Notre Dame’s Top 25 Players of the Last 25 Years: No. 20-16 Revealed

Fighting Irish offensive stars galore from spots 16-20

Oct 30, 2021; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Kyren Williams enters Notre Dame Stadium for the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

A quarter of the way through the century, Notre Dame football has had some extreme highs and lows. The Fighting Irish are looking to build on a national championship appearance last season and look to put an end to the national title drought that has eluded the program since 1988 in the coming years.

With a quarter-century down and a new one beginning this season, the idea was presented to rank Notre Dame's top 25 players since the year 2000.

I will say, there are arguments to be had all over this list. The competitors to get into the top 25 leave significant talent on the outside looking in, while some ranked in the teens have cases to be as high as 10 spots higher.

With that in mind, here is how the rankings of those wound up:

In Case You Missed It:

Spots 25-21

20. Tyler Eifert, 2009-2012, Tight End

It feels like you could put 25 tight ends on this list and the list and all would have had plenty of respectable careers at Notre Dame. Eifert is one of two former Fighting Irish tight ends to crack the top 25. Eifert was Notre Dame's offensive bailout during the undefeated regular season of 2012, leading the team with 685 receiving yards and scoring four touchdowns. The red zone monster was a first-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals and played eight seasons in the NFL.

19. Ronnie Stanley, 2012-2015, Offensive Line

Sep 19, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley (78) prepares to block Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defensive lineman Antonio Simmons (93) at Notre Dame Stadium. | RVR Photos-Imagn Images

Stanley was a prized recruit from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas and lived up to the hype, starting three years for the Irish. Stanley started at left tackle in 2014 and 2015, helping pave the way for an offense that scored nearly 35 points per game and ran for over 2,700 yards his final season. Stanley still stars for the Baltimore Ravens, who selected him sixth overall in 2016.

18. Will Fuller, 2013-2015, Wide Receiver

The speediest wide receiver Notre Dame has had in years, Will Fuller was a constant home run threat. Fuller put up back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons for Notre Dame in 2014 and 2015, and remains in Notre Dame's top-five in career receiving yards to this day, despite entering the NFL draft following his junior season.

17. Michael Mayer, 2020-2022, Tight End

In the long history of great tight ends at Notre Dame, Michael Mayer is arguably the best. Mayer's 2,099 career receiving yards and 18 touchdowns speak for themselves, but the fact an offense was built around him in 2022 while Drew Pyne quarterbacked the majority of the season showed just how special Mayer was in blue and gold.

16. Kyren Williams, 2019-2021, Running Back

Williams took advantage of his opportunity in the Notre Dame backfield starting in 2020, as he rushed for over 1,000 yards in his second and third seasons on campus. Williams scored 31 times over those two seasons, and played a major part in Notre Dame's running backs being seen as good, to some of the nation's elite.

Notre Dame's Top 25 Players Since 2000:

Spots 25-21

Spots 20-16

Spots 15-11

Spots 10-6

Spots 5-1