Notre Dame Offensive Line Ranked As The Best OL Unit In College Football For 2025

Notre Dame has built a reputation over the years for putting elite offensive lines on the field, but that hasn't been the case in recent seasons. Coaching turnover, injuries and other issues have kept Notre Dame from putting an elite line on the field on a consistent basis since 2020. That needs to change, and Athlon Sports believes that will. 

In its 2025 College Football Preview, Athlon Sports ranked the Notre Dame offensive line as the No. 1 returning unit in all of college football. It was one of five position groups for Notre Dame that Athlon Sports has as the nation's best unit, and it's the only No. 1 unit for Notre Dame.

Expectations are sky high for Joe Rudolph and his unit. There has been ups and downs up front during Rudolph's first two seasons. The 2024 unit saw improvement despite dealing with a number of crushing injuries, including starting left tackle Charles Jagusah missing the first 14 games of the season and starting center Ashton Craig missing the final 13 games of the season. Four different starting players missed games in 2024 with injuries.

The Irish offensive line blocked the run game quite well during the regular season, with the offense averaging 224.8 rushing yards per game and an impressive 6.3 yards per carry. The postseason was more of a struggle, with the offense going for just 129.3 rushing yards and 3.7 yards per carry. 

But there is no doubt the line blocked much better on the ground, and injuries combined with the Irish playing the No. 1, No. 3, No. 9 and No. 36 rush defenses in the country to tamp down run game production in the postseason. An injury to star running back Jeremiyah Love in the final game of the regular season was also an issue.

Rudolph returns a much more experienced offensive line in 2025, with the projected starting unit going into the season with 55 career starts, compared to just six a season ago. The run game will be expected to at least maintain last season's level, but hopefully continued improvement can be made.

Where Rudolph needs to get better production from his talented offensive line is in the pass game. Notre Dame ranked 46th in the country last season in sacks allowed per game, a number that was aided by how good quarterback Riley Leonard was at avoiding sacks. Notre Dame also ranked 66th in pass blocking grade by Pro Football Focus.

If the run game maintains its success a season ago and Rudolph can form this offensive line into a much improved pass blocking unit it will certainly have a chance to actually be the nation's best offensive line. The talent is certainly there.

Two of Notre Dame's opponents in 2025 also had Top 10 offensive lines by Athlon Sports. Texas A&M ranks as the No. 3 offensive line and Miami (Fla.) ranks No. 4.