Notre Dame Fighting Irish news: injury scares, freshman breakout, more

Notre Dame Fighting Irish offensive lineman Ashton Craig was named to the Rimington Trophy Watch List, which honors the most outstanding center in Division I college football. The honor marks back-to-back years that Craig has been selected for the preseason list. Craig started the first six games of the year in 2025 before missing the rest of the season due to injury. He’s appeared in 17 games with 12 starts on the offensive line during his Irish career. This year, the Rimington selection committee is working with PFF to help determine the finalists.

• Over the summer, there was some concern that safety Joey O'Brien might miss some valuable time in fall camp if not in the regular season. However, the freshman has been out there every day of practice so far and has demonstrated the talent that could give him quite a bit of playing time as Chris Ash works to determine his secondary rotation.

• Early Saturday morning, the Senate went into its August recess without a vote on the Protect College Sports Act. While sponsor Ted Cruz said that he plans to return to the issue in September. However, some in college sports believe conferences like the Big Ten and SEC will move on to Plan C. If they do, it could be very bad news for Notre Dame.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish at fall camp

• Safety Adon Shuler caused a bit of a scare during practice on Saturday. He briefly came off the field with an ankle or lower-leg injury. However, while he was somewhat limited in what he could do after the injury, reports indicate that it looks like something the veteran can bounce back from quickly.

• Freshman running back Jonaz Walton has been working hard to get the attention of Notre Dame coaches so far in practices. He's been so successful in that goal that running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider recently told the media he expects Walton to see time on the field this season: "He put himself in the thick of this. He's gonna play. I'm just telling you, I can say it right now from what that kid has done from spring to summer to what he's doing in the fall. He's a gifted kid. I think he's got a chance to play this game for a long time."

More Notre Dame Fighting Irish and national news

• Jadarian Price has been impressing so far in the Seattle Seahawks' preseason camp. He's been so impressive, in fact, that he got a little segment on the HBO Show Hard Knocks, which is documenting the defending Super Bowl champ's lead-up to the regular season.

• Junior kicker Spencer Porath was named to the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, as announced by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. Porath is one of 35 players chosen to this year’s watch list in honor of the 35th anniversary of the award.

• Porath competed for Purdue over the past two seasons and converted 15 of 17 field goal attempts last year, for 88.2%. He was also a perfect 24-of-24 on PAT attempts. He hit a career-long 53-yard field goal last year at Washington.

• Saturday marked the latest NFL Hall of Fame induction ceremony. This year, Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri, and Roger Craig entered Canton.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow