Three Notre Dame Players Named On ESPN’s Top 40 Most Important Players List For 2025 originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The college football season is 18 days from kicking off in week zero; ESPN has broken down who they believe are the top 40 most important players for this upcoming season. They broke down the list into different sections including ‘new starting quarterbacks for likely contenders’ and ‘most important non-quarterback transfers. Three Notre Dame players found their names on this Top 40 list from ESPN and the first name may come as a surprise.
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“Notre Dame made the national title game last season despite an offense focused mainly on short passes and lots of third-down QB keepers. Riley Leonard was really good at those things, but Carr, a top-40 prospect in 2024, brings quite the old-school, pro-style skill set to the table. Can he boost the Irish’s upside enough to maybe actually win the national title game (while providing enough of a floor to get them back there)?” – Bill Connelly, ESPN
CJ Carr, a redshirt freshman, made Connelly’s list as the No. 4 most important player in college football this season. Even though Notre Dame has yet to name a starter, the player who takes over for Riley Leonard will be vital to their success. Last season, Notre Dame went on a historic 13-game win streak to land themselves in the National Championship game against Ohio State. Unfortunately, the Irish fell short 34-23 but still managed to record the most wins in a single season in program history as well as end their 31 year major bowl win drought.
Whether it’s Carr or redshirt sophomore Kenny Minchey, the starting quarterback at Notre Dame is always held in high regard. This season, with offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock heading into year two and a host of top-level talent returning throughout the offense, the Irish are expected to be another top 10 offense this season and the starting quarterback will play a major role in that coming true.
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Notre Dame had two other players make ESPN’s Top 40 list in the ‘pure transcendence potential’ category and they were tied for No. 28 overall, cornerbacks Leonard Moore and Christian Gray.
“It was honestly incredible. Notre Dame lost all-world cornerback Benjamin Morrison to injury six games into 2024 and didn’t miss a single beat because Gray and Moore — then just a sophomore and freshman, respectively — were so damn good. They finished the season having combined for 5 interceptions, 19 pass breakups and 3 forced fumbles, and Gray’s spectacular interception of Drew Allar set up Notre Dame’s CFP semifinal win. Just imagine if even just one of these two hasn’t actually reached his ceiling.” – Bill Connelly, ESPN
Moore and Gray are expected to be one of the top cornerback duos in the country this upcoming season after combining for 20 passes defended, five interceptions and 83 tackles in 2024. Moore, a true sophomore, and Gray, a true junior, will be looking to build off of their 2024 success and become a more consistent and dominant duo in 2025. Their performance on the back end of the now Chris Ash defense will be crucial to Notre Dame’s success this season.
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A few other players were considered ‘honorable mentions’ on ESPN’s Top 40 list; Receiver transfers Malachi Fields from Virginia and Will Pauling from Wisconsin were listed in the ‘most important non-quarterback transfers’ section and star running back Jeremiyah Love was named in the ‘pure transcendence potential’ section. At the end of the day, Notre Dame will need all the players mentioned in this article, and then some, in order to achieve the team success they are striving for in 2025.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
