THE APEX TIMES
Pro Football Focus’ 2026 top-50 list spotlights four Notre Dame standouts
Notre Dame landed four players in Pro Football Focus’ preseason Top 50 for the 2026 college football season, a spread that reflects the way the Fighting Irish have been building talent across positions.
Pro Football Focus has released its preseason Top 50 players for the 2026 college football season, and Notre Dame is among the teams with the most national name recognition on the list. According to the reporting around the release, four members of the Fighting Irish were ranked in the Top 50, underscoring the breadth of talent PFF expects Notre Dame to deploy this fall.
Among those players is cornerback Leonard Moore, who was described in coverage of the PFF release as the highest-ranked Notre Dame defender and one of the top overall prospects in college football. The same recap noted Moore’s standing in relation to other elite 2026 talent, placing him near the very top of PFF’s player board rather than in the middle tiers where most teams tend to cluster.
Notre Dame’s list also included quarterback CJ Carr, who was ranked at No. 14 in the reported ordering. The discussion around Carr’s placement emphasized development and opportunity, with the idea that his next leap should come from the supporting cast around him, as Notre Dame expects to have high-end playmaking threats available in 2026.
On defense, the Fighting Irish were represented again through linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, listed at No. 16 and identified as the top player at his position in the Top 50. The accompanying write-up also pointed to a timeline consideration early in the year, referencing that Viliamu-Asa was coming back from an injury from the prior season and that there was optimism he could be ready as camp and the opener approach.
The final Notre Dame name on the Top 50 was safety Braunate Johnson, placed at No. 44 in the reported rankings. Coverage highlighted a breakout stretch last season and framed Johnson as an ascending piece in the secondary, now entering what would be his second season as a starter, a key phase for players asked to handle more communication and coverage responsibility.
PFF’s Top 50 is built from player grading and advanced data rather than team-by-team narrative, so the Notre Dame distribution matters beyond individual accolades. It suggests the staff’s evaluation is seeing a team that can win matchups in multiple phases, which is often the difference between a strong season and a playoff-caliber profile. What to watch next is how quickly Notre Dame’s highest-ranked pieces translate the grading into consistent on-field production, especially at quarterback and in the defensive back end, where small execution gaps can swing PFF-style results.
Why It Matters
- A Top 50 spread that includes quarterback and multiple defensive roles points to Notre Dame having impact players across the roster, which can raise floor and ceiling for the season.
- PFF’s grading-based evaluation can influence how analysts project matchups, especially at positions where single-play execution often decides games.
- Ranked defenders and a starting-caliber safety can improve stability in the secondary, a key factor in national-title level contention.
- High expectations for the quarterback position typically increase the scrutiny on consistency from the first full stretch of the season onward.
Sources
Key Facts
- Pro Football Focus released a preseason Top 50 ranking of college football players for 2026.
- Notre Dame had four players included in the Top 50 list in the reported ordering.
- Leonard Moore was listed among the highest Notre Dame players on the Top 50 board.
- CJ Carr was ranked No. 14 in the reported Top 50.
- Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa was ranked No. 16 and identified as the top player at his position in the Top 50 ranking.
- Braunate Johnson was ranked No. 44 in the reported Top 50.