Beyond stars Boubacar Traore and Bryce Young, the Irish must cultivate a relentless rotation to bridge the championship gap and mirror the elite production of recent playoff powerhouses.
On paper, the Notre Dame defensive end room looks stout. They return starters Boubacar Traore and Bryce Young. In the rotation, they have Keon Keeley who transferred in from Alabama in the winter, Loghan Thomas returns and they brought in two highly talented freshman who will like play in Rodney Dunham and Ebenezer Ewetade. New defensive line coach Charlie Partridge has a lot of talent to work with, but now it's up to him and the players to turn that potential into production.
We believe that there's a certain level of play we're going to see from both Traore and Young this season. Traore is on the verge of a national breakout and could be one of the nationally recognized edge players at the end of the season. Young has also had first-round NFL talent and an NFL frame, but now going into year three, his potential for a breakout is significantly higher compared to previous years.
The reality is, you can't ask Traore and Young to play 600 to 700 snaps in a potential 15 to 16 game season. Notre Dame needs it's depth players at defensive end to step up. Can they be what the 2024 defensive end room was and step in, answer the bell and perform at a high level barring a major injury? Those questions have yet to be answered.
We're looking at this from a championship mindset. What does Notre Dame have to do to close the gap between being a great team to a championship winning team. Developing the depth at defensive end is one of those key things. One team that I look at is the Michigan Wolverines in 2023. The run game and the defense carried that team to a title, and when you dive into the stats, it's not difficult to see why.
In 2023, Michigan had four defensive ends all record 26 or more pressures. Jaylen Harrell led the way with 31 total pressures and 10 hits plus sacks on the quarterback. Josaiah Stewart was the 2nd leading edge on the team with 29 total pressures and 11 hits plus sacks. Braiden McGregor ended the season with 28 total pressures and 10 hits plus sacks while Derrick Moore finished with 26 total pressures and nine hits plus sacks on the quarterback. All four of those players started and rotated at defensive end.
Look at the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2024. They were led by Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau who combined for 115 pressures and 55 hits plus sacks on the quarterback. But the Buckeye's rotational edges also played at a high level. Kenyatta Jackson tallied 17 total pressures and four hits plus sacks on the quarterback and Caden Curry who broke out in 2025 recorded 13 total pressures and six hits plus sacks on the quarterback.
Traore and Young will likely carry the lion's share of snaps at edge in 2026, but they'll need the very talented depth between Keeley, Thomas, Ewetade, Dunham, Joe Reiff and Dominik Hulak to play their parts this season as well. We talk a lot about the depth of talent on Notre Dame's roster and their potential. Now it's time to turn that potential into production.
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