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Notre Dame Football: The 2016 Defensive Recruiting Class

By Joshua Vowles

Sep 13, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Mike Kasalo of South Bend, Indiana wears a hat with a miniature of the Notre Dame Golden Dome as he walks outside Lucas Oil Stadium before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Purdue Boilermakers. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 13, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Mike Kasalo of South Bend, Indiana wears a hat with a miniature of the Notre Dame Golden Dome as he walks outside Lucas Oil Stadium before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Purdue Boilermakers. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 8, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Brian Vangorder against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium. Arizona State defeated Notre Dame 55-31. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 8, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Brian Vangorder against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium. Arizona State defeated Notre Dame 55-31. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Defensive Line

Notre Dame effectively added at least three new members to the defensive line. There are a couple linebackers in this class that could move up (more on that in a minute) but as far as designated defensive linemen coming in… the Irish got a nice group of three.

  • Adetokunbo Ogundeji 3***
  • Khalid Kareem 4****
  • Julian Okwara 4****

For all the complaints registered about Notre Dame’s lack of “star power” in this class, fans should be overjoyed about this haul. Ogundeji is a classic Brian Kelly era project player with a long frame and raw talent. Basically, Ogundeji (or Ade) is a lot like former Irish players Jhonny Williams and Kholin Hill (in terms of being a hopeful project).

Khalid Kareem might be one of the better steals of the class, as he was a onetime Alabama commit. Kareem is one of the early enrollees that will take part in spring football, and he fits the same type of mold as current Irish defensive lineman Isaac Rochell.

Julian Okwara may be a legacy now with older brother Romeo graduated, but he won a scholarship on merit alone (as is this staff’s way). Julian is much further along with his football skills coming in than Romeo was, and his long frame makes him anther pass rushing threat.

Overall

I like what Notre Dame did here and got here. The defensive line is perhaps the toughest position group to recruit for in the country- especially at Notre Dame. The Irish have some decent depth right now in South Bend, but these additions are much more about talent than depth.

Next: Linebackers

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