MLB Power Rankings: Can this red-hot AL team catch the Rays?
The Rangers have continued their climb up our weekly power rankings and have now usurped the Dodgers for the No. 2 spot, with the Rays holding steadfast at No. 1. But, with the roll Texas has been on as of late and its historic run differential, does it deserve to have the top spot?
Meanwhile, at the other end of our rankings, the Athletics are on a historic pace of their own — albeit a bad one. Will they challenge the 1962 Mets’ modern record of 120 losses? Or will the Royals catch Oakland at the bottom of our list?
Our expert panel has combined to rank every team in baseball based on a combination of what we’ve seen so far and what we already knew going into the 162-game marathon that is a full baseball season. We also asked ESPN MLB experts David Schoenfield, Bradford Doolittle, Jesse Rogers, Alden Gonzalez and Joon Lee to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.
Record: 45-19
Previous ranking: 1
It looked as if Tampa Bay’s streak of no more than two consecutive losses on the season might be broken after the Rays dropped two games against the Cubs, but they stormed back by taking three of four against the Red Sox. Teams rarely go an entire season without dropping into a slump at some point, but we are more than two months into the season and the Rays continue to look like one of the most formidable teams in the sport without skipping a beat. — Lee
Record: 40-21
Previous ranking: 3
The Rangers had the proverbial good news/bad news kind of week as they increased their lead in the American League West with a sweep of division rival Seattle. Texas outscored the Mariners 30-9 in three games over the weekend, and Marcus Semien has remained hot, with a hit in 25 straight games (ending Wednesday, as he went hitless in the 1-0 loss to the Cardinals) and 31 of 33. The team’s +155 run differential through its first 60 games is the best to start a season by any MLB team since the 1939 Yankees. The bad news? Texas lost Jacob deGrom to elbow surgery. It’s a major blow, but Bruce Bochy, already the heavy favorite for AL Manager of the Year, has the team depth to keep rolling. — Rogers
Record: 37-24
Previous ranking: 4
Not that the Braves-Mets rivalry needs more juice, but it will be interesting to see what happens moving forward after Pete Alonso bashed a 448-foot home run off a Bryce Elder hanging slider and yelled, “Throw it again! Throw it again, please!” as he rounded the bases. Elder claimed not to hear it and said he didn’t view it as an insult. Plus, the Braves got the last laugh as they won the game 6-4 after rallying from a 4-1 deficit. Elder continues to make a strong push for the All-Star Game as he picked up the win to improve to 4-0 with a NL-leading 2.26 ERA. While Alonso hit the home run off a slider, it’s been an effective pitch for Elder, as batters are hitting just .152 against it. — Schoenfield
Record: 36-26
Previous ranking: 7
Astros stalwart Alex Bregman is as unflappable as any player in the game, so if there was some consternation about his slow start, you can be sure none of it was coming from him. A month ago, Bregman was hitting .190/.322/.320 with four homers and 15 RBIs over 34 games. We’ve seen this act before from the often slow-starting third baseman, whose career slugging percentage in games before May is just .398. Anyway, since that season nadir, Bregman has mashed to the tune of .306/.372/.463 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 28 games. His numbers aren’t yet back to career norms, but they appear to be headed that way. As always, third base doesn’t look like a problem spot for the Astros as they look to gather momentum for their pursuit of the front-running Rangers in the AL West. — Doolittle
Record: 35-27
Previous ranking: 2
The Dodgers dropped their weekend series against the Yankees, but there are plenty of bright spots for this team between the star-studded lineup continuing to hit and the call-up of top prospect Bobby Miller. Through three starts, the 24-year-old righty has a 1.06 ERA and 0.76 WHIP with 16 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched. Additionally, Mookie Betts has been on fire the past week, hitting four homers in five games while slashing .350/.458/.950. — Lee
Record: 37-24
Previous ranking: 6
