Mike Elston Has Built A Defensive Line Factory At Notre Dame
For over a decade there was a myth surrounding Notre Dame that went something like this, elite defensive linemen don't want to come to Notre Dame, especially edge players, and that keeps the Irish from having an elite defense.
Over the last five seasons, defensive line coach Mike Elston has absolutely obliterated that myth. Since Elston returned to the defensive line for the 2017 season the Fighting Irish have gone 47-8, and that success has been largely fueled by an outstanding defense. That outstanding defense has been largely fueled by an outstanding defensive line.
Notre Dame's defensive line was absolutely brilliant on Saturday in the 41-13 victory over Wisconsin. The Badgers are considered to be one of the best rushing teams in the nation, and the offensive line is one of the biggest (average of 312.2 pounds) in the country. The undersized Irish dominated throughout the game thanks to a combination of superior athleticism, superior talent and great coaching.
Consider that Notre Dame is replacing a pair of ends from last year's team that were drafted in the NFL (Adetokunbo Ogundeji, Daelin Hayes) and were anchors for last season's team. Those two were backups behind two more NFL ends in 2019 and 2018 (Khalid Kareem, Julian Okwara). A rotation end on the 2018-19 squad is Jamir Jones, who started for the Pittsburgh Steelers this past weekend.
The 2018 defensive line also had Jerry Tillery at defensive tackle, a player that went onto become a first-round NFL Draft pick.
Consider that five of Notre Dame's rotation linemen on the 2018 College Football Playoff squad ended up getting drafted while another, Jones, has developed into a NFL player.
Despite all those losses the 2021 defensive line has a chance to be the best group yet. That speaks volumes about the recruiting and development being done by Elston, who has mastered the notion of reloading at his position.
As good as the 2017-20 defensive lines were, the 2021 unit is on pace to shatter the production put up by previous groups. With Ogundeji, Okwara, Hayes, Kareem and Jones off to the NFL we are seeing players like Isaiah Foskey and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa picking up where those players left off.
Notre Dame's interior has also been brilliant this season. Just look at the defensive line production compared to past seasons.
Notre Dame's defensive line has already registered 80 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks through four games. Notre Dame's 2017 defensive line, which had six future NFL players in the lineup, had just 16.5 sacks the entire season.
If you project the production out over 13 games it puts the early season production into impressive context, and I added the vaunted 2012 line in the mix as well.
2021 - 260 tackles, 57 TFL, 40.5 sacks
2020 - 164 tackles, 42 TFL, 23.5 sacks (12 games)
2019 - 248 tackles, 47 TFL, 23.5 sacks
2018 - 243 tackles, 46.5 TFL, 26 sacks
2017 - 235 tackles, 39.5 TFL, 16.5 sacks
2012 - 223 tackles, 45.5 TFL, 30 sacks
We don't know if the line will continue producing at the same rate, but it puts their early season performance in an impressive light.
None of the linemen are averaging a TFL or sack per game, and although Foskey (18 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks) and Jayson Ademilola (19 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks) have been quite good they aren't driving the tremendous leap in production. This has been more about the unit as a whole producing at an elite level.
Having top-level talents like Foskey and Ademilola is certainly important to having an elite line, and veterans like Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Kurt Hinish are also vital cogs to the team's success. Foskey and Ademilola have been tremendous so far, and Tagovailoa-Amosa has made a smooth transition to playing big end despite dealing with a personal tragedy.
What makes this unit so good is the depth. Nine different defensive linemen have at least one tackle for loss and seven have at least one sack. That number is going to grow the more Jordan Botelho plays.
This is clearly a very talented defensive line, one that was driven by Elston's recruiting success. Notre Dame will replenish the depth chart in 2022 with standout ends Tyson Ford and Aiden Gobaira, and Hinish's younger brother Donovan will also arrive.
But it hasn't really mattered who is in the lineup, the unit plays at a high level. It's an extremely well-coached group, that is what you see game after game. That was on full display in the victory over Wisconsin. The Badgers, a program known for being a fundamentally sound unit, were out-classed by Notre Dame from both a talent and technique standpoint.
With Hinish out, backups Howard Cross III and Jacob Lacey stepped into the lineup and played extremely well, combining for 4 tackles and a pair of tackles for loss. Lacey also was involved in a crucial 4th-and-1 stop in the victory.
It's what we've come to expect from an Elston coached unit, and if I were a betting man I'd say this unit's best games in 2021 are still ahead.
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