Five Backs, One Football: Notre Dame’s Backfield Exits Camp Unsettled

Notre Dame wrapped up fall camp last week with one final scrimmage before shifting gears to Wisconsin prep. When head coach Marcus Freeman was asked how close the unsettled spots were to resolving, he started at running back. He gave an order, then immediately complicated it: five backs are playing well enough that he does not know how to get them all on the field.

“Running back, I mean, you’re going – obviously Aneyas is going to go out there, you’re going to see Nolan, you’re going to see Kedren,” Freeman said. “You could really see all five. I mean, I don’t know how to play five running backs, but I would. Javian (Osborne) had a day. He had a really good day today, and Jonaz (Walton) has been consistent throughout the entire camp. He has really done a good job,” Freeman added.

“I think the top three, because you’ve seen their body of work, that’s why I said in that order. But those two freshmen have really, really gotten better.”

Aneyas Williams, Nolan James Jr., and Kedren Young sit at the top. The two names Freeman went out of his way to bring up next were true true freshmen Javian Osborne and Jonaz Walton.

What the top three done to date, doesn’t add up to a ton of production. Williams ran for 224 yards and five touchdowns on 24 carries last season and added two catches for 40 yards, giving him career numbers of 443 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 58 carries. James has 14 career carries for 37 yards. Young’s production came in 2024, when he ran 21 times for 116 yards and a score.

The reason for their lack of production is understandable, though. Notre Dame was absolutely loaded at the position the last two seasons. Jeremiyah Love is with the Arizona Cardinals, and Jadarian Price is with the Seattle Seahawks, and neither of the two first-round picks garnered the majority of the rushes the last two years.

Two Freshmen Push Into the Picture

Osborne and Walton arrived together as borderline top-100 recruits, and they got Freeman’s attention Friday for opposite reasons. Osborne, out of Forney, Texas, missed spring practice while recovering from an injury and has been playing catch-up all summer. He picked the last scrimmage of camp to have his best day. Walton, out of Carrollton, Georgia, was healthy through winter workouts, spring, and summer, and what earned him a mention was that he has been the same player every day of camp.

Asked how he messages that reality to freshmen who would start elsewhere, Freeman did not describe a waiting period.

“If you wait for the opportunity, you’re going to be waiting for a long time, because there is no ‘it’s your turn’ here,” Freeman said. “Like we don’t do, like, no, all right, it’s your turn. No, it’s you earn that position.”

Walton grabbed the attention of running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider earlier in camp, with Seider stating bluntly that Walton would play this year. He didn’t leave a whole lot of room for interpretation.

No Redshirt Math to Hide Behind

The realistic entry point for both is special teams, and the eligibility math no longer argues against it. The NCAA’s new five-for-five model wiped out redshirts entirely – five seasons inside a five-year window, with the clock running whether a player takes a snap or not. There is no longer a year to protect by holding a freshman back, which leaves only the football question of whether he helps.

In years past, the staff might have been more cautious with a pair of true freshman backs to preserve their eligibility, but that is no longer the case. Special teams could be an avenue for playing time for both as well. Price made his mark as a kick returner for the Irish. Freeman mentioned a few true freshmen who could play on special teams, but they were all on the defensive side of the ball. Still, backs with Walton and Osborne’s skills could also be factors in the return game.

Five Backs, One Football

Freeman said himself he does not know how to play five running backs, and a weekly game plan has fewer touches in it than five backs can absorb. That makes the Week 1 rep count the first real signal, and Notre Dame opens against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field on Sept. 6, two weeks after the end of camp.

Freeman’s answer to the crowding was the same one he has given all month.

“Whatever you’ve been given today, you got to clear your plate,” he said. “And if you do that consistently, you’re going to get more.”

CJ Carr will decide how much the run game has to carry since it would only make sense for the Irish offense to lean more on pass in 2026 than it did in 2025. But a backfield that lost two first-round picks came out of camp with five backs Freeman would put on the field, and only three of them have carried the ball in a college game. The carries against the Badgers are the first evidence anyone outside the building gets about how he intends to split them.