Baltimore suffered a major blow by losing Cedric Mullins to the injured list due to a groin strain, moving Adam Frazier into the leadoff spot in the batting order. To replace Mullins in the lineup, Baltimore signed former Yankee Aaron Hicks, who has looked rejuvenated in his early days in Baltimore. Through five games with the Orioles so far, Hicks has six hits in 15 at-bats, including one homer. If Hicks can return to form, he could provide another offensive threat in what has been a top-10 offense in baseball this season. — Lee
Record: 36-26
Previous ranking: 5
As the Yankees sit in third place in the American League East, they keep getting hit with the injury bug. Aaron Judge is out after slamming his toe into the wall at Dodger Stadium, and All-Star starter Nestor Cortes is on the IL with a left shoulder strain. New York did, however, see Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson and Tommy Kahnle all come off the IL in the past week, and Carlos Rodon is progressing toward making his Yankees debut at some point in the near future. — Lee
Record: 37-25
Previous ranking: 8
With every passing week, Arizona continues to show staying power in the NL West, no small task with perennial division winner Los Angeles playing well. Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen continue to lead the way on the mound, allowing just five earned runs in 25 1/3 innings over their past four starts combined. Arizona will have to lean on them, as the rest of the rotation has been shaky. Improved performance by Ryne Nelson could help — three of his past four outings have been OK but not nearly good enough for a division contender. Same goes for Tommy Henry, who gave up five runs in 4.1 innings against Washington on Tuesday. — Rogers
Record: 35-28
Previous ranking: 9
Alek Manoah’s continued struggles have landed him in the rookie-level Florida Complex League, where the Blue Jays hope he’ll find his stuff again. It’s a big blow to Toronto’s viability as a World Series contender, given his former All-Star pedigree. Picking up the slack has been Jose Berrios, who has a 3.66 ERA in 12 starts this season and looks again like the starter Toronto hoped to receive when it traded for him. — Lee
Record: 31-31
Previous ranking: 12
The Twins’ offense had been headed in the wrong direction for about three weeks, and now, they will have to try to reverse this trend without their leader in runs created, Byron Buxton, who landed on the IL with a rib contusion. A major issue with the roster is a preponderance of pull-heavy, high-strikeout sluggers. Minnesota leads the majors in strikeout rate and swing-and-miss rate, and only the Braves have pulled a higher percentage of their balls in play. As the season nears the trade deadline, perhaps the Twins might try to balance the lineup by targeting a first baseman-DH type with bat-to-ball skills, or perhaps another outfielder, as Minnesota’s collective left field OPS is the worst in the majors. — Doolittle
Record: 31-31
Previous ranking: 11
The Red Sox keep wavering back and forth between streaks of success, like their eight-game winning streak in late April through early May, and coming back down to earth. Boston is getting a bunch of injured players back, such as Christian Arroyo and Adam Duvall — and Trevor Story is inching his way back toward a return to the lineup — but it still faces trouble in its rotation, with Chris Sale on the IL due to shoulder inflammation. — Lee
Record: 34-28
Previous ranking: 14
Winning three of four against the Reds over the weekend righted the ship for Milwaukee, as what the Brewers lack in power they’ve made up for in speed, at least over the past week. They hit only .205 as a team but swiped 11 bases, including four from Christian Yelich, who had a good seven days overall at the plate. Yelich is on pace to set a career high in steals with 16 so far, after swiping 19 bases all of last year. The Brewers’ offense has been just good enough this season, and Milwaukee is the favorite in the division now. — Rogers
Record: 30-32
Previous ranking: 13
In recent seasons, the Mets’ offense has been driven more by batting average than power, but that hasn’t been the case in 2023. In 2020, the Mets led the majors with a .272 average and ranked third in OPS (although just 13th in runs as they hit poorly with runners in scoring position). Last year, the Mets were second in batting average and tied for fifth in runs. But this year seems to be following the path of 2021, when the Mets hit just .239 and ranked 13th in the NL in runs. They’re hitting .238, which ranks 21st in the majors. Francisco Lindor is down to .216 with a sub-.300 OBP. Jeff McNeil is down nearly 50 points from last year’s league-leading .326 average. Alonso, Starling Marte, Mark Canha … all down. A reason to be optimistic: The Mets are near last in BABIP, so maybe that will start climbing up. — Schoenfield
