Notre Dame Football 2024: Offense Depth Chart Breakdown and Quick Takes
Notre Dame is coming off one of the strangest years offensively you may ever see.
From afar, 2023 was a blossoming year for the Notre Dame offense. The Fighting Irish averaged a hum-dinging 39.2 points per game, good for the seventh-most nationally.
However, if you combine the outputs against just Ohio State, Duke, Louisville, and Clemson (probably the four best defenses on the schedule), Notre Dame averaged just 19.5 points per game.
Sure, Notre Dame scored 48 points against USC, but 14 of those came directly from special teams and defenses scores while a good amount more were set up on short fields by turnovers.
The point of all that is to say that regardless of competition, Notre Dame's offense needs to be significantly more consistent in 2024.
The addition of offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock should help with that, as should veteran quarterback Riley Leonard and some veteran aid in the wide receiver department.
How will Notre Dame's depth chart look headed into fall camp? Let's take a quick look at how we project the offensive starting lineup to look roughly a month out from camp opening.
Notre Dame Quarterback Depth Chart
QB1 - 13 Riley Leonard, 6-4, 216, Sr.
QB2 - 18 Steve Angeli, 6-2, 205, Jr.
For the second year in a row Notre Dame brings in a final-year quarterback from the ACC. This year Leonard presents more of a threat to run than Sam Hartman did. Angeli, who started the bowl win over Oregon State, will have to hold off up-and-coming underclassmen Kenny Minchey (Soph.) and CJ Carr (Fr.).
Nick's Quick Take: Assuming health, Leonard should be closer to what Hartman was supposed to be in the quickly improving room. If all goes according to plan, this will be the last year for a long while that a transfer quarterback heads the room.
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Notre Dame Running Back Depth Chart
RB1 - 4 Jeremiyah Love, 6-0, 206, Soph.
RB2 - 24 Jadarian Price, 5-10, 203, Soph.
RB3 - 21 Kedren Young, 6-0, 229, Fr.
Jeremiyah Love appears to be in the drivers seat to get the bulk of carries but Price shined in spots last year after coming back from an Achilles heel injury. Kedren Young figures to get the carries that would have gone to Gi'Bran Payne before Payne was lost for the year due to injury.
Nick's Quick Take: The running back room doesn't have an obvious lead back yet but the depth continues to improve. This feels like a 2022-type running back situation and that clearly ended more than well.
Notre Dame Wide Receiver Depth Chart
FIELD RECEIVER
FWR1 - 10 Kris Mitchell, 6-0, 183, Grad. Sr.
FWR2 - 11 KK Smith, 6-0, 178, Soph.
Mitchell starred at Florida International where he hauled in 1,118 receiving yards and eight touchdowns a year ago. Smith brings a speed element after being a late addition to the 2023 recruiting class.
SLOT RECEIVER
SWR1 - 1 Jaden Greathouse, 6-1, 215, Soph.
SWR2 - 6 Jordan Faison, 5-10, 182, Soph.
Greathouse came out of the gate flying his freshman year but a hamstring injury in late September stunted his season. Meanwhile, nobody knew who Jordan Faison was a year ago as the former football walk-on now has a scholarship and helped Notre Dame win a lacrosse national championship this past spring.
BOUNDARY RECEIVER
BWR1 - 83 Jayden Thomas, 6-2, 218, Jr.
BWR2 - 5 Beaux Collins, 6-3, 202, Sr.
Thomas battled injuries last year but when healthy has been Notre Dame's most-used wide receiver the last two seasons. Beaux Collins brings veteran knowledge from Clemson where he caught 38 passes for 510-yards and three touchdowns a season ago.
Nick's Quick Take: Can any receivers create separation with regularity this year? You tell me what Kris Mitchell's end of season stats look like and I'll tell you if this Notre Dame offense was an obvious improvement or not.
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Notre Dame Tight End Depth Chart
TE1 - 88 Mitchell Evans, 6-5, 260, Sr.
TE2 - 9 Eli Raridon, 6-7, 250, Jr.
Evans was on his way to an All-American type season before tearing his ACL late last October. New offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock tends to use just one tight end in his offense much more than Notre Dame fans have been used to the last decade-plus.
Nick's Quick Take: They might not be used the same way but assuming health, which is difficult with these two, it's just as talented as almost any tight end pairing in the country.
Notre Dame Offensive Line Depth Chart
LEFT TACKLE
LT1 - 56 Charles Jagusah, 6-7, 330, Soph.
LT2 - 75 Sullivan Absher, 6-7, 321, Soph.
Jagusah was among Notre Dame's highest rated recruits in 2023. Although he didn't see the field most of the year, he did perform nicely after a bit of a slow start in Notre Dame's Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl victory.
LEFT GUARD
LG1 - 78 Pat Coogan, 6-5, 310, Sr.
LG2 - 50 Rocco Spindler, 6-5, 331, Sr.
Coogan entered last spring as a bit of an afterthought but performed in a way that he took the starting job at left guard from highly touted Billy Schrauth and will have raised expectations in 2024. Spindler played much of last season at right guard before an injury cut his season short.
CENTER
C1 - 70 Ashton Craig, 6-4, 308, Soph.
C2 - 72 Sam Pendleton, 6-4, 305, Soph.
Ashton Craig took advantage of being forced into playing time last year by performing well enough in the Sun Bowl to take home All-Bowl Team honors for his efforts. He enters this season as the clear-cut favorite
RIGHT GUARD
RG1 - 74 Billy Schrauth, 6-5, 315, Jr.
RG2 - 55 Chris Terek, 6-5, 333, Soph.
In a bit of a surprise, Schrauth was unseated by Pat Coogan in the left guard competition a year ago. He enters this year looking to live up to the massive hype he had a little over a year ago.
RIGHT TACKLE
RT1 - 79 Tosh Baker, 6-8, 320, Sr.
RT2 - 59 Aamil Wagner, 6-6, 290, Jr.
After a whirlwind few years at Notre Dame, Baker heads to camp with a chance to earn a starting tackle spot that has been nearly impossible to come by in recent years with Joe Alt and Blake Fisher manning the posts.
Nick's Quick Take: Overall the offense should improve, specifically against the better competition it faces compared to 2022. The offensive line figures to be a work in progress but you can start to see how downright scary this offense has the potential to be in a couple short years.
NICK SHEPKOWSKI