First Glance Look At The 2024 Notre Dame Defense
Notre Dame made huge strides on defense in 2023, to the point that by the end of the season the Irish had one of the nation's best units. The Irish defense fueled a lot of the success that led to the 10-3 record this past season.
Notre Dame is working on establishing itself as an elite defensive football program, but in order to do that the unit needs to start stacking elite seasons back-to-back. The good news is the 2024 defense has a chance to do just that. There are personnel losses and the unit will look different next season, but it has a chance to be outstanding.
As of right now, the entire defensive staff is set to return, which is very important for Notre Dame as it looks to establish continuity on that side of the ball. Defensive coordinator Al Golden will likely be coveted for the same role as the NFL offseason comes about, but Notre Dame will work hard to keep him on staff.
With the players arriving to campus this week it's the perfect time to take a first glance look at the Notre Dame 2024 defense.
WHAT WAS LOST
Notre Dame loses several outstanding players from its 2023 defense, and they will be hard to replace. As is the case with the offense, the defense played a lot of different players this season, and 16 different players earned starts this season. For this article, starters will be players that started at least four games this season (1/3 of the regular season).
STARTERS (6)
DE Javontae Jean Baptiste - 12 starts - 49 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 5 sacks, 11 hurries, 1 break up
LB JD Bertrand - 12 starts - 76 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 7 hurries, 5 break ups
LB Marist Liufau - 12 starts - 44 tackles, 6 TFL, 3 sacks, 2 hurries, 2 break ups
CB Cam Hart - 12 starts - 21 tackles, 3 TFL, 4 break ups
S DJ Brown - 12 starts - 47 tackles, 1 TFL, 3 break ups, 1 INT
NB Thomas Harper - 10 starts - 39 tackles, 6 TFL, 2 sacks, 3 break ups
KEY RESERVES
DE NaNa Osafo-Mensah - 1 start - 20 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 3 sacks, 2 hurries
S Ramon Henderson - 1 start - 14 tackles, 1 hurry, 3 break ups, 1 INT
The position hit hardest from departures was linebacker, which loses 120 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and seven pass break ups with Bertrand and Liufau departing for the NFL. Notre Dame loses 310 tackles, 39.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks from its 2023 defense, which is about half of the production in the latter two categories.
Notre Dame's secondary was also hit hard by departures, with three starters leaving, including two multi-year starters. Although Notre Dame only lost two defenders from its two-deep along the defensive line, those two players combined for 69 tackles, 16 tackles for loss and eight sacks.
RETURNING TALENT
Despite the loss of several key starters, the Irish also return a ton of talent from its 2023 unit, and getting Xavier Watts, Rylie Mills and Howard Cross III to come back for one more season was incredibly important.
RETURNING STARTERS
DE Jordan Botelho - 12 starts - 32 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 4 sacks, 3 hurries
DT Howard Cross III - 13 starts - 66 tackles, 7 TFL 2 sacks, 4 hurries, 2 break ups
DT Rylie Mills - 13 starts - 47 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 4 hurries
LB Jack Kiser - 3 starts - 62 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 3 hurries, 1 break up
S Xavier Watts - 13 starts - 52 tackles, 3 TFL, 0.5 sacks, 4 breaks ups, 7 INT
CB Benjamin Morrison - 11 starts - 31 tackles, 3.5 TF, 10 break ups, 3 INT
Kiser technically didn't have enough listed starts to be considered a starter, but he was a starter last season. Notre Dame often started games in nickel, but Kiser played a ton and was the starter in the base defense.
KEY RESERVES/STARTERS
DE Josh Burnham - 1 start - 18 tackles, 4 TFL, 1 sack, 2 hurries
DE Junior Tuihalamaka - 10 tackles
DT Gabriel Rubio - 11 tackles, 1 hurry, 1 break up
DT Jason Onye - 17 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks, 2 hurries
DT Donovan Hinish - 10 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
LB Jaylen Sneed - 1 start - 14 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 5 hurries, 2 break ups
LB Drayk Bowen - 14 tackles, 0.5 TFL
NB Clarence Lewis - 2 starts - 9 tackles, 3 break ups, 1 INT
CB Jaden Mickey - 2 starts - 11 tackles, 2 break ups, 1 INT
CB Christian Gray - 11 tackles, 2 break ups, 1 INT
Returning Tackles: 439
Returning TFL: 34
Returning Sacks: 15
Returning Break Ups: 27
Returning Interceptions: 14
Notre Dame returns 15 defenders that played at least 100 snaps last season, according to Pro Football Focus.