Record: 35-28
Previous ranking: 20
In a four-game stretch from Saturday through Tuesday, Luis Arraez went 5-for-5, 2-for-4, 3-for-4 and 2-for-4 to raise his average from .374 to .401. It’s the first time a player has been hitting .400 through his team’s first 62 games since Chipper Jones in 2008 (who was at .421 but remained above .400 for just nine more games). It will be interesting to see what kind of support Arraez gets in the fan voting for the All-Star Game. It’s not unprecedented for the fans to vote in a Marlins player: Marcell Ozuna was voted in as a starter in 2017 (Giancarlo Stanton, who would go on to hit 59 home runs that year, also started, but as an injury replacement). Meanwhile, Tuesday’s win put the Marlins at 34-28, the first time they’ve been six games over .500 since August 2016. — Schoenfield
Record: 32-29
Previous ranking: 21
Every time you count the Pirates out, they rebound with a good stretch of baseball. The latest came in a weekend sweep of the Cardinals in Pittsburgh, declaring to the baseball world which team is better in 2023. Ke’Bryan Hayes had a huge week, going 9-for-19 with two home runs and a 1.316 OPS. He torched Cardinals pitching, going 7-for-11 in the Pirates’ three wins. — Rogers
Record: 30-31
Previous ranking: 10
Well, that was ugly. The Mariners went into Arlington looking to make up ground on the Rangers and lost all three games, by scores of 2-0, 16-6 and 12-3. They managed just three hits in 13 innings against Rangers starters Jon Gray and Nathan Eovaldi. With Marco Gonzales placed on the IL, Bryan Woo made his MLB debut on Saturday and allowed seven hits and six runs in two innings. Bryce Miller allowed seven runs on Sunday, and after posting a 1.15 ERA through his first five starts has now allowed 15 runs over his past two. Manager Scott Servais summed it up: “We’re not playing winning baseball against top-flight teams.” Yep. The Mariners are 7-0 against the A’s and well under .500 against everybody else. — Schoenfield
Record: 33-30
Previous ranking: 15
The Angels had a chance to make a statement against the Astros but dropped three of four over the weekend. Reid Detmers fell to 0-5 with a 5.15 ERA in the first game, Shohei Ohtani had his worst start of the season as the Astros tallied nine hits and five runs off him in Game 2, and then Patrick Sandoval got knocked out in the fourth inning on Saturday. The Angels did win the finale 2-1 as Griffin Canning allowed just one run in six innings on Sunday.
While Ohtani has been good, the rest of the rotation continues to scuffle, as the Angels are 21st in the majors in rotation ERA. Some of the markers do point to improvement: They have a 4.79 ERA but a 4.52 FIP and 4.53 xFIP. With hard-throwing Ben Joyce (his fastball has averaged 101.7 mph in his three outings) and former first-round pick Sam Bachman now up and in the bullpen, let’s see if Phil Nevin goes to even quicker hooks on his starters. — Schoenfield
Record: 29-33
Previous ranking: 17
The Padres have not won two consecutive games since having a three-game winning streak snapped on May 2. They are getting some surprising offense from Gary Sanchez, who is hitting .310/.375/.793 with four homers in nine games since joining the Padres. Blake Snell also had two strong starts in the past week, going 12 total innings without allowing a run on five hits while striking out 15 and walking six. Joe Musgrove is also showing signs of a turnaround, allowing just one run in 11 innings over two starts. If Musgrove and Snell can truly turn things around, San Diego will likely see some massive improvement in its record. — Lee
Record: 29-32
Previous ranking: 18
Kyle Schwarber hit his first leadoff home run of 2023 on Tuesday — and it proved to be the only run in a 1-0 victory, just the third time in Phillies history a leadoff home run held up as the winning run (Jimmy Rollins on Aug. 14, 2012, and John Briggs on June 12, 1969). Schwarber now has 16 home runs through Tuesday while hitting .173/.322/.425.
