Notre Dame fans looking for something to obsess over before the 2026 season just got it.
Yahoo College Fantasy Football officially launched Thursday morning, and with it came preseason rankings that put every player in the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and Notre Dame under the microscope. For Fighting Irish followers, the early read is a mixed bag: the defense is getting top billing, but the offense is drawing a much colder evaluation.
The biggest eye-opener sits at quarterback. CJ Carr is ranked 36th among fantasy quarterbacks in the Power 4, a placement that will raise more than a few eyebrows in South Bend. Yahoo has several passers ahead of him, including California’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, Wisconsin’s Colton Joseph and Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor.
Fantasy football has always had a soft spot for quarterbacks who can do damage with their legs, and that helps explain some of the ordering. A player can pile up points even on a struggling team if he’s forced to keep throwing and running. Still, Yahoo has Arch Manning as the top fantasy quarterback on the platform, even though he is not projected to be the kind of runner who suddenly turns into an 800-yard threat.
Notre Dame’s backfield looks far more appealing in the rankings. Aneyas Williams, despite not having the starting job in South Bend yet, is listed as the ninth-best running back.
At receiver, Jordan Faison leads the Irish group. That part is no shock. The surprise is how modestly he’s rated overall: Faison comes in as the 45th-best wideout and 187th overall on the platform.
Cooper Flanagan is the top Notre Dame tight end in the rankings, and Yahoo clearly thinks he can be a useful fantasy piece. He checks in as the 23rd-best tight end, though the position itself is not treated as a major fantasy driver, which leaves him down at 414th overall.
The team-level rankings bring the clearest split. Yahoo has Notre Dame’s offense near the bottom of the fantasy landscape, with only Louisville, Cincinnati and UCF ranked worse. But the defense is sitting at the top of the board as the No. 1 unit in Yahoo College Fantasy Football.
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Gould said he was excited about the chance and spoke highly of running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider, a sign the relationship is off to a strong start before the process really gets rolling. He also plans to make an unofficial trip to South Bend in the future, and with Notre Dame already in the conversation, the next step will be seeing how much that early momentum can grow once he gets a closer look in person. [Read more 🡒]