Notre Dame Football: The defensive line must improve this coming season

Take a look at Notre Dame football and the improvement the defensive line made this offseason.

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As we look at Notre Dame’s defense over the last few years, one of the weakest links has been the defensive line. We are going to review this unit and see if there is hope for a big improvement this coming season.

The Fighting Irish are high in numbers for the four defensive line positions but may be short on high-quality players. Per the Spring Scholarship Depth Chart, Notre Dame is returning 13 players at the four positions. This does not include five Class of 2017 lineman who reports to Notre Dame in June.

Notre Dame labels their defensive linemen as strong side end, drop end, three-technique tackle and nose tackle.

At strong side end, it appears that Jay Hayes (6’ 4” 280lb redshirt junior) has edged out Andrew Trumbetti (6’ 4” 250 lb senior) as the starter. Trumbetti was the starter last season. He had 26 tackles with no sacks. Jay Hayes was a red-shirt his freshman season and played sparingly the last two seasons. If he is healthy, he could be a big improvement at this position. Khalid Kareem (6’ 4” 270 lb red-shirt freshman) is a four-star recruit who could play himself into the two-deep.

At drop, end is Daelin Hayes (6’ 4” 255 lb sophomore). This former five-star recruit appears to be the potential difference maker on the defense. He played in 12 games last season and had 11 tackles. He brings great athleticism and speed to the position and should be the top pass rusher on the team. He will be backed-up by two youngsters in Julian Okwara (6’ 4” 235 lb sophomore) is the brother of former defensive Romeo Okwara. The other backup will be Ade Ogundeji (6’ 4” 250 lb red-shirt freshman).

At the three-technique tackle position, it appears that Jonathon Bonner (6’ 4” 285 lb red-shirt junior) is leading both Micah Dew Treadway (6’ 4” 300 lb red-shirt sophomore) and Brandon Tiassum (6’ 4” 305 lb red-shirt sophomore). Elijah Taylor (6’ 3” 280 lb red-shirt sophomore) is the wild card of the position. He was expected to battle Bonner for the starting position but suffered a Lisfranc injury early this spring. He should be ready for summer camp, and his arrival will help this position group.

The last position is nose tackle. The Fighting Irish return two-year starter Jerry Tillery (6’ 7” 310 lb junior) who needs to improve his game. He came to Notre Dame as a four-star offensive and defensive lineman. He should become a dominant player this fall. Behind Tillery is veteran Daniel Cage (6’ 1” 330lb senior) he played quite a bit the past two years and should see a lot of playing time in the two-deep. The last member of this position is Peter Mokwuah (6’ 4” 325 lb red-shirt junior) who hopes to work his way into the two-deep.

Of the five future freshmen, Darnell Ewell (6’ 4” 280 lb) a four-star recruit is the best bet to enter the two-deep at one of the positions. Myron Tagvailoa-Amosa (6’ 4” 260 lb) and Kurt Hinish (6’ 2” 280 lb) could either play themselves into the two-deep or get red-shirts. The two defensive ends Jonathon MacCollister (6’ 3” 245 lb) and Kofi Wardlow (6’ 3” 210 lb) will probably get red-shirts so can develop physically in the weight room.

To have a successful season, the defense line will have to play better to enable the entire defense to be better. The defensive line has very good depth, but not of a lot of stars. If some players can step up to stop the run and rush the passer, the Irish will do well.

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Last season, the Fighting Irish allowed 2, 189 yards rushing (182 yards per game) and had only 14 sacks in 12 games. These statistics rated among the worst of all D1 schools in the country. These stats have to improve dramatically if the Fighting Irish are to have the kind of season their fans expect.