Some fun numbers for Schwarber to chase: (1) Joey Gallo hit 38 HRs in 2021, the most for a player who hit under .200; (2) Schwarber’s 105 OPS+ would be the second highest for a player who hit under .200 (Gallo had a 121 OPS+ in 2021, but only two others have finished above 100); (3) Del Young hit .194 in 1937, the lowest batting average by a qualified player in Phillies history (although back then the qualification was 100 games played; the lowest with 502 plate appearances is Pat Burrell’s .209 mark in 2003). — Schoenfield
Record: 31-30
Previous ranking: 16
The middle-of-the-pack Giants have a middle-of-the-pack offense, one devoid of stars and long on interchangeability. That doesn’t mean Frisco can’t win, but it does mean that the real MVP of the organization might be whoever writes marketing copy that effectively makes this team look sexy. Harsh? Yeah, probably.
But right now, the Giants’ top three in runs created are LaMonte Wade Jr., Thairo Estrada and J.D. Davis. Certainly, this speaks to the organization’s ability to help externally acquired players become the best version of themselves. Wade has exemplified this. He entered the season having struck out more than twice as often as he’s walked in his career. This season, his walks and strikeouts are about even and he has become a plus-.400 OBP standout. Nevertheless, somehow, the franchise that has featured Mel Ott, Willie Mays, Barry Bonds and so many other generational star hitters needs to locate its next one. — Doolittle
Record: 28-33
Previous ranking: 22
Both good and surprising news marked the Guardians’ week. The good news was really good: Triston McKenzie returned from the IL after being out since spring training with a shoulder issue. He allowed just one hit over five scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in a win over the division-leading Twins. The surprising news was that Cleveland created space on the roster by designating righty Zach Plesac for assignment. Plesac looked like a rotation fixture after a strong showing during the abbreviated 2020 season, but it’s been all downhill since then. He posted a 7.59 ERA over five starts for the Guardians early in the season, earning a demotion to Triple-A, where he put up the same numbers — a 7.56 ERA over five outings. — Doolittle
Record: 26-35
Previous ranking: 23
The Cubs’ offense has tanked without Cody Bellinger, who remains out of the lineup with a knee injury. They rank in the bottom five teams in OPS since he went down in mid-May. But the bullpen remains the biggest problem and continues to make manager David Ross look bad. Twice in the past week, Ross pulled young starter Hayden Wesneski mid-inning only to see the bullpen blow it moments later. The latest came on Tuesday, when lefty Brandon Hughes walked Shohei Ohtani to load the bases only to see Mike Trout single home two runs. The Cubs might not be underachieving, a word used often to describe them; this could be who they are. — Rogers
Record: 29-33
Previous ranking: 25
Cincinnati is becoming the “it” team for prospect promotions as Elly De La Cruz was the latest on Tuesday. He scorched a double against the Dodgers for his first major league hit. The Reds’ youth has been on display in both good ways and bad recently, as a sweep of the Cubs was followed by losing three of four to the Brewers — but a ninth-inning comeback over the Dodgers on Tuesday might have been their best win of the season. The Reds’ offense ranked second in walks last week, showing plate discipline from a young team. Cincinnati probably isn’t going anywhere in October, but the proverbial “future is bright” tag applies here. — Rogers
Record: 26-37
Previous ranking: 19
Any positive May vibes have disappeared as St. Louis opened June in losing fashion. A sweep by the Pirates followed by a series loss to the Rangers dropped the Cardinals’ record against plus-.500 teams to 17-28. In fact, their record in all areas is bad: They have a losing record against every other division and in interleague play. A once-feared pitching staff is anything but this year: Last week, opposing hitters had a .308 batting average against St. Louis pitching. — Rogers
Record: 27-35
Previous ranking: 26
The White Sox are more or less at full health for the first time all season. Perhaps not coincidentally, they are enjoying their most prolonged stretch of winning baseball in 2023. In part thanks to the inclusive nature of AL Central competition, Chicago has closed in on the Twins, Guardians and Tigers in the division race. Run prevention has been the key, with the pitching staff posting an MLB-best 2.97 ERA since May 13.
