Notre Dame Defensive Line Board Now Becomes Very Focused

Notre Dame's defensive line recruiting has been quite interesting to follow in recent month, and there are significant questions about how the class will fill out. After a shake up in the class that included the addition of talented Texas edge Loghan Thomas, and the de-commitment situation involved Owen Wafle, the picture is becoming much clearer about who Notre Dame wants in the class.

THE CURRENT CLASS

Notre Dame sits at three defensive line commits in the 2024 class, and it's a talented group of players.

Hoschton (Ga.) Mill Creek defensive end Cole Mullins is my top ranked defensive commit in the class for Notre Dame, and Thomas is just behind him. Charlotte (N.C.) Christian end Bryce Young is still raw, and that is why his current grade isn't as high on the Irish Breakdown board, but Young earned the highest upside grade for all the defensive commits.

This is an intriguing group that in time could end up being on the field together. Thomas is a pure Vyper that projects quite well to the boundary position. Mullins is also being recruited first as a Vyper, but the 6-4, 240-pound athlete could easily play both defensive end positions in the Irish defense.

Young is currently listed at 6-5 and 250 pounds, and his projection right now is as a field end. The intriguing part about Young is that his father, former Notre Dame star and NFL Hall of Famer Bryant Young was 6-3 and 245 pounds when he signed with Notre Dame. The elder Young eventually grew into 6-3, 290-pound All-American defensive tackle and a first round NFL Draft pick.

Could Young have a similar size jump in college? It's certainly possible, which would allow him, Mullins and Thomas to eventually be on the field together.

FIVE-STAR FINISH

With those three ends in the class, and with Notre Dame locked into one key target at nose tackle (see below), the staff is now narrowing its board. That means they are now focusing on the two players who have been at the top of the board for several months.

That would be five-star defensive tackle Justin Scott of Chicago (Ill.) St. Ignatius and five-star defensive end Elijah Rushing of Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe Catholic.

Notre Dame has faded a bit with Scott, with both Miami (Fla.) and Michigan surging in his recruitment of late. At this point I don't know where Scott is going to commit, but I can assure you of one thing, Notre Dame is going to continue recruiting Scott until signing day. He will remain a major priority until the very end.

Landing Scott is important for Notre Dame in many ways. Landing a 6-5, 310-pound athlete with his potential is vitally important, and the Irish don't really have a player like him on the roster. Scott is still developing his game, but his tools are truly elite. The fact he's in Notre Dame's backyard only adds to his importance.

It's hard to imagine Notre Dame have a truly gap closing defensive haul without Scott being in the class.

Despite Notre Dame having three edge players in the class, the staff is sure to stay heavily involved with Rushing. He's a great fit for Notre Dame on and off the field, but landing him is going to be incredibly tough. It might not make sense to land four ends in one class, but with Young having potential to grow into a DE/DT swing player, or even an inside guy down the road, landing Rushing would still make a lot of sense if Notre Dame could make it happen.

Rushing is another edge player that could play both the Vyper and field end positions.

At this point Notre Dame doesn't "need" to land both of them in order to have a gap closing class, but they need at least one of them if they want to really move the needle.

LOOKING FOR A BIG

Part of the reason Notre Dame decided to move on from Wafle was it wanted a player that projected as more of a true nose. Whatever you think of that decision, and I wasn't a fan of it to be honest, there is no doubt who the player they are targeting to fill that role.

Notre Dame has been pushing for Clearwater (Fla.) Academy International defensive tackle Sean Sevillano for several months. The 6-2, 300-pound nose visited Notre Dame on March 25, which was the first visit for Loghan Thomas and was also the last time Scott was on campus.

Notre Dame also picked up a commitment from 2025 defensive tackle Davion Dixon back in April, and both Dixon and Sevillano bring the kind of stout body type and game that Notre Dame seems to want to add more of to the depth chart.

Sevillano is currently slated to take official visits to Notre Dame, Ohio State and Auburn in June, but the Irish will look to wrap this one up sooner rather than later.

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Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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