Notre Dame has been very good along the defensive line in recent seasons, but if the Irish want to win a title it will need even more from that group in 2026. That's especially true from the defensive ends, who have the potential for a breakout, but must collectively show much needed improvement. How well this group develops under new line coach Charlie Partridge will have a massive impact on the 2026 season.

Let's continue our 2026 Notre Dame Preview series with a look at the defensive end group.

Boubacar Traore - 470 snaps, 37 tackles, 10.0 TFL, 6.5 sacks, 31 pressures (PFF)
Bryce Young - 314 snaps, 20 tackles, 2.0 TFL, 2.0 sacks, 29 pressures (PFF)
Keon Keeley (Alabama) - 167 snaps, 16 tackles, 3.0 TFL, 3.0 sacks, 9 pressures (PFF)
Loghan Thomas - 39 snaps, 2 tackles, 5 pressures (PFF)
Joseph Reiff - 9 snaps 

Notre Dame has been good at defensive end for a decade, a run that began with the 2017-19 season when Khalid Kareem, Julian Okwara, Daelin Hayes and Adetokunbo Ogundeji were dominating opponents. What we haven't seen since that foursome was playing together was a unit that was able to consistently take over games, play dominant football week after week and throw waves of high level NFL Draft picks at teams like we saw from that group. There has been a player here and a player there that could play at that level, but as a unit it's been more good than great.

The 2026 group is not made of up players who have proven they can be part of a dominant unit, but it is made up of players with the talent and potential to become that type of group. What Notre Dame had in 2024 and 2025 was a group mostly of veteran, high motor, quality football players. There was potential, but it was mostly young. The unit was solid and steady, but rarely dominant. In 2026, the expectation is that it begins to change.

This season the veterans are the talented, high upside players from past seasons. No longer are Boubacar Traore, Bryce Young or Keon Keeley (when he was at Alabama) the young, high upside players where the conversation was centered around what might be. That group is expected to finally turn their big time talent and potential into big time production. Notre Dame's ends are asked to do a lot under defensive coordinator Chris Ash, and if they don't prove capable of being impact pass rushers and effective edge setters in the run game the defense will struggle to play to its full potential.

If Notre Dame is going to become that group it needs Traore and Young to play to their full potential. Traore showed flashes of that last season as he led the Irish in tackles for loss (10.0), sacks (6.5) and pressures (31). Despite his immense talent, injuries had limited Traore to just 160 career snaps coming into last season, and he missed the final 11 games of the 2024 campaign. His talent was obvious, with Traore using his length, explosiveness and flexibility to produce well on the edge. But it was also obvious that Traore still has another level he can get to, and the expectation is that he taps into that in 2026.

Traore had a bit of a breakout last season, but now he needs to take another big jump and become the kind of dominant edge rusher that forces offenses to build their game plans around slowing him down. There is little doubt that Traore has the talent to have that kind of big season and become a first-round draft pick caliber player, and if he can put it all together he gives the Irish the kind of impact edge rusher it hasn't had for several seasons.

Young has a much longer way to go, but he too has the talent and potential to become an impact edge player. Young actually had a much better pressure rate than Traore last season, registering 29 pressures on 202 pass rush snaps (PFF), compared to 31 pressures on 294 pass rush snaps (PFF) for Traore. A big difference is that Traore's pressures ended with either a hit or a sack on the quarterback. Young is more of a power rusher, but he has unique athletic skill for a player with his size. What he has lacked is the kind repertoire needed to turn that talent into consistent production. He made strides in that area in the spring, but more work is needed.

I'm confident that Traore takes another step for Notre Dame, but Young is more of a question mark. The talent is certainly there, but the gap between what he can be and what he has been is wider. Many expected his breakout to come last season but it just never materialized, which has caused some to question if Young does, in fact, have the big time ability we hoped he had when he signed.

But let's not forget it has been year three when recent Notre Dame standouts have had their breakout seasons. Through two seasons, Young has registered 46 pressures (PFF), had 5.0 tackles for loss and registered 3.5 sacks. Consider that through two seasons Traore had 10 pressures (PFF), 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. Julian Okwara had 31 pressures, 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks through two seasons. Khalid Kareem had 15 pressures (PFF), 5.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks through two seasons. Isaiah Foskey had 20 pressures (PFF), 5.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks through two seasons. 