Mills and Cross give Notre Dame one of the best interior tandems in the country, and the entire depth chart returns inside. Getting Rubio back to good health will bolster the interior, and Onye got some much needed experience in 2023, which should allow him to take a jump forward as well. Hinish is another young player that got valuable experience in 2023, and Notre Dame has two young players to keep an eye on this spring in Devan Houstan and Armel Mukam.
The loss of Jean-Baptiste and Osafo-Mensah present a challenge for the defense, but Burnham is expected to move there for 2024. There is plenty of returning talent on the edge, but that is one position where Notre Dame needs a big jump in play and production from its returners.
At linebacker, Kiser now becomes the leader of the group. He'll be joined by a group of players in Sneed, Bowen, Jaiden Ausberry and Preston Zinter that lacks experience, but it's a very talented group of players. How quickly this unit matures on the field and turns their potential into consistent production will determine how quickly Notre Dame can reach its potential on defense in 2024.
Although the secondary returns just two starters from its 2023 defense, those two starters are elite. Watts was a unanimous All-American this past season and Morrison was one of the top cornerbacks in the country. He was even more productive in 2023 than he was in 2022 when he earned freshman All-America honors (fewer yards allowed, more passes defensed).
The return of talented young corners - Gray and Mickey - gives Notre Dame a chance to make a smooth transition after Hart departed for the NFL. Hart was a brilliant player for Notre Dame this past season, but the Irish are in position to simply reload at the position. Lewis gives the defense a player with a ton of experience, and a player that can help at outside cornerback, nickel and safety next season.
IMPACT NEWCOMERS
Notre Dame's portal class helps ease some of the defensive losses, and a case could be made the 2024 portal class is much better than the 2023 class was coming into the season. They will have to prove it on the field, but this is my view based on what the portal players have done during their careers at previous schools.
Look at the comparison between Jean-Baptiste and Duke transfer R.J. Oben. Jean-Baptiste came to Notre Dame with 51 career tackles, 10 career tackles for loss, 8 career sacks and one career forced fumble. Oben comes to Notre Dame with 63 career tackles, 18.5 career tackles for loss, 13.5 career sacks and four career forced fumbles.
If Oben comes close to playing as well as Jean-Baptiste did for the Irish this past season it will be huge for the Irish. Oben and Burnham actually give Notre Dame a chance to not only match the level of play the defense had from the defensive end position, it could be better.
Arizona State transfer Jordan Clark is being tasked with replacing Harper, who was also a transfer last season (Oklahoma State). Clark and Harper are similar players in many ways, and Clark has loads of experience. He comes to Notre Dame with 139 career tackles, 6.5 career tackles for loss, 17 career pass break ups and three career interceptions. Harper was really good for Notre Dame in 2023, so Clark has huge shoes to fill. Also keep an eye on Micah Bell, who was a top signee for Notre Dame in the 2023 class. Bell isn't a newcomer, but he didn't play much in 2023 and he's being groomed as the heir apparent at nickel. Learning under Clark this season will be key for Bell.
While Oben and Clark are being asked with at least matching the level of play of the defenders they are replacing, Northwestern transfer Rod Heard II has a chance to surpass it. He played mostly nickel for the Wildcats, but Heard has a chance to be a big upgrade at safety. Heard is a better athlete than Brown, and he provides better tackling ability and he should be better in coverage as well. Heard has tons of experience after racking up 194 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 8 pass break ups and a pair of interceptions in his career.
If Clark simply matches what Harper did this past season, and Heard is the upgrade I think he can be, the secondary could actually be better in 2024 thanks in part to these pickups. That's a tall task, but it's possible, and the two portal pickups are key to that, as is Gray and Mickey, who must replace Hart.
The incoming freshman class might have a tougher time getting early playing time due to how much experience the Irish return, but there are talented players that could make their presence felt this season.
No incoming freshman arrives more prepared to push for early playing time than linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa. He has college size already, he's a quality athlete, he's incredibly instinctive and with so much inexperience returning at the position he has a chance to make a fast charge. His arrival increases the odds that Notre Dame is going to be really good at linebacker in 2024. If he doesn't play it's because the returners make big jumps, which is great for the defense. If they don't improve, then Viliamu-Asa will push them and could beat them out, which also gives the defense a chance to be really good.
Freshman end Bryce Young also has a chance to make an early impact. There is a lot of young talent returning at defensive end, but Young is a very, very talented young player with a big-time size/explosiveness combination. His game is still a bit raw, but if Young has a good offseason he could force his way onto the field.
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