Some members of Notre Dame’s 2024 recruiting class didn’t take long to make impacts in their Irish careers. Eight players in the freshman class last year exhausted their first seasons of eligibility by playing in at least five regular season games.

Seven of the freshmen played in at least 14 games: linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (14), safety Kennedy Urlacher (14), left tackle Anthonie Knapp (15), defensive end Loghan Thomas (15), running back Aneyas Williams (15), cornerback Leonard Moore (16) and defensive end Bryce Young (16). Cornerback Karson Hobbs played in nine games in his debut season.

That leaves 19 members of the 2024 recruiting class — 15 scholarship players and four walk-on players — with four seasons of eligibility still remaining in their college careers. The current winter workouts and upcoming spring football practices, which are set to begin March 18, will be a critical time for any of those players hoping to elevate themselves into significant roles in the 2025 season.

Inside ND Sports takes a look at seven sophomores-to-be coming off redshirt seasons who are most likely to use the next two months to springboard into competitive roles next season.

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For the sake of everyone involved, hopefully the mysterious elbow injury from last season is behind CJ Carr as he starts to make his case to be Notre Dame’s next starting quarterback. The Irish opted to end their transfer portal quarterback trend due to the amount of talent already on Notre Dame’s roster at the position. And Carr is a big part of that.

Most observers believe Carr is the most complete quarterback the Irish have, but he’ll have to beat out a more experienced Steve Angeli. Carr showed his promise last spring, and he’ll need to do it again to push to the front of the competition. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Carr played in just one game last season — a 66-7 win over Purdue in week 3 — but all he did was hand the ball to freshman running back Kedren Young three times and end the game with a quarterback kneel.

Angeli, who will be a senior this fall, has stepped up when called upon and played a major role in keeping the Irish in the game when starter Riley Leonard was briefly sidelined before halftime of the 27-24 comeback win over Penn State in the CFP semifinal hosted by the Orange Bowl. While Angeli’s past performances matter in the competition, the Irish have to forecast who will become the better quarterback in the future rather than who has been better previously.

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Notre Dame will enter the 2025 season with a lot of experienced offensive linemen capable of attaining or retaining starting roles. But Guerby Lambert, who has yet to start a college game, could play the biggest role in what Notre Dame’s starting unit looks like in the season opener at Miami on Aug. 31.

If the 6-7, 323-pound Lambert proves to be capable of winning the left tackle job, Notre Dame can move both Charles Jagusah and Anthonie Knapp to the interior to compete for starting roles. But if Lambert isn’t quite ready, one of those other two will likely stay at left tackle.

Lambert should be given ample opportunities to show his progression this spring. Offensive line coach Joe Rudolph saw what Knapp was capable of all season and got a glimpse of Jagusah in game action in the final two games.

The lasting image of Micah Gilbert’s freshman season wasn’t a bright spot. In the fourth quarter of a 49-7 blowout win over Stanford, Gilbert could have registered a 35-yard touchdown on his first career catch. Instead, Gilbert dropped a perfect pass from Angeli after he ran wide open on a post route.

That missed opportunity shouldn’t define Gilbert’s future. He stood out last spring as Notre Dame’s most capable freshman wide receiver, even though that didn’t lead to high-leverage snaps in the fall. The 6-2, 208-pound Gilbert has size, speed and a burst that shows up when running routes.

Notre Dame will have a new starter at boundary receiver in the 2025 season after Beaux Collins departed for the NFL and seniors Jayden Thomas (Virginia) and Deion Colzie (Miami of Ohio) found new homes via the transfer portal. That new starter will likely be incoming Virginia transfer Malachi Fields, who caught 113 passes for 1,619 yards and 10 touchdowns the past two seasons with the Cavaliers, but Fields won’t join the team until the summer. That means Gilbert should get plenty of reps this spring to solidify himself as rotational piece at worst.

Tae Johnson’s freshman season was far from ordinary. A broken bone in his left foot required Johnson to have surgery. When he regained full health, the Irish moved him from safety to cornerback as emergency depth. Notre Dame never opted to play Johnson at cornerback in meaningful moments, but the fact that he was trusted to make the transition speaks to how highly the coaching staff viewed him.

The 6-2, 188-pound Johnson will probably move back to safety, but he could also play nickelback or cornerback in the Irish secondary. The most obvious opening in Notre Dame’s starting secondary is the safety role formerly occupied by two-time All-American Xavier Watts. So Johnson could join the competition at that position with the likes of Virginia Tech graduate transfer Jalen Stroman, junior-to-be Luke Talich, fellow sophomore-to-be Kennedy Urlacher and more.

Even if Johnson doesn’t end up as a starter this season, he could certainly find himself in a rotational or niche role that the Irish have used in previous seasons. It remains to be seen how often new defensive coordinator Chris Ash will choose to deploy a third safety or extra defensive back.

Fourth-string running backs don’t tend to look like Kedren Young. But that’s how loaded Notre Dame’s running backs room is. It’s no wonder why Ja’Juan Seider was willing to leave his job at Penn State to take over for Deland McCullough as Notre Dame’s running backs coach after McCullough left for the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.

Young took the redshirt route as a freshman rather than a very limited rotational role. He’ll have to keep impressing this spring if he wants to carve out a more substantial role this coming season. The Irish return their three top running backs from last season: Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price and Aneyas Willams.

Notre Dame doesn’t need to see much out of Love or Price this spring, so Williams and Young should get plenty of carries and practice reps to earn trust from Seider. And maybe Seider’s outlook on the running back group will differ from McCullough. The 6-0, 229-pound Young, who rushed 21 times for 116 yards and one touchdown against Purdue, Stanford and Navy, could add some more physicality to the rotation.

Though Notre Dame was desperate for depth on the interior of the defensive line for much of last season, Sean Sevillano Jr. wasn’t seen as a necessary option for most of his freshman season. The 6-1, 320-pound nose tackle played in three consecutive games in November against Florida State, Virginia and Army. He made four tackles in his limited action.

That productivity could propel Sevillano into a momentous offseason when the Irish are looking to replace starter Howard Cross III. Louisville graduate transfer Jared Dawson will likely take on that role, but the Irish will certainly want to rotate at the position. Jason Onye, who spent most of last season away from the team for “personal reasons,” could be hard to keep out of the rotation if available.

But Sevillano might be Notre Dame’s best space eater when it comes to his physical presence. If he can continue to get stronger and improve his technique, Sevillano could find more playing time ahead of his sophomore season.

Cam Williams saw plenty of camera time in his freshman season. That’s because he hosted a video series for Fighting Irish Media in which he interviewed his teammates throughout the year. But in terms of playing time, Williams was limited to one cameo in Notre Dame’s blowout win over Virginia in November.

The 6-2, 202-pound Williams was honest in his assessment of his preparedness to play last season. He admitted he needed to work on a lot of the important details in route running after getting away with relying on his athleticism at Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard South.

That athleticism is what makes him a tantalizing option if he can put all the skills together. Notre Dame needs playmakers at field receiver. Jordan Faison showed flashes again last season, and Jaden Greathouse ended the playoff as ND’s most impactful receiver. But there’s room for all to make plays if they can consistently play at a high level. Williams needs to make sure he doesn’t get left behind in an important spring.

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