Notre Dame football's top-5 offensive players entering the 2025 season
Long gone are the days where Notre Dame football's offense has been in question, as the Irish showed last year they can score with the best in the country.
The Mike Denbrock-led offense scored 36.1 points-per-game last year, good for No. 10 nationally, and while they did lose some weapons, most notably quarterback Riley Leonard, there is plenty of returning talent that will carry this unit.
Advertisement
While the season is still a few months away, we are getting plenty of new information about the direction of the team and what to expect from the Irish in 2025. Find out below my top-5 offensive players for Notre Dame this fall as of early June.
No. 5 - Quarterback CJ Carr
There has yet to be a decision between Carr and Kenny Minchey, but you have to expect that Freeman will go with the higher upside player considering they both have virtually no playing experience. Carr was the No. 68 overall recruit in his class in the 247Sports Composite, while Minchey was No. 170 in the next cycle. Both are more than capable of running the Irish offense, but at this point with Steve Angeli no longer with the program, Carr is the frontrunner in my opinion.
No. 4 - Wide receiver Jaden Greathouse
The breakout is coming, especially after Greathouse showed the nation in the last two games of the College Football Playoff that he's a gamebreaking talent. He accounted for 13 receptions for 223-yards and three touchdowns, as he torched both Penn State and Ohio State. While the quarterback position is still a question mark, we know that Greathouse can make plays. Notre Dame will play him more in the slot, creating mismatches for him to exploit due to a player later on this list.
No. 3 - Running back Jadarian Price
Price was second on the team in rushing attempts last year, and averaged 6.2 yards-per-carry, which was just behind the team leaders. He scored seven times as well, and looks to be ready to take the next step this fall. While he will share carries with a player later on this list, Price still seems poised to top last year's impressive numbers.
No. 2 - Wide receiver Malachi Fields
While Fields wasn't able to practice with the Irish during the spring due to transfer rules, he's going to be a difference-maker this fall. Over the last two years he's caught at least 55 receptions, which would have been first on last year's Notre Dame team. His five touchdowns would have been first, as well as his 808 receiving yards. No Irish receiver has topped those marks since Kevin Austin in 2021, and there's not doubt in my mind that Fields is a much better player.
No. 1 - Running back Jeremiyah Love
This was an easy choice, as it should be. Love is one of the best players nationally, is getting plenty of pre-season love and could end up in New York after the season concludes. Coming off a year with 1,125 rushing yards with 17 touchdowns to go along with 237 receiving yards and another two scores, the Heisman talk is legit. As long as Love stays healthy, he's one of the best players in the nation.
This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Predicting Notre Dame's top-5 offensive players of 2025
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

an hour ago
Federal judge approves $2.8B settlement, paving way for US colleges to pay athletes millions
A federal judge signed off on arguably the biggest change in the history of college sports Friday, clearing the way for schools to begin paying their athletes millions of dollars as soon as next month as the multibillion-dollar industry shreds the last vestiges of the amateur model that defined it for more than a century. Nearly five years after Arizona State swimmer Grant House sued the NCAA and its five biggest conferences to lift restrictions on revenue sharing, U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken approved the final proposal that had been hung up on roster limits, just one of many changes ahead amid concerns that thousands of walk-on athletes will lose their chance to play college sports. The sweeping terms of the so-called House settlement include approval for each school to share up to $20.5 million with athletes over the next year and $2.7 billion that will be paid over the next decade to thousands of former players who were barred from that revenue for years. The agreement brings a seismic shift to hundreds of schools that were forced to reckon with the reality that their players are the ones producing the billions in TV and other revenue, mostly through football and basketball, that keep this machine humming. The scope of the changes — some have already begun — is difficult to overstate. The professionalization of college athletics will be seen in the high-stakes and expensive recruitment of stars on their way to the NFL and NBA, and they will be felt by athletes whose schools have decided to pare their programs. The agreement will resonate in nearly every one of the NCAA's 1,100 member schools boasting nearly 500,000 athletes. 