Notre Dame's 2026 Season Is Going To Be SPECIAL...

Notre Dame still has questions to answer. The offensive line needs to develop chemistry, the defensive tackle rotation needs to prove itself, and the Fighting Irish have to replace the production of Jeremiah Love and Dorian Price. The wide receiver room also has plenty of competition and questions heading into the season.

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Video Transcript

We are just a few days from Notre Dame football opening up the twenty twenty-six season against the Wisconsin Badgers, and I have a final prediction video coming to you all, so make sure you hit that like and subscribe while you're here.

But for now, this is about the entirety of the twenty twenty-six season for Notre Dame.

Some hot takes and predictions are coming your way.

Some you'll like, some you don't like.

But let's get to all those predictions next.

Breaking down.

What's up, everybody?

Ryan Roberts from A to Z Sports breaking down everything Notre Dame football.

Folks, we're gonna get to the hot takes and predictions.

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Now let's get into these Notre Dame hot takes and predictions.

This one will be controversial to mostly outsiders, not as many Notre Dame fans will push back on this prediction, especially if I'm correct.

But I do have Notre Dame going in the regular season twelve and O.

For me, and you obviously have the two biggest games on the schedules that we will have circled as Notre Dame fans are the game against BYU and the game against Miami.

Now, obviously you get Miami at home, which I think is huge for that revenge aspect of the conversation, especially with how last season's game went, twenty-seven twenty-four.

Notre Dame obviously fell behind early in that football game.

They came roaring back, tied it up, but then Miami got the victory in the end.

So I think that with how the twenty twenty-five season ended for Notre Dame, Head Coach Marcus Freeman and the veterans that he is coming back, I think that there's been a bad taste in their mouth all off-season.

And with that bad taste, I think that Notre Dame is going to come out, especially for that game, they're gonna be ready.

Like, and I don't think they're gonna get off to a slow start this year, which has been an issue under Coach Freeman, obviously, but I think that they have been a little bit pissed off this off-season, and I think that they're ready to roll here.

That game going out to Utah, to Provo to play BYU, that game does have me worried because I think BYU is a good football team, and they have a couple dynamic players, both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, like LJ Morton at running back and Bear Bachmeier at quarterback.

But I do think that Notre Dame is just, on paper, at least today, the better football team.

So I know they have the home field advantage, but I still think Notre Dame gets it done.

Twelve and O, outside of those two contests, there's a couple interesting games that you can't overlook, obviously, like SMU.

But I do think Notre Dame gets this thing done and ends twelve and O in the regular season.

The next one, this is the more controversial one.

I think Notre Dame wins the national championship this year.

And I, I've said this now a couple times this off-season, and for people that have followed me in the past, I like to think that I have an optimistic view of this program mostly, but I have never, since I entered the media realm in twenty eighteen, I have never once predicted Notre Dame to win a national championship.

I predicted them to make the playoffs.

I've predicted them to make a run in the playoffs, but I have never said the words, "I think they're gonna win the national championship this year."

I think Notre Dame's gonna win the national championship this year.

And I know a lot of people are saying this now.

It's kind, kind of a trendy thing, which actually gives me nervous, because I kind of want Notre Dame to go a little bit more under the radar.

So I am a part of the problem to a degree.

But I think when you have a head coach and all three coordinators back for at least now two seasons, obviously Mike Danbrock entering year three, Chris Asher entering year two, and then you also have Marty Biagi back as your special teams coordinator.

Whenever you have that, plus a second-year starting quarterback, plus you've been recruiting the way that you have been recruiting, and you have depth everywhere to a much higher degree, and you have stars on all levels of the defense in Boubacar Traor and Kingston Villiamuasa, Drake Bowen, and you have Leonard Moore, obviously, you have Adan Schuler.

I, I think all those things together gives me high hopes for this season.

So yes, national championship Notre Dame team, I think that they have everything at their arsenal and everything in their back pocket, everything in the playbook to be able to get this thing done.

So that's the two hot takes, I suppose, to start out the season.

But man, I really do like this football team on paper.

And I know there's a couple question marks in terms of how the offensive line gels, and what does the defensive tackle impact look like ultimately?

How do you replace Jeremiah Love, Jadarian Price?

Like, there's all interesting conversation points.

