Multiple Notre Dame football stars named preseason All-Americans

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Multiple Notre Dame football stars named preseason All-Americans

Notre Dame football enters the 2026 season with extremely high expectations, and plenty of star power on its roster.

Recently, Phil Steele’s 2026 College Football Preview magazine was released, and his All-American teams included six Irish players making the teams. Starting off with the lone first-team selection was cornerback Leonard Moore, who enters his junior season as one of the players nationally. He should contend for multiple awards this fall as long as he stays healthy.

Just one player made Steele’s second-team, and it was safety Tae Johnson. The redshirt sophomore is coming off a breakout season where he had 48 tackles with four interceptions, one going back for a score.

The Irish had two players make the third-team, both defenders in linebacker Drayk Bowen and defensive end Boubacar Traore. The senior linebacker has been a rock in the middle of Notre Dame defense over the past two seasons, racking up 145 tackles with 4.5 sacks and recovering three fumbles. Traore was in the midst of a breakout season in 2024 but an injury cut his season short. He came back this past fall to register 6.5 sacks with 37 total tackles.

The final two players are one Notre Dame offense, as quarterback CJ Carr and offensive tackle Charles Jagusah were named the Steele’s fourth-team. The second-year quarterback starter had a massive redshirt freshman throwing for 2,741-yards with 24 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. This might be a bit low for Carr, who is viewed as one of the best in the country. As for Jagusah, the issue has never been talent, it’s been staying on the field. An unfortunate UTV injury held him from playing last year, but he should be healthy for the start of this season.

These six Notre Dame players make up the foundation for what should be massive season, with the ultimate goal of winning a College Football Playoff firmly in-sight.

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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Notre Dame sees six players named as preseason All-Americans

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