Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman Eye Two Key Position Battles Entering Fall Camp
Notre Dame's defense has few questions entering the 2026 season.
Chris Ash's unit is loaded with talent and returning experience. The Irish's two-deep is filled with players who have been there and done that, leaving little reason to expect a significant learning curve when fall camp opens next week.
One of the few unknowns centers on Colorado graduate transfer cornerback DJ McKinney.
McKinney arrives in South Bend with a wealth of experience after recording 137 tackles and four interceptions across 40 career games at Colorado and Oklahoma State. During that span, he logged 2,093 defensive snaps.
Notre Dame returns the nation's top cornerback in Leonard Moore along with veteran Christian Gray, who spent the offseason working at nickel. Combined with McKinney, the trio brings 5,093 career defensive snaps to the secondary, an almost unheard-of level of experience in the Transfer Portal era.
The question isn't whether McKinney will play. It's where.
McKinney has worked at nickel and on the outside this summer. If Gray secures the slot role, McKinney appears poised to line up opposite Moore at field corner. However, the 6-foot-2, 180-pounder has inside experience after playing 92 career snaps at nickel, giving Ash flexibility with one of the deepest cornerback rooms in the country.
Another positive for Notre Dame is that McKinney spent the spring in South Bend while finishing his degree from Colorado, allowing him to learn the defense and adjust to the program despite not practicing. That familiarity should help him hit the ground running once the pads come on.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is eager to see where McKinney ultimately fits.
“He started going this summer, so we’ve seen him in underwear,” Freeman said. “That’s what we call it. We’ve seen him out there working out and doing different skills, but until you get the pads on, we’ll figure out exactly what his role will be. His film from Colorado was gifted. He’s a talented individual. He’s smart, he prepares. I’m excited to see what he does as we get into fall camp, but there’s high expectations for him.”
While the defense appears largely settled, Notre Dame will open camp with several offensive position battles at running back, wide receiver, right guard and tight end.
The competition that could have the biggest long-term implications is behind Heisman Trophy favorite CJ Carr.
Sophomore Blake Hebert and true freshmen Noah Grubbs and Teddy Jarrard will battle throughout camp for the backup quarterback job.
The room is talented, but it's also inexperienced. None of the three has taken a snap in a college game, making the race an important one as Notre Dame builds depth behind Carr.
Unlike last fall's battle between Carr and Kenny Minchey for the starting job, this competition is about identifying the quarterback best equipped to step in if needed while continuing to develop all three players.
“They’ve all improved, but that’s going to be an important battle,” Freeman explained. “That’s just as important as every other position battle. Number one, how do you make sure your starting quarterback’s prepared? We can’t cheat his reps to get prepared.
“But how do you give these three guys opportunities with the twos to perform? And with the threes to perform? How do we move them around to make sure they’re all getting equal amount of opportunities?”
When Notre Dame releases its depth chart before the Wisconsin opener, one quarterback will be listed behind Carr. But Freeman cautioned that the competition won't necessarily end there.
“You have to make a decision who’s the backup for Week 1,” said Freeman. “That doesn’t mean they’re backup for the season. It’s something we’ve never had to do. How do you then progress from that? Who’s going to scout team? Are we rotating guys on scout team?
“Those are all logistical things that myself and Coach (Gino) Guidugli and (Mike) Denbrock and I have to figure out. But number one of most importance is how do you continue to evaluate those guys with the twos and the threes and keep tracking and make sure they’re all getting a fair amount of reps.”
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