Advertisement
football Edit

Breakout Notre Dame Player For 2021: Isaiah Foskey

Predicting the next Notre Dame breakout player each preseason will forever be a lively endeavor.

And through the latter stages of this year’s fall camp, the names of Kevin Austin Jr., Braden Lenzy or another of the talented but so far underachieving senior Irish wide receivers have headed most of those debates.

Senior safety Houston Griffith is another oft-talked-about candidate. Sophomore defensive tackle Rylie Mills has enjoyed a great camp, as has junior linebacker Marist Liufau.

But based on the recent run of Irish breakout defensive linemen — and from what we’ve seen so far during fall camp — junior defensive end Isaiah Foskey should highlight any “breakout player” conversation.

Advertisement

A defensive line unit left for dead after sending only two players to the NFL Draft in the four years from 2015 through 2018 (Sheldon Day, 2016; Isaac Rochelle, 2017), Irish line coach Mike Elston upgraded recruiting, development and emphasis in his group and sent five players — including first-rounder Jerry Tillery in 2019 — to the draft in only the last three years.

Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara went in 2020. Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji went in 2021, with plenty more to come, including Foskey.

As far as eye-test at open practice, no Irish defensive players pass it better than the 260-pound, 6-foot-5 Foskey — with a wingspan much longer than that — or 6-4, 220-pound junior safety Kyle Hamilton. Both are strikingly long, twitchy, fast, hard-hitters and freakish athletes, though, Hamilton’s practice was cut short Thursday out of precaution because of tightness in his back, Irish head coach Brian Kelly said afterward.

Because of their limb length and athletic presence, neither printed rosters nor jersey numbers are ever needed to locate Hamilton or Foskey on the practice field.

“Consistent, he’s consistent,” Kelly said of Foskey Thursday after practice. “He shows up every day, runs to the football, he’s assignment correct. He’s very detailed in his work.”

Football players with lanky basketball builds someday turning into NFL pass-rushing stars is now the norm, and Foskey perfectly fits the mold.

Playing on only about one-third of the defensive snaps last season, Foskey still maximized his opportunities with 20 total tackles (second among Irish linemen), and was also second on the team with 4.5 sacks.

“He’s clean in everything that he does,” Kelly said. “And he’s a guy that you’d be really surprised sometimes, when people grade out, he is assignment correct.”

A product of national football powerhouse De La Salle High School near Oakland, Calif., Foskey comes from a prep program that has produced dozens of top Division I college football stars and more than its share of NFL players.

At one point through the late 1990s through the early 2000s, the Spartans won a national high school record 151 consecutive games.

Notre Dame all-American offensive lineman Aaron Taylor (1990-93) and standout defensive tackle Derek Landri (2003-06) are both members of the proud De La Salle football fraternity.

And echoing Coach Kelly’s high praise, De La Salle head coach Justin Alumbaugh also explained that Foskey is as great of a young man as he is a football player, and that his former student deserves all the rewards to come this season and beyond.

“He’s making the most of every opportunity right now, which will bring him many more as he goes,” Alumbaugh said. “The sky really is the limit for Isaiah.”

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON THE LOU SOMOGYI BOARD!

----

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter.

Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts.

• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @tbhorka and @ToddBurlage.

• Like us on Facebook.

Advertisement