Bruce Feldman’s Freak’s List highlights four Notre Dame trench prospects, including transfer Francis Brewu and defensive star Bryce Young

A fresh edition of Bruce Feldman’s annual “Freak’s List” is putting Notre Dame’s front-line talent on display for the 2026 season. Yahoo Sports reported that four Fighting Irish trench players were named to Feldman’s newest compilation of college football’s most physically gifted athletes, an exercise that typically blends testing, weight-room production, and on-field traits that are hard to teach.

Feldman’s list is designed to highlight the kind of rare athleticism that shows up in multiple ways. Over the years it has often included players whose measurables or football skills suggest an unusual ability to win in space or through contact, whether that advantage shows up in strength numbers, combine-type performance, or game footage. The recurring theme is physical dominance, not scheme fit or highlight reels.

Among the Notre Dame names surfaced in the report is Francis Brewu, described by Yahoo Sports as a “powerhouse transfer.” The list framing matters because it indicates the Fighting Irish view Brewu as part of the program’s immediate effort to upgrade the trenches through the transfer market, where teams look for impact bodies rather than developmental depth.

Also included, according to Yahoo Sports, is Bryce Young, referenced as a “legacy standout.” That phrasing positions Young as more than a standard roster addition, tying his selection to Notre Dame’s longer-term identity of producing high-level linemen who can handle the pace and contact demands of the sport’s front. Even without a detailed statistical breakdown in the Yahoo report, the inclusion is a vote of confidence in his physical profile and potential to translate athletic traits into repeatable game production.

The Yahoo Sports report also references prior “Freak’s List” selections tied to Notre Dame, including defensive end Bryce Young and tight end Eli Raridon being listed the previous season. The reference provides context for how Notre Dame players can appear across multiple years, suggesting the program is not relying on a single wave of athletes to generate elite testing or field-level athletic traits.

Feldman’s latest Notre Dame representation is specifically described as four linemen, though the Yahoo Sports writeup preview does not name all four directly in the material available here. That means the full cast of the 2026 list for Notre Dame should be confirmed from the original reporting tied to the Feldman release itself before those additional names are treated as fully established facts.

What to watch next is how the “freakish” athletic labels translate into the most difficult part of college football: consistency. For Notre Dame, a four-man trench presence on the list suggests a focus on building size, speed, and strength up front, where the margin between winning and losing often comes down to who finishes blocks, controls leverage, and keeps their footing when games tighten.

In practical terms, Feldman’s list is less about a week-one projection and more about what the team’s recruiting and development efforts are producing athletically. Over the 2026 season, the trench players highlighted on the list will be the ones whose physical ceiling is already established, making their performance in high-pressure moments the best test of whether the measurables carry over to sustained production on Saturdays.