Notre Dame Has Found Some Important Answers This Spring - Defense Edition

Notre Dame put one of the nation's best defenses on the field in 2023, and that unit was a driving force behind the team's 10-3 record. Despite the loss of some very important players from last season's defense, the Fighting Irish should once again have a top defense in 2024.

In order to do that, the Irish defense will need to answer some questions that include replacing top players, but also improving in some key areas. While there are still questions that remain near the end of the spring, Notre Dame does have some very important answers that can serve as the foundation of the 2024 defense beyond the big time talent we already knew about.

Let's take a look at the answers that Notre Dame has found this spring.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE DEPTH IS STRONG

Notre Dame returns arguably the best defensive tackle combo in the country in All-American Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills. There was a drop off between that duo and the backups last season, especially when Gabriel Rubio was out with injury. With Rubio out this spring, and with Cross and Mills getting limited snaps in order to lessen their wear and tear, an opportunity was presented to the rest of the depth chart.

This allowed senior Jason Onye and junior Donovan Hinish to get a lot more reps, and the duo handled themselves quite well. Their emergence gives greater confidence that Notre Dame will have productive interior players on the field at all times. There was a drop off when Mills and Cross were not on the field, but the emergence of Onye and Hinish has a chance to lessen that.

Notre Dame needs to improve its rush defense in 2024, and that is especially true when one of the starters are not on the field. Onye and Hinish being more effective against the run is a must, and we've seen that in the spring. If they carry this into the fall, and Rubio returns, the Irish could have the best DT depth chart in the country.

We'll need to see it carry over into the fall, but the spring was a great move in that direction.

CHRISTIAN GRAY AND JADEN MICKEY EMERGE

Notre Dame had one of the nation's best cornerback duos in 2023, and while Benjamin Morrison returns from that group, Cam Hart is off to the NFL. The shoulder injury that Morrison suffered this spring is also concerning, and it raises questions about whether or not Notre Dame can cover at the level it needs to for Al Golden to run the defense the way he wants.

Sophomore Christian Gray and junior Jaden Mickey came into the spring battling for a starting role, but both will be counted onto play major minutes in the fall. Once Morrison went down they were both acting as starters. The good news for Notre Dame is both players are quite talented, and both had outstanding springs.

Mickey had a pick six and was solid in coverage throughout the Jersey Scrimmage, and he continues to perform well in the run game and perimeter screen game. Whether he's starting or playing as part of a rotation, Mickey's emergence is vital for Notre Dame to have the depth of impact talent at cornerback to play in 16 games next season. He lacks the pure man coverage skills of Morrison, Gray and Hart, but his strength and football IQ allow him to make a lot of plays. Mickey has shown more patience as a player this spring, and that has allowed him to play at a high level.

Expectations were high for Gray coming into the spring, but he has met them in impressive fashion. Gray is a pure cover player that has the length, speed and football smarts to be an elite cover player. He handled the boundary quite well with Morrison out, and he has shown big time ability at the field position as well.

The emergence of Gray and Mickey increases the odds that Notre Dame will once again have a championship caliber cornerback group in 2024, especially if Morrison can return to full strength.

ADON SHULER HAS A STRONG SPRING

Fifth-year senior Xavier Watts returns after his unanimous All-American season, and he'll once again be a rock for the Irish defense. DJ Brown was a steady and solid player for Notre Dame last season and he had loads of experience. Brown has exhausted all of his eligibility, and rotation safety Ramon Henderson is also no longer with the program. That means that while Watts is certainly an impact player, the rest of the safety room was a major question mark to start the spring, especially with transfer Rod Heard II not officially arriving until the summer.

That makes the spring breakout from sophomore Adon Shuler incredibly important. The New Jersey native took advantage of the reps he got this spring and played like a starter. He was an active run defender and showed he has the range to handle playing the alleys. Shuler also improved as a coverage player, and while there is still room for growth here, it has become a bigger part of his game.

In fact, Shuler ended the Jersey Scrimmage with a red zone interception that kept the offense off the board. Shuler's breakout means that if Heard is as good at Notre Dame as he was at Northwestern, the Irish safety room will be better than it was in 2023, and perhaps significantly so. It also takes some of the pressure off Watts, who won't have to worry about protecting his safety counterparts and can focus on continuing his role as a big time playmaker.

LINEBACKER TALENT IS LEGIT

There are still a lot of questions about the linebackers, which I'll get into in an upcoming feature. But the spring showed us that one thing is clear, Notre Dame has loads of talent at the linebacker position.

Junior Jaylen Sneed is showing off his five-star athleticism, sophomores Drayk Bowen and Jaiden Ausberry had impressive spring performances, freshman Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa showed he is the real deal, and even depth players like Preston Zinter and Kahanu Kia showed they are good football players.

They'll need to answer some questions about their play, but there is no doubt that veteran Jack Kiser will be complemented by very athletic and very physically talented football players.

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