Leading that charge has been resurgent righty Michael Kopech, who has a 2.72 ERA over seven starts since the beginning of May, with 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings and a K-BB ratio of 3.25-1. The White Sox have a ways to go before they can even reach .500, much less first place, but things haven’t looked this sunny on the South Side for some time. — Doolittle
Record: 26-33
Previous ranking: 24
The Tigers have a 17-10 record in games decided by one or two runs, a big reason Detroit has out-won its run differential-based expectation by more games than any other AL team except for Baltimore. Some of this is good fortune, some of it is the work of manager A.J. Hinch aligning his player usage with leverage situations, and more than some of it is because the Tigers have a pretty good bullpen.
The latter could present a quandary for the Scott Harris-led front office as the trade deadline approaches. Relievers such as Jason Foley, Alex Lange, Will Vest and Tyler Holton will surely come up in trade calls. But what happens if the Tigers continue to hover around the division lead despite underlying metrics that suggest their level of contention won’t last? For now, this is only a potential drama, since the Tigers have been a pleasant surprise. — Doolittle
Record: 25-36
Previous ranking: 27
The Nationals have received just one home run from their first basemen (mostly Dominic Smith). OK, let’s try to put that lack of power in perspective. The fewest home runs from first base in the wild-card era (since 1995 and not including 2020): the 2011 A’s with seven. Since the divisional era began in 1969: the 1981 Phillies (Pete Rose) with zero. The Phillies also hit just one in 1980 (Rose again) — although they nonetheless managed to win the World Series that season. And then there’s DH (mostly Joey Meneses), where the Nationals have received just four home runs. So the Nationals have just five home runs from 1B/DH, fewest in the majors … remarkably, however, they’re middle of the pack in OPS from 1B/DH. — Schoenfield
Record: 26-37
Previous ranking: 28
Colorado is doing what Colorado does: hit at Coors Field but not away from it. The Rockies rank in the top 10 teams in the majors in OPS at home but near last on the road. Their run differential is the worst in the NL, but they could catch the Padres for fourth place in the West if they go on a mini run. It’s not likely to happen with a team ERA over 5.00. Bud Black will likely join a long list of Rockies managers unable to figure out how to get consistent pitching in Colorado. — Rogers
Record: 18-44
Previous ranking: 29
For most of the past month, currently rostered Royals have ranked dead last in the majors by win probability added in both hitting (Bobby Witt Jr.) and pitching (Jordan Lyles). Lyles has had a dreadful season to be sure, but the 32-year-old isn’t exactly a foundation piece for K.C. Witt, on the other hand, very much is. He continues to dazzle observers with his raw tools — top-end speed, tremendous raw power, etc. But he also has a maddening tendency to try to hit a five-run homer in every situation — even in the field, as if that were possible.
This hyperaggression contributes to his bottom-basement showing in WPA, which contextualizes a player’s situational performance. Entering Wednesday, Witt had a .266/.311/.487 line with the bases empty. But with runners on base, he was at .190/.204/.316 with just two walks in 98 plate appearances. The next big step for Witt is to learn how to channel that aggression more productively. — Doolittle
Record: 14-50
Previous ranking: 30
The Athletics recently reached a hurdle in their move to Las Vegas, as ownership has hit a snag in its plans to build a $1.5 billion stadium. Opposition to passing the public funding for part of the stadium has been growing in the city. If the franchise does not receive enough votes for the construction of the ballpark in Vegas, it could renew its lease for another year in Oakland, as the sentiment that funding stadiums with taxpayer dollars ends up being a bad deal for the public increases in Las Vegas. — Lee
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Ryan S. Clark
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Kristen Shilton
The 2023-24 NHL regular season was an entertaining one, with races for playoff position, point and goal leaders, and major trophies all coming down to the bitter end.
But not every fan base got to enjoy all of it so much.
With eliminations piling up, it’s time to look ahead to the offseason. Clubs that didn’t quite hit the mark this season will use the draft, free agency and trades in an effort to be more competitive in 2024-25.
Read on for a look at what went wrong for each eliminated team, along with a breakdown of its biggest keys this offseason and realistic expectations for next season. Note that more teams will be added to this story as they are eliminated.
