Who Leads Notre Dame’s Running Game in 2026?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish enter the 2026 season without Jeremiyah Love or Jadarian Price in the running back room, but head coach Marcus Freeman’s squad still has plenty of talent at the position. As fall camp enters its second week, the early returns suggest this could be one of the more volatile position groups on the roster. The question isn’t whether the room will be good it’s who will emerge as the top backs and how deep the committee will go.

Two names in particular are shaping up as genuine wild cards in that equation: freshman Jonaz Walton and veteran Kedren Young. Here’s a full breakdown of why both backs are crashing the party early in fall camp.

The Established Names: Aneyas Williams and Nolan James Jr.

Before diving into the wild cards, it’s worth setting the table. Junior Aneyas Williams and redshirt freshman Nolan James Jr. are currently the two most established names in Notre Dame’s backfield conversation. Williams showed real flashes as the third back in Notre Dame’s rotation during 2024, and now has a legitimate chance to take over as the No. 1 option. James, meanwhile, is a player the coaching staff is extremely high on, with running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider recently pushing back on the idea that Notre Dame’s room takes a step back this season, specifically pointing to James as a three-down option who simply needs more game reps.

Both Williams and James were recruited to Notre Dame by former running backs coach Deland McCullough, who has since moved on to Oklahoma. That leaves Seider — who joined the staff from Penn State in March 2025 — tasked with bringing along a group that blends his own recruits with players from the previous coaching regime.

Kedren Young: The Veteran Wild Card Finally Healthy Again

Kedren Young represents the wild card of Notre Dame’s veteran group. Now fully healthy after recovering from a torn ACL, Young has the physical tools to genuinely compete for the lead back role. At 5-foot-11 and more than 230 pounds, he’s the most physically imposing runner in the entire room, and arguably the most talented back on the roster if he can simply stay on the field. Durability has been the central question surrounding Young through his first two years on campus, but after returning to practice this fall, he’s described himself as feeling the best he’s felt in a long time.

If Young can put his injury history behind him, his combination of size, power and explosiveness gives Notre Dame a different kind of weapon than anything else in the room — a true short-yardage and physical-runner presence that could pair well with the other backs’ skill sets.

Jonaz Walton: The True Freshman Already Turning Heads

On the freshman side, Jonaz Walton has emerged as the clearest breakout candidate in the room. A highly productive prep standout out of Carrollton, Georgia, Walton committed to Notre Dame in May 2025 as a top-10 running back nationally, choosing the Irish over programs including Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. He arrived with a reputation as a true all-purpose back, having accumulated more than 4,000 total yards in high school — with roughly 3,000 rushing yards and another 900-plus yards through the air.

Unlike most true freshmen, Walton didn’t wait until fall camp to make an impression. He participated fully in spring practice and impressed a wide range of observers with the talent that made him such a heavily recruited prospect. At 211 pounds, Walton already carries real size for a freshman running back, and Seider has praised his football IQ as a key reason he’s expected to see the field early. According to Seider, there are simply “no young guys” left in this room anymore — everyone, Walton included, is expected to compete and contribute immediately.

Why the Room’s Pecking Order Remains Genuinely Unsettled

The volatility in Notre Dame’s backfield isn’t about whether the group will be productive — it’s about how the pecking order ultimately shakes out, and whether the regular rotation extends to three or even four backs once the season begins. Fall camp will provide the data points needed to answer those questions, and the early signs suggest Young and Walton are set to play outsized roles in shaping that answer, alongside Williams and James.

Notre Dame also has freshman Javian Osborne in the mix, giving the Irish five total scholarship running backs competing for meaningful carries. Seider has been direct with his group about the standard he expects, reminding his backs that trying to replicate Love or Price isn’t the goal instead, he’s pushed each player to become the best version of themselves, since that’s precisely why they were recruited to Notre Dame in the first place.

What This Means for Notre Dame’s 2026 Offense

Replacing two backs who consistently turned modest gains into explosive, momentum-shifting plays is no small task, and it raises a real question about whether this year’s group can replicate that same big-play ability or whether Notre Dame’s rushing attack becomes more methodical and efficient rather than explosive. That answer may hinge directly on how quickly Walton and Young can establish themselves. If Young stays healthy and Walton continues building on his strong spring performance, Notre Dame’s backfield could evolve from simply “good” into something closer to the explosive, difference-making unit the program is used to fielding.

Final Thoughts

Notre Dame’s running back room enters 2026 with legitimate uncertainty, but also genuine excitement. Between Aneyas Williams and Nolan James Jr.’s established roles, Kedren Young’s return to full health, and Jonaz Walton’s rapid freshman ascension, Marcus Freeman and Ja’Juan Seider have real options to sort through over the coming weeks. How that pecking order settles — and how much these two wild cards ultimately factor in could go a long way toward determining just how far Notre Dame’s offense can carry the program this season.