Key defensive tackles and a pivotal nickel corner depart, leaving significant voids as the Irish reload for 2026.
Notre Dame's defense is in a different position heading into 2026 than they were heading into 2025. Every season, players leave for the NFL or enter the portal, but last season they had exits at every level of the defense. They lost defensive lineman Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills, linebacker Jack Kiser, and defensive backs Xavier Watts and Benjamin Morrison amongst others. Now that the 2025 regular season is over, they're once again set to lose some key pieces, but they're veterna players concentrated at two specific positions.
The first, and arguably biggest, position that will be impacted by some departures is at defensive tackle. Let's start with Jason Onye who came back to play for his 5th year in 2025. Onye sat out the remainder of the 2024 season due to some personal reasons, but made an exciting return to the team this past offseason. This season, he played in all 12 games and started in nine of them. The 6-5, 302-pound defensive tackle finished the season 9th on the team in total pressures with 16 and was credited with 13 defensive stops according to Pro Football Focus.
Louisville transfer Jared Dawson is also departing after exhausting all of his eligibility. Dawson was a force along the interior and stepped up in a big way due to some injuries mid way through the season. He was brought in with the thought of becoming a consistent pass rusher along the interior, but stepped up significantly against the run. That being said, the 6-1, 288-pound defensive tackle still finished the season 5th on the team in total pressures with 21 total and six hits plus sacks on the quarterback in 182 pass rushing snaps. He was arguably their most complete defensive tackle in 2025.
Finally, Gabriel Rubio is also departing after playing his final year in South Bend. Rubio's career came to an unfortunate end. He played his final regular season game against NC State and missed the rest of the year with an upper body injury. Rubio was set to return in the post season, but due their snub in the final rankings, Rubio's career came to an abrupt end. The 6-5, 322-pound defensive tackle was the biggest defensive tackle in the rotation and his work as a pass rusher and run stopper will be missed.
Nickel corner, and Alabama transfer, DeVonta Smith is also departing for the NFL. Unfortunately due to injury, we never got see a full body of work from Smith, but when he was healthy and on the field, he was extremely productive. This season, the 5-11, 195-pound nickel corner was targeted 27 times, allowed 16 receptions, only allowed 138 receiving yards, didn't allow a touchdown and recorded two pass breakups according to Pro Football Focus. Now, the attention will turn to sophomore Dallas Golden as he gears up to potentially take over full time.
Notre Dame returns a boat-load of talent in 2026 on the defensive side of the ball. It will be up to Chris Ash and the rest of the defensive staff to come up with some answers for the vacancies at defensive tackle and at nickel. There's viable and qualified options currently on the roster, but there's also the potential for them to dip into the portal for depth, or for an impact talent, at both defensive tackle and at nickel.
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