Note: Profiles for the Atlantic and Metro teams were written by Kristen Shilton, while Ryan S. Clark analyzed the Central and Pacific teams. Stats are collected from sites such as Natural Stat Trick, Hockey Reference and Evolving Hockey. Projected cap space per Cap Friendly. Dates listed with each team are when the entry was published.
Jump to a team:
ANA | ARI | BOS | BUF
CGY | CAR | CHI | COL
CBJ | DET | LA | MIN
MTL | NSH | NJ | NYI
OTT | PHI | PIT | SJ
SEA | STL | TB | TOR
VGK | WSH | WPG
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — On the night of Oct. 7, Wesleyan wide receiver Colby Geddis traveled back from a game in Maine with his phone on life support, attempting to track the Notre Dame–Louisville contest.
Jordan Faison, Geddis’ close friend and longtime teammate in both football and lacrosse, was set to make his football debut for Notre Dame. Faison had come to college as a top-50 lacrosse recruit and walked on to the football team as a wide receiver.
Geddis’ phone had only enough juice to allow him to refresh the statistics.
“When I saw him touch the field, I’m like, ‘Holy s—, this kid is playing D-I football,'” Geddis said. “It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.”
Faison has continued to impress his friends, family and Fighting Irish fans, spending the winter and spring successfully juggling two sports that, at Notre Dame, carry the highest of expectations. The true freshman scored Notre Dame’s first goal of the lacrosse season Feb. 14, 38 seconds into the opener against Cleveland State, and is a starting midfielder for an Irish team that continues its quest to repeat as national champions when it faces Georgetown in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals (noon ET, ESPNU). Faison ranks fourth on the team in both goals (19) and points (27).
When Notre Dame began spring football practice March 22, Faison was around as much as he could be, avoiding contact to preserve his body for lacrosse, while still learning new offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock’s scheme.
Faison came to Notre Dame primarily for lacrosse, joining a program that had captured its first national championship in spring 2023. But then football had to come first. He made 19 receptions in seven games as a slot receiver, tied for second on the team in touchdown catches (4) and earned Sun Bowl MVP honors with five catches for 115 yards and a touchdown.
“You’re held to a standard in both sports and you’ve got to meet that standard to make sure the team is developing well,” Faison said. “Being able to do that has just been freaking awesome.”
Faison wasn’t even supposed to see the football field for Notre Dame this soon. He’s also somewhat of an unlikely lacrosse prodigy, hailing from a region not known for producing many college stars. But after a blistering start at Notre Dame, he has become the link between two sports that are often not viewed through the same lens but contain plenty of parallels.
NOTRE DAME WIDE receivers coach Mike Brown spends chunks of his year on the road recruiting, which often means watching prospects compete in other sports. Basketball is common. So are track and baseball. Those recruiting in the Midwest often see future football players on the mat in wrestling singlets.
But Brown hadn’t experienced much lacrosse crossover.
“Obviously with Jordan out there, I’m watching a lot more and just learning,” Brown said. “It’s a lot of similar movements, change of direction, how they rotate. It’s a football slash basketball-ish mix.”
Faison is a distinct talent, but there are other players with football-lacrosse backgrounds competing at the Division I level. There’s even another at Notre Dame. Tyler Buchner, who opened the 2022 football season as Fighting Irish starting quarterback and vied for the QB1 job last spring before transferring to Alabama, returned to Notre Dame over the winter to compete for the lacrosse team, a sport he had not played since early in high school. Buchner is a reserve midfielder for the Irish.
Will Shipley, the Clemson running back selected in the fourth round of last month’s NFL draft, was a standout lacrosse player in high school who could have played both sports at Notre Dame had he signed with the Irish. Maryland defensive back Dante Trader Jr., who started the past two seasons, earned honorable mention All-America honors for the Terrapins lacrosse team in 2023 before focusing solely on football.
So what skills in lacrosse translate to football?