'Approving the agreement reached by the NCAA, the defendant conferences and student-athletes in the settlement opens a pathway to begin stabilizing college sports,' NCAA President Charlie Baker said. Wilken's ruling comes 11 years after she dealt the first significant blow to the NCAA ideal of amateurism when she ruled in favor of former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon and others who were seeking a way to earn money from the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) — a term that is now as common in college sports as 'March Madness' or 'Roll Tide.' It was just four years ago that the NCAA cleared the way for NIL money to start flowing, but the changes coming are even bigger. Wilken granted preliminary approval to the settlement last October. That sent colleges scurrying to determine not only how they were going to afford the payments, but how to regulate an industry that also allows players to cut deals with third parties so long as they are deemed compliant by a newly formed enforcement group that will be run by auditors at Deloitte. The agreement takes a big chunk of oversight away from the NCAA and puts it in the hands of the four biggest conferences. The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC hold most of the power and decision-making heft, especially when it comes to the College Football Playoff, which is the most significant financial driver in the industry and is not under the NCAA umbrella like the March Madness tournaments are. The deal looked ready to go since last fall, but Wilken put a halt to it after listening to a number of players who had lost their spots because of newly imposed roster limits being placed on teams. The limits were part of a trade-off that allowed the schools to offer scholarships to everyone on the roster, instead of only a fraction, as has been the case for decades. Schools started cutting walk-ons in anticipation of the deal being approved. Wilken asked for a solution and, after weeks, the parties decided to let anyone cut from a roster — now termed a 'Designated Student-Athlete' — return to their old school or play for a new one without counting against the new limit. Wilken ultimately agreed, going point-by-point through the objectors' arguments to explain why they didn't hold up. 'The modifications provide Designated Student-Athletes with what they had prior to the roster limits provisions being implemented, which was the opportunity to be on a roster at the discretion of a Division I school,' Wilken wrote. Her decision, however, took nearly a month to write, leaving the schools and conferences in limbo — unsure if the plans they'd been making for months, really years, would go into play. 'It remains to be seen how this will impact the future of inter-collegiate athletics — but as we continue to evolve, Carolina remains committed to providing outstanding experiences and broad-based programming to student-athletes,' North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham said. The list of winners and losers is long and, in some cases, hard to tease out. A rough guide of winners would include football and basketball stars at the biggest schools, which will devote much of their bankroll to signing and retaining them. For instance, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood's NIL deal is reportedly worth between $10.5 million and $12 million. Losers, despite Wilken's ruling, figure to be at least some of the walk-ons and partial scholarship athletes whose spots are gone. Also in limbo are Olympic sports many of those athletes play and that serve as the main pipeline for a U.S. team that has won the most medals at every Olympics since the downfall of the Soviet Union. All this is a price worth paying, according to the attorneys who crafted the settlement and argue they delivered exactly what they were asked for: an attempt to put more money in the pockets of the players whose sweat and toil keep people watching from the start of football season through March Madness and the College World Series in June. What the settlement does not solve is the threat of further litigation. Though this deal brings some uniformity to the rules, states still have separate laws regarding how NIL can be doled out, which could lead to legal challenges. NCAA President Charlie Baker has been consistent in pushing for federal legislation that would put college sports under one rulebook and, if he has his way, provide some form of antitrust protection to prevent the new model from being disrupted again.


Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
House v. NCAA settlement approved, paving way for colleges to pay athletes
A federal judge signed off on arguably the biggest change in the history of college sports on Friday, clearing the way for schools to begin paying their athletes millions of dollars as soon as next month as the multibillion-dollar industry shreds the last vestiges of the amateur model that defined it for more than a century. Nearly five years after Arizona State swimmer Grant House sued the NCAA and its five biggest conferences to lift restrictions on revenue sharing, U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken approved the final proposal that had been hung up on roster limits, just one of many changes ahead amid concerns that thousands of walk-on athletes will lose their chance to play college sports. The sweeping terms of the so-called House settlement include approval for each school to share up to $20.5 million with athletes over the next year and $2.7 billion that will be paid over the next decade to thousands of former players who were barred from that revenue for years. The agreement brings a seismic shift to hundreds of schools that were forced to reckon with the reality that their players are the ones producing the billions in TV and other revenue, mostly through football and basketball. The scope of the changes — some have already begun — is difficult to overstate. The professionalization of college athletics will be seen in the high-stakes and expensive recruitment of stars on their way to the NFL and NBA, and they will be felt by athletes whose schools have decided to pare their programs. The agreement will resonate in nearly every one of the NCAA's 1,100-member schools, boasting nearly 500,000 athletes. The road to a settlement Wilken's ruling comes 11 years after she dealt the first significant blow to the NCAA ideal of amateurism when she ruled in favor of former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon and others who were seeking a way to earn money from the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) — a term that is now as common in college sports as "March Madness" or "Roll Tide." It was just four years ago that the NCAA cleared the way for NIL money to start flowing, but the changes coming are even bigger. [Related: Top 25 college athletes with highest NIL valuations] Wilken granted preliminary approval to the settlement last October. That sent colleges scurrying to determine not only how they were going to afford the payments, but how to regulate an industry that also allows players to cut deals with third parties so long as they are deemed compliant by a newly formed enforcement group that will be run by auditors at Deloitte. The agreement takes a big chunk of oversight away from the NCAA and puts it in the hands of the four biggest conferences. The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC hold most of the power and decision-making heft, especially when it comes to the College Football Playoff, which is the most significant financial driver in the industry and is not under the NCAA umbrella like the March Madness tournaments are. Winners and losers The list of winners and losers is long and, in some cases, hard to tease out. A rough guide of winners would include football and basketball stars at the biggest schools, which will devote much of their bankroll to signing and retaining them. For instance, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood's NIL deal is reportedly worth between $10.5 million and $12 million. Losers will be the walk-ons and partial scholarship athletes whose spots are gone. One of the adjustments made at Wilken's behest was to give those athletes a chance to return to the schools that cut them in anticipation of the deal going through. Also in limbo are Olympic sports many of those athletes play and that serve as the main pipeline for a U.S. team that has won the most medals at every Olympics since the downfall of the Soviet Union. All this is a price worth paying, according to the attorneys who crafted the settlement and argue they delivered exactly what they were asked for: an attempt to put more money in the pockets of the players whose sweat and toil keep people watching from the start of football season through March Madness and the College World Series in June. What the settlement does not solve is the threat of further litigation. Though this deal brings some uniformity to the rules, states still have separate laws regarding how NIL can be doled out, which could lead to legal challenges. NCAA President Charlie Baker has been consistent in pushing for federal legislation that would put college sports under one rulebook and, if he has his way, provide some form of antitrust protection to prevent the new model from being disrupted again. The Associated Press contributed to this report. [Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily .] recommended Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Cleveland Browns Cornerback Denzel Ward Ranked Top 10 in NFL
Cleveland Browns Cornerback Denzel Ward Ranked Top 10 in NFL originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Cleveland Browns are hoping for a much-improved 2025 over an abysmal 3-14 campaign from a season ago. Advertisement They've added some pieces on offense and defense this offseason through free agency and the NFL Draft, and hope they can find the piece at quarterback that fits best. But that's not to say there's not already talent on the roster, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Star defensive end Myles Garrett was just made the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL ... ever. And he'll be playing with one of the best cornerbacks in the league once again next season. Pro Football Focus just ranked the top 32 cornerbacks in the NFL, and the Browns' Denzel Ward showed in the top 10 at No. 10. 10. Denzel Ward, Cleveland Browns "Ward is another player who has struggled to stay healthy but, when at full strength, is one of the best in the NFL. Advertisement "In 2024, Ward was on a torrid forced-incompletion-rate pace until he faded at the end of the season. He still led the NFL with 17 forced incompletions, and his 80.4 PFF coverage grade in man and zone-match coverage was tops in the NFL." Ward was originally drafted by the Browns in the first round at No. 4 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. Across his seven seasons in the league, Ward has made four Pro Bowls and posted 322 total tackles with 264 solo and 11 for loss. He's added six QB hits and half a sack, with 17 interceptions, including two for touchdowns, four forced fumbles, and six fumble recoveries with two for touchdowns. Related: Ex Flacco Teammate Goes Off on Browns QB's Remarks Related: 'I'm Gonna Win This Job!' Browns' Joe Flacco Oozes Confidence at OTAs This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 5, 2025, where it first appeared.