Notre Dame Roster Review | Defensive End
Notre Dame is losing a player who set a record for sacks at defensive end, but they’re losing far more than that at the position.
With Isaiah Foskey and Justin Ademilola both moving on to the next level, they’re losing 17.5 tackles for loss from last season. They’re bringing back 14 at the position.
They’re losing over 1,000 snaps. All of the players returning combined played only 708 at defensive end last season.
They’re losing 57 pressures. They’re bringing back 42.
They have to replace a lot even though they are only losing two players. That’s why it was important that Al Washington was able to go into the portal and land Javontae Jean-Baptiste as a graduate transfer. That jumps up the returning pressures to 56, the returning snaps to 958, and the returning tackles for loss to 18.
It’s still a lot to replace, but Jean-Baptiste can help make it less difficult. He was a rotation player at Ohio State and a productive pass rusher in limited snaps. He had a 16% pass rush win rate on all pass rushes in 2022 and a 26.5% win rate on true pass sets (no screens, quick game, RPOs, etc) according to PFF. He had the 15th best true pass rush grade as an edge rusher in the Power 5 last season.
There’s a strong possibility he ends up as the starter at strongside end this fall with Rylie Mills expected to make a permanent move back to the interior defensive line (he played there exclusively in the Gator Bowl).
(Note: this story originally did not have a paragraph on NaNa Osafo-Mensah when first published. It accidentally got deleted in the editing process. My apologies for the mistake.)
NaNa Osafo-Mensah is one of the more experienced players returning up front. That experience hasn’t translated into much production, though. He’s been solid at setting the edge and playing the run, but hasn’t progressed much as a pass rusher.
He’s going to be in the rotation and will have a chance to start, but Jean-Baptiste has proven to be a much better pass rusher than him and that could be the big piece that seperates them.
It’s year four for Alex Ehrensberger and it’s not exactly a great sign that he didn’t crack the rotation in year three. His physical tools flash when we’ve seen him in brief instances, but he’s not a refined player versus the run and it’s now or never for him. It’s a huge spring for him because he’ll get plenty of reps before some freshmen arrive to compete in the summer.
Aiden Gobaira will be in the mix after redshirting and it’s a golden opportunity for him to jump the line in front of Ehrensberger. He’s now had a year in the strength and conditioning program so he should look like a different player this March.
Armel Mukam and Boubacar Traore will be enrolled in June. Both likely project to redshirt this fall, but with the depth being unproven, it’s not out of the question that one of them could surprise and play this season. Traore could also end up at defensive tackle.
In the middle of October, it would have been a stretch to predict Jordan Botelho as the starting Vyper in 2023. By the conclusion of the bowl game, the talk changed to him potentially being a premier pass rusher for the Irish.
He had 4.5 sacks in the final six games. His pass rushing sample size wasn’t large, but a 24% pass rush win rate and 38% win rate on true pass sets (no screen, no quick game, no RPOs, etc) are the kind of numbers that suggest he’s going to be a major factor off the edge.
Junior Tuihalamaka started out at Mike linebacker and he may ultimately end up there, but he played Vyper against South Carolina and had some nice moments there. I’m not sure it’s the best long term fit. It might be the best way to get him more reps, though, and we’ll see if he continues to look more comfortable playing as an edge defender.
Joshua Burnham started out at linebacker in the spring before switching to the defensive line. He redshirted last season and the former blue-chip recruit is on the list of most intriguing players to watch in the spring. How big he is and how he looks moving at that size will be important. I think he has awesome potential at this spot.
Notre Dame might not have landed a true Vyper in their recent recruiting class. Might is being used because it all depends on how they view Preston Zinter and whether or not he is a linebacker or edge defender. He is going to start out at linebacker, but he may end up at Vyper by the end of 2023.
There’s going to be a lot of pressure on Jean-Baptiste and Botelho to play at a high level this fall and Notre Dame desperately needs young players like Goibara, Tuihalamaka, and Burnham to insert themselves into the conversation. The ceiling for the group is fairly high, but many of the players are still scraping the floor in their development paths. How high they can climb will determine if this is a transition year or a very good one.
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