Ranking The Irish: #14 Notre Dame DT Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa

The Top 25 players for Notre Dame in 2020 continues with a look at senior defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa.

This analysis for the Top 25 Irish players is a combination of talent, expected production, importance of that player’s role and also the value the player brings. The value aspect includes the position played and also the depth chart, meaning who can the Irish least afford to lose.

Let's look at why Tagovailoa-Amosa is such an important player for Notre Dame.

MAKING THE CASE

The Top 25 players for Notre Dame in 2020 continues with a look at senior defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa.

Let's look at why Tagovailoa-Amosa is such an important player for Notre Dame.

MAKING THE CASE

Tagovailoa-Amosa was a late addition to Notre Dame’s 2017 class, but he’s been a key figure in the Irish defensive line since he arrived on campus. The Hawai’i native was an important rotation player as a freshman, and he was expected to take his game to another level in 2018, but an injury in the opener cost him the next 11 games.

Last season, Tagovailoa-Amosa started the season off on a very strong note. In fact, when I broke down the midseason standouts for the Irish defense I had him in the No. 1 slot. You saw during the early portion of the season what Tagovailoa-Amosa can do when he’s healthy. He was disruptive against the run, he was getting a push up the middle in the pass game and he was making clutch plays.

His combination of low-build, quickness and hand strength really stands out on film. He doesn’t have any physical traits that blow you away, and he’s not the biggest player up the middle, but Tagovailoa-Amosa just knows how to play the game and he’s a competitive young man.

When he’s locked in and healthy he can be a disruptive player up the middle, and he has skills that allow him to be impactful as a three-down player.

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

His numbers didn’t blow me away (14 tackles, 2 TFLs, 0.5 sack), but he was disruptive and set up teammates to produce early in the 2019 season. Tagovailoa-Amosa was asked to play a lot of snaps (477 snaps according to PFF) last season, and he wore down during the second half of the season. In fact, Tagovailoa-Amosa had just eight tackles and a half of a tackle for loss in the second half of the season.

That’s not entirely unexpected when you consider the fact he missed almost the entire 2019 season and was asked to play such a high volume of snaps. Limiting his reps each week would actually be a positive for Tagovailoa-Amosa because it would allow the staff to limit the burden placed on his body, and it would allow him to stay fresher deeper into games and deeper into the season.

Another area where Tagovailoa-Amosa must improve is finishing plays better. Yes, it’s good that he sets up his teammates to make plays, but at some point he needs to start making more plays on the ball by himself. If he can do that, especially in the pass game, he’ll emerge as a much-needed playmaker up the middle of the Irish defense.

Past Breakdowns

#25 - Third Linebacker
#24 - Kurt Hinish, DT
#23 - Jonathan Doerer, PK
#22 - Lawrence Keys III, WR
#21 - Shaun Crawford, CB
#20 - TaRiq Bracy, CB
#19 - Jafar Armstrong, RB
#18 - Houston Griffith, S
#17 - J avon McKinley, WR
#16 - Jayson Ademilola, DT
#15 - Aaron Banks, G

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