“What wouldn’t?” Notre Dame lacrosse coach Kevin Corrigan, who has led the program since 1988, shot back. “Changing directions, reading a guy’s hips to know when to come out of your break, deception that you use to make guys think you’re doing one thing or another, those are all traits that you’re using on both fields. Forget about the acceleration and stopping and those sorts of things. All the athletic traits translate very easily.”
Geddis, who played both football and lacrosse with Faison throughout their childhood, cited significant tactical differences, but also similarities with core movements. The two sports track especially for wide receivers, who have to beat defenders in press coverage with their feet and hands, just like lacrosse players seeking room to attempt shots.
“It definitely does translate a lot in terms of understanding where to attack leverage on a guy and how to break him down,” Geddis said. “Going against D-I safeties and corners, his IQ and skill set is probably so much better now for lacrosse. And that aspect goes both ways.”
And those talents immediately jumped out to Faison’s football teammates.
“He’s agile, fast, athletic, quick, so no wonder it’s going to translate to lacrosse,” wide receiver Jayden Thomas said. “Seeing him in football, it’s obvious, and then going out to a [lacrosse] game and watching him, it’s like, ‘OK, it makes sense.'”
When Faison’s two-sport ambition came into focus, Notre Dame mapped out a detailed schedule for him. Faison spent the summer and fall with the football team, immersed in the demanding schedule of practices and meetings, and ultimately travel and games. He missed six weeks of lacrosse practice in the fall, as well as weight training and individual work.
After the Sun Bowl on Dec. 28, Faison briefly went home, but he was at the first preseason lacrosse practice Jan. 11 and became a full participant days later. The lacrosse plan called for him to focus on defense, mindful of his time away, but he quickly showed he could handle all the midfielders’ tasks. The 5-foot-10, 182-pound Faison did in-season lifting with lacrosse this spring, while doing little physically with football, where he spent most of his time in meetings as Notre Dame installed its offense.
Corrigan credited football coach Marcus Freeman and strength and conditioning coach Loren Landow for aligning their expectations to ensure Faison is at his best in lacrosse during the spring and at his best in football when the fall comes.
“I’ve told Marcus and them, ‘If you gave us all your skill guys and made them play lacrosse in the spring and they had the ability to play it at a high level, it would be the best training physically for those guys to possibly have,'” Corrigan said.
FAISON’S INTRODUCTION TO lacrosse came easily and innocently.
He was 6 at the time and just finished a youth football game with Geddis in South Florida. Geddis immediately began lacrosse practice on a nearby field. Faison then grabbed a stick and started launching balls as far as he could.
“That got me into the sport, and then I took it and ran with it,” Faison said.
His football teammates all began playing lacrosse for a team coached by Geddis’ father. Faison showed the natural ability to make one-on-one plays and absorbed the finer points of the sport, especially within the team construct. Lacrosse in Florida has become more popular, but the area still trails the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic in generating elite-level competition and Division I recruiting avenues.
“We were smoking every team down here,” said Quincy Faison, Jordan’s father, who helped coach the youth lacrosse team. “Then, when we would take our team up to the North, we would get smoked. So to get better, you need to understand how they operate, how they practice, what they work on.”
To gain greater exposure, Faison began playing club lacrosse during the summers with a team in Long Island, New York. During that first summer, before he entered high school, he lived in an RV with his parents and younger brother, Dylan.
The Faisons posted up in an RV park near Nickerson Beach, about 15 miles from JFK International Airport. Quincy, a technology executive, and his mother Kristen, who works in software development, had the RV equipped with portable high-speed internet so they could keep working.
“My wife and I loved it; I’m not sure how Jordan and Dylan felt,” Quincy said. “We were within 100 yards of the beach, there was a bike ramp set up. I took Zoom calls from the RV. It was basically like camping for the whole summer.”
But Jordan said he had “mixed emotions” about the RV.
“The area was nice, next to a beach, that was kind of fun, but being in tight quarters with my family, sometimes you’ve got to get away from them,” he recalled.
Although Jordan missed hanging out with his friends back home during the summers, he benefited from the club lacrosse experience, rising to No. 48 in Inside Lacrosse’s recruiting rankings. Faison didn’t receive as much attention for football until later in his career as a quarterback and defensive back at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale.
