Our review of the 2025 Notre Dame football roster continues today. We previously covered the offensive line and today we will review the quarterback and running back positions. Offensive Coordinator Mike Denbrock learned to play to the strengths of last year’s personnel. Let us take a look at some of the weapons at his disposal this season.
Quarterback
Coach Marcus Freeman has been at Notre Dame since the 2021 campaign, when he served as Defensive Coordinator. In those past four seasons, the Irish have reached into the portal to find a starter. Jack Coan (2021), Sam Hartman (2023), and Riley Leonard (2024) each served with varying degrees of success. This year, Freeman has elected to move forward with the home-grown recruits on his roster.
There may be two factors that drive this decision. First, Freeman and Denbrock believe the current roster provides options who represent the lowest risk and best chance to win. Second, the school cannot afford the NIL required to sign an outsider while retaining other key contributors. Both elements are likely true to varying degrees and resulted in this decision.
Portal Losses: None
Other Losses: Riley Leonard (expired eligibility)
Portal Additions: None
Retained Players: Steve Angeli, Kenny Minchey, CJ Carr, Tyler Buchner
Incoming Freshmen: Blake Hebert
Leonard’s departure opens the door for Angeli, Minchey, and Carr to compete for the starting job. Each brings something valuable to the table. Angeli has the most playing experience, can read defenses, and is an accurate short and mid-range passer. Minchey has the strongest arm and is the best athlete in the group. Carr represents the best combination of all the desired traits.
Angeli may be near the apex of his development curve. He is not going to become more mobile or grow a stronger arm. Notre Dame can win many games with him at the helm but may run into trouble in the postseason.
Minchey has the highest ceiling of the trio. He can create successful plays with his arm and legs that the others cannot. His downside is he will make mistakes and force throws that have devastating consequences. Will the coaches prioritize and fast track the effort to develop him at the expense of the others?
Carr is said to be physically ready to play after a long recovery from an elbow injury. He is a student of the game who will not have a steep learning curve on the mental side. However, Carr is young and missed valuable practice time in the fall. Even so, he has shown enough promise to be viewed as the best long-term solution. Denbrock will have more options with the more mobile Carr running the offense than Angeli. To win the job, Carr must demonstrate he can minimize mistakes and turnovers.
Buchner’s return to the position provides a willing scout team member and a viable emergency option. He is a consummate team player who became a weapon on special teams last year. Hebert is a highly regarded prospect with the potential to become a starter down the road. He will almost certainly redshirt this season.
I do not expect a starter to be named after spring practice. The competition will be close and each player brings a different skillset to the table. It will be challenging to evaluate each player fairly and objectively. Alternatively, Carr may simply demonstrate that he is too good to sit on the bench. That is a lot to expect from anyone after only 15 practices, though. Freeman would like to retain all of his quarterbacks throughout the season. If one player does pull away from the others by April, he may lose one to the portal.
RUNNING BACK
This is one of the strongest positions on the team with star power and depth. Position Coach Deland McCullough managed to keep three players happily engaged in 2025. He will have to make it five this year. Division of workload should not come at the expense of Jeremiyah Love. The rising junior will probably be playing his final season of college ball. He is simply too valuable to keep off the field for very long.
Leonard’s departure means that the Irish will need to lean on the backs to carry the running game. Talent is not an issue, and the blocking up front should be better. The front-loaded schedule will be tougher this year before a relatively soft November. Freeman has often stated he wants Notre Dame to be a power running team. The ground attack will need to be successful from the start in order to support a new quarterback.
Portal Losses: None
Other Losses: Devyn Ford (expired eligibility)
Portal Additions: None
Retained Players: Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price, Gi’Bran Payne, Aneyas Williams, Kedren Young
Incoming Freshmen: Nolan James
Love’s value to the offense cannot be overstated. He gained an abundance of yards after contact in 2024. The objective this season is to open holes he can run through and use his speed as a weapon. Price is an shifty runner who is most effective when he breaks outside. Williams first earned snaps by becoming a willing pass blocker. He took over the third down role held by Payne before an injury ended his season. Once given the opportunity, Williams made himself into an all-purpose threat.
Payne is back in 2025. He has already demonstrated his value by getting tough yards on third down. Young is a bruiser who flashed early. He and the coaches agreed he would redshirt in 2024 due to the players ahead of him. Now, he is ready to contribute and can no longer be held back. James is not a clone of any of his future teammates. His skillset is effective for running both inside and outside with power and elusiveness. Due to the logjam at the position, however, he is likely to redshirt.
Obviously, the presence of five diverse and productive backs is a good problem to have. McCullough must manage the workloads well once again to keep everyone motivated and healthy. His success in 2024 leads to confidence that he can do it again.
Fortunately, selfishness is a trait not found among these players. Love recently turned down additional NIL funds and asked that the money be distributed among his fellow backs. It is no wonder why none of them elected to leave despite high interest from other teams. This group truly personifies the team first culture that Freeman has cultivated.
Tell John what you think in the comments below
One Historian says:
“This group truly personifies the team first culture that Freeman has cultivated.”
THAT is what is going to win us the NC – very soon.
ILIV4 ND says:
Is Gi’Bran Payne still with the team?
John Vannie says:
Yes, I updated the article. Thanks.
Indy Irish says:
Thanks very much for your hard work and insight, John! As a Cubs fan I know I likely will return to football fantasies by the 4th of July, and your analysis of the Irish in the last six months has made me a believer again. Is there an official date for the Blue & Gold Game yet? I anticipate this year’s squad will be one we should see in person as often as possible!
John Vannie says:
I have heard April 12 for the spring game.
Will says:
John, I opened up your posting this morning, and you have made my day (although the disappointment from the OSU game lingers). You are not a guy who dabbles in hyperbole and so I am greatly impressed with your optimism for our running back and quarterback personnel. Coupled with yesterday’s positive account of our O-line roster, I’m deducing that the 2025 ND offense should be very productive. While the 2024 offense won a lot of games, my sense is that Denbrock really had to scramble to come up with an approach that would maximize RL’s strengths while minimizing his obvious weaknesses. As you have stated, Freeman wants a physical running attack, but given the resources at hand do you see Denbrock opening up the offense with more creativity? Certainly we’re not going to see the qb running up the middle play after play in 2025.
John Vannie says:
We will see more passing plays but it will depend on how fast the QB develops. I suspect Denbrock will start conservatively on the road and build up from there.
GOND88 says:
I hope Denbrock gets creative with Jeremiyah Love to put a lot of pressure on defenses. He can’t be held to 15-20 yards of rushing in big games like he was in the natty against Ohio St.
The running attack in Denbrock’s offense seems to be boom or bust. Either backs are ripping off 25+ yard runs or getting stuffed for -2 to +1 yards and there seems to be more of the latter. There’s no consistent 3-5 yard runs which forces defenses to crowd the line of scrimmage but also physically wears them down.
I expect ND will need to lean in to the running game the first 3-4 games while the new QB gets broken in. But I’m expecting big things from the offense as the offensive line, wide receivers and running back rooms should be better in 2025 than 2024. The only question is TE.
ND86grad says:
I hope the Coach Denbrock will diversify the offense next year to mix in some QB under center formations to allow the very talented RBs some quick hitters going downhill. With the inexperienced QBs, yards from the read option may be hard to come by against the upper level defenses on the early schedule.