Notre Dame's dominant pass rush faces a critical interior challenge. Can the Irish find proven production to replace departed stars and maintain pressure?
When the regular season concluded, Notre Dame's defense led the country in total pressures according to Pro Football Focus. Out of their 285 total pressures and 79 hits plus sacks on the quarterback, the defensive line accounted for 206 of those pressures and 52 of those hits plus sacks on the quarterback. It was one of the most notable, and not talked about, defensive line performances we've seen in South Bend in quite some time.
Out of the 206 pressures that came from the defensive line in 2025, 119 of them came from edge players. Boubacar Traore led the way with 31 total in 11 games played while sophomore Bryce Young was not too far behind with 28. Former Notre Dame defensive lineman Junior Tuihalamaka and Josh Burnham were tied at 19 a piece and Jordan Botelho was tied for 9th on the team with 16. Thankfully, Notre Dame returns both Traore and Young next season, but there are some questions along the interior.
Their leading returner along the interior, USC transfer Elijah Hughes, ended this past season with nine total pressures in 144 pass rushing snaps. The leader along the interior, former captain Donovan Hinish, was third on the team in total pressures with 26 and five hits plus sacks on the quarterback. In December, Hinish announced his retirement from football due to a serious shoulder injury. Louisville transfer Jared Dawson, who finished the season 5th on the defense in total pressures (21), has exhausted his eligibility.
Fifth year senior Jason Onye is appealing the NCAA to return for a 6th season but the outlooked remains uncertain. Onye finished last season tied for 9th on the team in total pressures with 16 and had 1.0 sack on the year. Its because of this that the Irish are seriously looking into the transfer portal to take, at the minimum, one defensive tackle to beef up the rotation. Talent is not the question along the interior, but experience and proven production is.
Hughes had a good first season in South Bend, but it's unlikely he will match the per-snap production as a pass rusher that Hinish was able to provide; they're just two different types of players. Behind Hughes, on the current roster, you have talented young players like Cole Mullins, Sean Sevillano, Davion Dixon, Gordy Sulfsted and two talented incoming freshman in Tiki Hola and Elijah Hughes. Unfortunately, all of those players combined have totaled 131 snaps and five pressures in their careers up to this point; all five pressures come from Mullins and Sevillano.
The talent is undeniable, but it's uncertain how ready it will be to take on a Hinish-sized, Dawson-sized or Onye-sized workload in 2026. New defensive line coach Charlie Partridge will have his work cut out for him in his first season in South Bend along the interior. The portal remains a priority, and the staff is working hard to land impact players at the interior. Development of their young talent will be crucial and they'll need one of the young players to emerge even with portal additions.
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