In year three, Traore jumped to 31 pressures (PFF), 10 TFL and 6.5 sacks. Okwara jumped to 61 pressures (PFF), 12.0 TFL and 8.0 sacks. Kareem jumped to 37 pressures (PFF), 10.0 TFL and 4.5 sacks. Foskey jumped to 32 pressures, 12.5 TFL and 11.0 sacks.

Can Young make that kind of jump? We'll find out over the next six months, but there's no doubt he has the talent to make the same kind of jump we saw from Traore, Kareem, Okwara and Foskey.

Even if Traore and Young both have their breakout seasons, there remains a question about what goes on behind them. Notre Dame knew what it had in recent seasons, as the Irish had a number of solid veterans mixed with some talented young players. It had depth and far more proven production than what we see behind Traore and Young. The good news for Notre Dame, however, is that there is loads of talent, athleticism and potential behind that duo.

Alabama transfer Keon Keeley arrives after finishing off his 2025 season in strong fashion, registering a sack in the SEC title game and the first round playoff win over Oklahoma. What we saw this spring is that Keeley has the kind of size, power and athletic skill needed to develop into a more consistent producer on the edge. Despite being a senior, Keeley is still technically raw, which explains a lot about the inconsistency and lack of discipline we saw from the Alabama front the last couple of seasons. It's now up to Keeley to put in the work and for Partridge to coach him up enough to allow him to become a strong part of the Irish rotation.

Redshirt freshmen Joe Reiff and Dominik Hulak showed growth this spring as well. Reiff has filled out nicely and Hulak plays with an impressive motor, showing good strength and potential as an edge setting run defender with solid pass rush skills. Neither have shown the tools needed to become impact starters, but both show potential to grow into key role players like Junior Tuihalamaka, NaNa Osafo-Mensah and Jordan Botelho. The big question that must be answered this fall is whether or not they are ready to be those players in 2026.

A great deal of the excitement behind the starters is based on the arrival of big time freshmen Rodney Dunham and Ebenezer Ewetade. Both were Top 100 signees in the 2026 class, both were early enrollees and both showed off big time talent in the spring.

Dunham was especially good thanks to having a more advanced game and advanced physique. Dunham is well ahead of where Traore and Young were as rookies thanks to those traits, as well as his top notch explosiveness, athleticism, length, power and feel for the game. I fully expect Dunham to show continued growth in the fall and step into a major rotation role by the time the season kicks off. Ewetade has already made big strides with filling out his frame and his twitch on the edge is impressive. He needs to keep getting stronger and his technical skill isn't as advanced as Dunham. The more he improves in those two areas the faster he'll force his way onto the field. This duo has a chance to be special in their Notre Dame careers, but the team needs them to grow up in a hurry.

The big wild card on the edge is junior Loghan Thomas. He's a long, fast and extremely athletic young defender that has shown potential as an edge rusher. The issues, however, is that after two full seasons in the strength and nutrition program at Notre Dame he's still just 215 pounds, and he has struggled to stay healthy for a full season. If Thomas can handle the rigors of playing on the edge and stay healthy he gives the Irish an athletic player that can be an effective situational pass rusher and movement piece.

1. Can The DE Group Become Impact Edge Rushers - Notre Dame has all the talent and athletic skill for this group to become impact edge rushers, there's no doubt about that. The problem is that I continue to use the word potential when talking about this group. In fact, I used it 11 times in the sections above. Potential doesn't equal production. If we can start using terms that refer to current technical prowess, current talent and current production that equals the skill of this group there is no doubt the Irish edge group will be able to help fuel a championship caliber defensive line. 

2. Is The Freshman Class As Good As Advertised - Question number one will be in part answered by veterans like Traore, Young and Keeley. But if Notre Dame is going to have the impact depth that is needed to win 15-16 games this season the freshman class will need to be involved. If the duo of Dunham and Ewetade is as good as advertised at least one will step up and give the edge rotation a strong presence and pass rushing talent, and it wouldn't be a surprise if both end up playing key minutes this season.

3. Can The Group Stay Healthy - There have been too many injuries on the edge in recent seasons from both a season-ending injury standpoint and also games missed or players not being able to play to their full potential as they work through injuries. It would be great for this unit to finally have some good luck and stay healthy all season. Notre Dame needs that to happen, because the margin for error is a bit thin due to numbers and the fact so many unproven players are in the depth chart. Half of the DE rotation is made up of freshmen or redshirt freshmen who have a combined nine career snaps, and Thomas has yet to hit the 100-snap mark. Notre Dame can't afford to deal with the same nagging injuries at DE we've seen in recent seasons.

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