Notre Dame’s offensive line may have stumbled onto its biggest camp surprise in the one spot that looked relatively settled: right guard.
Entering 2026, the unit didn’t seem like the place for a major shakeup. But Joe Rudolph has never been the kind of line coach who gets boxed in by a preseason depth chart. He’s willing to move pieces around, test players at spots they haven’t lived in for long, and trust the guy who looks best when the pads come on.
That flexibility has put Styles Prescod in the middle of the conversation.
Prescod came into camp as the primary backup at either tackle spot, but he’s now very much in the running to start at right guard. After the August 21 jersey scrimmage, he got a real chance to prove he could handle the job, and Notre Dame liked enough of what it saw to keep him working there. On Tuesday, he was taking drill reps at guard between Ashton Craig and starting right tackle Guerby Lambert.
“Listen, the competition at right guard is open,” offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock told the media after practice earlier this week. “And we’ve got a number of guys we're taking a look at in there. Styles is one of those guys.”
Denbrock said the scrimmage showed the staff “some really natural things happen from him in there,” and added, “We're going to keep trying to figure out what the best combination is up front. But Styles is definitely in the mix to become one of the five that goes out there.”
Prescod is a homegrown 6-foot-6, 304-pound lineman from Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Indiana, and coaches have long liked the way he works, even when he’s not in the spotlight. Now he’s drawing attention for a different reason: he’s pushing for a starting job after a career that has been interrupted by injury and limited opportunity.
He missed all of 2024 with an injury, then played in only seven games in 2025. Last season, he logged just 88 snaps, all at left tackle, with his biggest workload coming in Week 4 against Purdue when he played 20 snaps after the game had already swung firmly in Notre Dame’s favor.
That’s a thin resume, but it hasn’t stopped Prescod from forcing his way into the picture. For now, Notre Dame’s right guard race is open, and the former backup tackle is suddenly one of the most intriguing names in it.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Helped Spark A Fight LSU Is Daring To Ignore
Several major powers in college sports, including Notre Dame, the Big Ten and the SEC, have already moved to shut the door on NFL players trying to jump into college football programs. The NFL has answered with its own hard line, barring players who leave the league for college football from signing with any team in the 2026 season, turning what once might have been a novelty into a real governance fight.
LSU, though, is pressing ahead anyway, actively recruiting former NFL players for both its football and basketball programs. The list includes tight end Dae'Quan Wright, defensive lineman Zxavian Harris and guard RJ Luis Jr., who received a preliminary injunction allowing him to play for LSUs basketball team in the 2026-27 season. For Notre Dame and the rest of the schools that backed the ban, LSUs willingness to keep pushing the issue leaves the sport staring at a test case it clearly is not done litigating. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dames Loaded Roster Just Raised The 2026 Ceiling Debate
The early national buzz around Notre Dames 2026 outlook is already coming into focus, and it starts with just how many of its best players showed up on The Athletics latest top-100 list. Leonard Moore landed all the way at No. 2, while CJ Carr checked in at No. 9, giving the Fighting Irish a rare pair near the very top of the college football conversation before the season even gets rolling. Add in Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Anthonie Knapp, Boubacar Traore and Tae Johnson, and it is clear the roster talent in South Bend is being viewed as more than just deep - it is being viewed as elite.
For Notre Dame, the more interesting part is what this kind of recognition says about the programs ceiling. The Athletics rankings and player capsules are built around individual traits and recent production, but the larger takeaway is how many different spots on the field are represented here, from the secondary to the front seven to the offensive side of the ball. When six players make a list like this, the question shifts from whether Notre Dame has enough top-end talent to whether it can turn that talent into the kind of complete team that survives the biggest games on the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Dante Moore Has Oregon Fans Dreaming Bigger Than Just A Return
The Heisman Trophy conversation already has its usual mix of familiar names and long-shot possibilities, and Notre Dame has a place in it thanks to Jeremiyah Love. The running back is coming off a season good enough to put him among the finalists, which matters in a race that still leans heavily toward quarterbacks but never fully ignores a star who can take over games.
Beyond Love, the early 2026 picture is loaded with quarterbacks whose rsums and upside keep the discussion moving. Carr, Chambliss, Manning and Dante Moore all bring different appeal after their previous seasons, and Moore in particular has Oregon fans thinking beyond a simple bounce-back or return to form. As always with the Heisman, the path is rarely straight for long, and injuries or an unexpected breakout can change the board before the season is even settled. [Read more 🡒]