You know, what exactly does the wide receiver room look like?

All those things are fair, and fair criticisms, and fair a- questions that you want answered.

But I just think that this team's really talented, man.

So I am buying stock into this Notre Dame football team without question.

Here's a big one.

So n- it's been several years, I believe since Chase Claypool, actually, that Notre Dame has had a thousand-yard receiver.

And I know the conversation points that we've been having this off-season about, wow, the depth of this wide receiver room, and I agree.

You have Jordan Faison, you have Jaden Greathouse, you have Mylan Graham.

Hopefully at some point you'll have Quincy Porter.

Matt Jeffrey had a big off-season.

You have a really talented young freshman.

You have a lot of options at wide receiver.

Obviously, Mikey Gilbert's a guy I didn't even mention.

That's, you know, your starting boundary receiver to begin the twenty twenty-six season.

Despite that depth, I think Jordan Faison goes over a thousand yards this year, and he had over six hundred last year in twelve games.

So this is partly, one, I'm high on Jordan Faison this year, especially because he had a tremendous year last year for the opportunities he was given.

Plus, for the first time, and I don't know when the last time that Jordan Faison had the opportunity to focus on one sport.

It's like- This is it, man.

Football.

And I know that's, and it's obviously him deciding to move away from lacrosse this past off-season.

And I know that he's, one of those guys that does technically have another year of eligibility with the new five for five, but you need to prepare like this is Jordan Faison's last year in South Bend, 'cause there's some decent NFL draft grades out there that should only go up.

And I really think that, one, he's gonna have a big year, he's gonna be really impactful, especially with the chemistry that he has with CJ Carr.

I also believe, and part of the, the projection here, is that if Notre Dame does play 15 games plus, well, you have a lot of games to work with in terms of, like, if you have 50, 60, 70 yards pretty consistently, you're gonna be in that 1,000 yard realm.

So this is partly a buying stock in Jordan Faison having a full off-season of just football.

It's also part of, I think Notre Dame's gonna make a deep playoff run.

So those two things together, I think Jordan Faison has a really productive senior season.

Next one, another hot take.

It would've been a-- It's less of a hot take than it would've been probably two weeks ago, but I'm gonna go Armel Mukam.

Now starting defensive tackle at Notre Dame as a red shirt junior, fourth year in the program, Armel Mukam has 10 plus tackles for loss this season.

Again, partly because a long off-season, but I am, I'm buying stock in Armel Mukam, like I just am.

And maybe it's because I liked him a lot coming out of Woodberry Forest, and I like his background, I like his talent, I love the upside that he brings to the table.

But everything you've heard this off-season with him entering the portal, then deciding to come back, but then having to work his tail off to fend off Francis Brew and Tion Gray, and then Jason Onyeachukwu's coming back, and then Elijah Hughes is also returning.

And you have some younger guys like Sean Sevelano Jr.

He has technically had the deck stacked against him, and that's why I've been so high on Mukam, especially with his ascension to the top of the depth chart.

'Cause when you have your back against the wall, it shows the character that you have, and there's never been a question about the talent with Armel Mukam, but it does appear that defensive line coach Charlie Partridge is finally getting the best out of him.

So I'm excited to see the type of player that Armel Mukam could be this season.

I think he could be the best defensive tackle, and if he is, on top of having Gray, on top of having Brew, on top of having Onyeachukwu and Hughes and Sevelano, and at some point hopefully Christopher Burgess, this defensive tackle room has a chance to be outstanding.

My last one, and it's not a super hot take because everyone that's been reading anything from me at A to Z Sports, you've been following the channel for a while, you know I'm incredibly high on linebacker Kingston Viliamo-asa.

I believe that he could be maybe the best linebacker in the country when he is back fully healthy.

I know he's questionable for this game against the Wisconsin Badgers, but for the entirety of the twenty twenty-six season, whether that is 11 games, 12 games, or m- hopefully many more, I believe that KVA is going to be an All-American player this year.

The talent he has, six-three, two-thirty, could play on the second level, could blitz from outside, could blitz from inside.

I'm huge on KVA.

Wanna hear from your hot takes, though.

Hot takes, predictions, put it in the chat.

Make sure to hit that like and subscribe on your way out, folks, and I will talk to you this weekend.

As always, go Irish.

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