Notre Dame football: Breakout candidates-Defense

Recently, we covered the potential breakouts for Notre Dame on offense, now we turn our attention to Clark Lea’s defensive breakout candidates.

Much like the Notre Dame offense, the Irish defense is certainly losing its fair share of talent. Khalid Kareem, Julian Okwara,  Asmar Bilal, Jalen Elliott, Alohi Gilman, and Troy Pride Jr. were all multi-year starters for the Irish and will need to be replaced. Fortunately, a lot of talent also returns, and not just young, unproven talent – but players that have already proven themselves in some capacity.

With Clark Lea at the helm, the confidence is high that the defense can still be elite even with the attrition. However, like always, guys will be thrust into roles they aren’t used to and will need to produce at a high level to make up for the players lost.

Replacing three starters in the secondary will be tough and Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara formed one of Notre Dame’s best pash rush duos in recent memory.

Let’s start with a few players at a position group that returns all of its depth from 2019 – defensive tackle.