Notre Dame Football: Irish defense has opportunity to dominate in 2020

Notre Dame football has a unique opportunity in front of it. A dominant defense should help the Irish reach their goals in 2020.

Notre Dame football has had some pretty good defensive units in recent memory, but the 2020 installment of could end up being especially dominant.

Even though the Irish lost talented players Julian Okwara, Khalid Kareem, and Alohi Gilman to the NFL, Irish fans should expect the defensive unit to not miss a beat in 2020.

Replacing the aforementioned won’t be an easy task. But it’s also hard to argue that the Irish have the perfect personnel to do just that, as 5th-year seniors Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji bring both experience and production to the defensive end positions.

The same can be said on the interior of the defensive line with Kurt Hinish and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa on the interior of the defensive line. It’s really hard to find anything to be apprehensive about up front for the Irish, and that’s even before mentioning the depth that Jacob Lacey, Ja’Mion Franklin, Jayson Ademiloa, Justin Ademiloa, and others will undoubtedly provide.

And then there’s the linebackers: Drew White had a tremendous first year as a starter a season ago and the Buck-linebacker-by-committee leaves plenty to be excited about. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is perhaps Notre Dame’s most exciting player.

And in the back, Kyle Hamilton is as good as it gets, with experienced players Houston Griffith and Isaiah Pryor will compete at the other safety spot. On the outside, Tariq Bracy, Shaun Crawford, and Nick McCloud (among others) give Notre Dame both depth and experience.

And while Notre Dame certainly will be reliant upon guys like Pryor and McCloud to assimilate into a new system and for guys like Bracy to step into a bigger role, it’s fair to say that Notre Dame doesn’t have glaring holes like they’ve had in the past.

And with the challenges that have plagued many college football teams this year, it’s reasonable to expect that offenses may not have perfect timing, especially early in the season. In other words, advantage: Irish. Notre Dame’s defense is talented, experienced, and ready to dominate in 2020.