Elite talent exists at defensive end, but can Notre Dame's edge rushers elevate their game and deliver championship-level production in 2026?
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has said from the moment he was hired that he wanted to have a line driven program. If his team can have that on both sides of the ball in 2026 the Irish will have a chance to compete for a title. For the defensive line to play at a championship level, Notre Dame needs its defensive end group to play to its potential.
There is no doubt that Notre Dame has elite talent on the edge, but to get from where the unit is right now to where it needs to be several players will need to take their game to another level and some key questions will need to be answered. There is no questioning the talent and potential on the edge, but whether or not it has the depth, and whether or not the elite potential turns into elite production is something that we will need to find out.
Let's continue our depth chart projection series with a look at the defensive end group.
PROJECTED DE DEPTH CHART
RETURNING PRODUCTION
Boubacar Traore - 37 tackles, 10 TFL, 6.5 sacks, 1 FF, 31 pressures (PFF)
Bryce Young - 20 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 sacks, 3 break ups, 29 pressures (PFF)
Keon Keeley - 16 tackles, 3 TFL, 3 sacks, 1 break up, 9 pressures (PFF)
Loghan Thomas - 2 tackles, 5 pressures (PFF)
WHAT WAS LOST
Notre Dame had an extremely deep defensive end rotation last season, but that group suffered some crucial departures. Junior Tuihalamaka (12 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 sack) and Jordan Botelho (20 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1 sack) are out of eligibility and Josh Burnham (16 tackles, 6 TFL, 3 sacks) transferred to Indiana. None of the players are irreplaceable from an individual standpoint, but losing all three in the same offseason makes it a major challenge. Burnham was arguably the team's best edge during the final five games of the season. In fact, no edge had more tackles, tackles for loss, sacks or pressures than Burnham did in the last five games.
Notre Dame also has to replace position coach Al Washington. He did a strong job with the Irish front the last two seasons, but Freeman made an outstanding hire in Charlie Partridge. He'll need to get acclimated quickly to his new pupils, and hopefully he can get the group to play at an elite level in year one.
NEXT LEVEL FOR BOUBACAR?
Despite very limited experience during his first two seasons, Boubacar Traore had a breakout season for the Irish last season. He was the team's best defensive end over the course of the entire season, leading the defense in tackles for loss (10.0), sacks (6.5) and pressures (31). Traore also showed improvement as a run defender, showing the willingness and strength to be a factor on the edge. There is work to do, but he showed himself far more capable of being a strong all-around player on the edge.
As good as he was last season, I believe there is a much higher level that Traore can get to. Traore missed the final 11 games of the 2024 season with a knee injury, and you could see some of the effects of that during the final stretch of the season. Traore had just 10 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack and 12 pressures in the final five games of the season. He was still good, don't get me wrong, but he just didn't have as much juice. You could see him wearing down a bit after such a long season.
Getting a full season under his belt, and getting another full year removed from his knee injury should allow Traore to be even stronger, have even better endurance and should allow him to be an even more dominant player than he was last season. If that happens, Traore can be a truly dominant edge player for the Irish defense.
BREAKOUT FOR BRYCE?
Bryce Young had an interesting sophomore season as part of a deep Notre Dame rotation. There were some ups and downs for Young, but he was able to be part of a deeper rotation that thrived more on the sum of the parts more than having elite individual players like we saw at Miami. That worked in 2025, but in 2026 we'll need to see Young improve his game, and hopefully it will be significant improvement.
There was a lot of talk about Young being a breakout player last season, but the reality is his game was still a bit raw and he is still learning the finer points of the game. He had much needed growth last season. Young will be able to build on the good things we saw, and there's no questioning the immense talent. But he also had some struggles, mainly due to inconsistent and the need to improve his technique. Young is known as a hard worker, so expect him to apply those lessons this offseason as he looks to build his game.
So now we get to find out just how good Young can be. Is he destined to be the toolsy player that never truly puts it all together? The guy who does enough to make an impact, but one that always leaves us wanting more? Or will his junior season be when we start to see the total package come together for Young? If it's the latter as I expect, Young has a chance to form a dominant one-two force with Traore.
DEPTH QUESTIONS
Depth was a strength of the defensive end group the last few seasons, but it's arguably the biggest question mark heading into the 2026 season. There isn't a proven player on the roster behind Traore and Young.
The biggest key to Notre Dame establishing championship depth is Alabama transfer Keon Keeley. It just never worked out for him in Tuscaloosa, but Keeley is coming to Notre Dame in hopes of returning to the five-star form he showed in high school. Keeley showed flashes of that talent late last season, registering two of his three sacks in the SEC title game against Georgia and in the first round playoff win over Oklahoma.
Notre Dame needs Keeley to be a productive player this season. He'll need to grow his game in a hurry, but the talent is still there. If Notre Dame can get Keeley to learn how to work like a top player and if Partridge can help him be a more technically proficient player he'll give Notre Dame a much-needed depth boost on the edge.
After that, Notre Dame is depending on an undersized end, two redshirt freshmen who haven't played a meaningful snap and a pair of true freshmen to establish the depth.
The bad news for Notre Dame is that despite going into his junior season, Loghan Thomas is listed at just 207 pounds. I've been told he's now closer to 220 pounds, but that's still quite small for an edge player on base downs. Thomas has also struggled to stay healthy during his first two seasons. The good news is Thomas is extremely athletic and a talented player. He's extremely twitchy athlete, and if he can stay healthy and continue adding strength he can provide the defense with a disruptive force off the edge.
Both Keeley and Thomas are very talented players that are crucial to the success of the edge group. If they can stay healthy, stay focused and if their effort matches their talent and athleticism, this duo could play a massive role on the success of the defense.
Redshirt freshmen Joe Reiff and Dominik Hulak will also get a chance to push for a role in the end rotation this spring. Both will need to show big jumps this spring in order to put themselves in position to make a move in the fall.
BIG TIME NEWCOMERS
A big boost to the defensive end unit was added in December when Notre Dame signed a pair of elite young edge prospects. North Carolina natives Rodney Dunham and Ebenezer Ewetade were central figures in Notre Dame's No. 1 ranked recruiting class. They are both big time talents that are already enrolled and going through the strength program.
It's not ideal when a team has to rely on freshmen, and if Keeley and Thomas step up they won't necessarily "need" Dunham and Ewetade to be key contributors this season. The lack of elite depth and the big time talent of this duo will make it very, very hard to keep them off the field. Dunham is already turning heads during winter workouts, and Ewetade's talent is obvious. It wouldn't shock me at all if at least one of these two young edge rushers earns a rotation role this season, if not both.
PAST BREAKDOWNS
———————
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!