 4
Linebacker	No. 4	—	No. 5	No. 3
Defensive back	No. 3	No. 3	No. 3	No. 1
Special teams^	—	—	—	No. 11

* “Backfields” (inc. QBs)
^ Only Phil Steele ranks special teams

Breaking down Notre Dame’s place in position group rankings

Going down the list, every Notre Dame on the planet would be disappointed if CJ Carr or Kenny Minchey winds up being a national-average quarterback (and well below-average Power Four quarterback) in 2025. That does not make Phil Steele’s ranking incorrect, nor does it make the other three outlets incorrect to leave them unranked. They have to prove it on the field.

At running back, the consensus is that Notre Dame’s group is second-best in the country behind Penn State. That will infuriate Irish fans as well, but the one-two punch of seniors Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen is considered better than junior Jeremiyah Love and redshirt junior Jadarian Price — even if Love is the best of the four.

Wide receiver, offensive line and defensive line are all over the place, with some outlets believing in those groups and some entering the season with relative skepticism.

Many Irish fans are understandably wary of confidence in their wideouts, which makes sense. It has been Notre Dame’s weakest position group thus far under Marcus Freeman. But after the acquisition of Virginia transfer Malachi Fields and the late-season breakout of Jaden Greathouse, PFF and Phil Steele believe they can become a strength.

It would be interesting to see where the offensive line ranks after the injury to redshirt sophomore guard Charles Jagusah (each of these rankings were published well before), but the “best in the country” buzz is very real. Similarly with the defensive line; sixth-year senior defensive end Jordan Botelho‘s injury hurts but some outlets are very confident in what will looks like boom-or-bust group.

One thing shouldn’t change from last season: The back end of the Notre Dame defense should remain elite. With one exception (Lindy’s), the linebackers are consensus top-five unit. And the defensive backs are a consensus top-three unit, with sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore, junior cornerback Christian Gray and redshirt sophomore safety Adon Shuler all coming back.