His recruiting went into three tracks: lacrosse only, lacrosse/football and football only. He wanted to play both sports and discussed the possibility with schools such as Duke and Ohio State, as well as Notre Dame.
The only deal breaker, according to Quincy, is that Jordan couldn’t play quarterback along with a second sport. Jordan also considered schools like Syracuse and Michigan for lacrosse. In the fall of 2021, he committed to Notre Dame for lacrosse, but his football recruitment would eventually pick up.
Iowa, which doesn’t have a lacrosse program, offered Faison for football. About a year after he committed to Notre Dame, he visited Iowa City.
“Recruiting is majorly different between football and lacrosse, the budgets are different, how they treat the athletes,” Quincy said. “So going on lacrosse visits and then going to Iowa, the red carpet’s rolled out, you’ve got your own hotel room, they’re feeding you, so he got googly-eyed. He was actually thinking about just going to Iowa. I said, ‘There’s a lot more into this.’ He gave it some consideration, that’s for sure.”
But Jordan ultimately stuck with Notre Dame even though his football path wasn’t set in stone. The decision has paid off and rubbed off on Dylan, who in March became the first football recruit to commit for Notre Dame’s 2026 class. Dylan plays the same position (wide receiver) and starred in the same sports as his big brother.
Although lacrosse recruiting doesn’t begin until September of a prospect’s junior year in high school, Dylan is expected to be high on Notre Dame’s wish list. He and Jordan could play both sports together during the 2026-27 academic year, which is why Quincy and Kristen are looking to buy a small home near campus. Jordan said Dylan is better than he was at the same age, and boasts more length, at 5-foot-11, to complement his quickness.
“We had it in high school for a year, and being able to have it again here at this special place, it’s just unreal,” Jordan said. “We’ll definitely butt heads a bit, as all brothers do, but it will be really fun.”
NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL welcomed Jordan as a walk-on, but the plan wasn’t to play him, at least not right away, because his scholarship would convert to football and count against the team’s limit. Quincy had heard some buzz that Jordan would ultimately land a football scholarship, but perhaps not until 2025.
“We came into the season with no expectations,” Quincy said.
“I thought I’d probably be on the bench,” Jordan added.
But wide receiver injuries began to mount. Faison’s behind-the-scenes performance also made it increasingly more difficult to keep him out on Saturdays.
“We had an extra scholarship, but that was the last-case scenario,” Freeman said. “Then, we had some wideouts go down, and he was making too many plays in practice. We had to play him.”
Faison made his first career start the following week against USC, as Notre Dame crushed its rival 48-20. He recorded multiple receptions in six of the seven games he played and had 12 in the final three contests, hauling in a touchdown in each.
Some of his biggest plays came in the Sun Bowl against Oregon State, including a 33-yard sideline route early in the second half, where Faison beat airtight coverage to come down with quarterback Steve Angeli‘s pass.
“Coming in here with the goal of playing is the main thing, and then once you play, it’s like, ‘Now I’ve got to keep it rolling,'” Faison said. “Once you get it rolling, the confidence comes and then, with the confidence, that’s where you really see gains develop.”
A procrastinator during high school, Faison still must break old habits to navigate a unique and busy schedule. But he has dutifully followed the plans both teams laid out for him, and communicated with the staffs about potential conflicts. He still finds some downtime to nap or play video games.
Corrigan has seen many students become overwhelmed with the academic and athletic demands of one sport, much less two. But Faison has never lost the “quiet confidence” that he could perform in both sports. Freeman said he wants to support Faison’s future goals, whether or not they include football.
“I don’t know why he couldn’t keep doing this,” Corrigan said. “We have to protect him and his body, make sure he is getting enough rest over the course of the year.”
Faison’s immediate goal, one reinforced by Notre Dame’s lacrosse veterans, is to chase another championship. After another short break, he’ll switch back into football mode.
“He’s laid a solid foundation in his first year here, and we’ve got high expectations going into Year 2,” Freeman said. “He’s handling two different sports and all those demands.”
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