Defensive Line Recruiting Success Is Vital For Notre Dame's 2018 Class

There is an old expression that says something about football being won in the trenches. No matter how much the college game changes, when it comes to winning championships that mantra still rings true.

Just look at the last four college football national champions.

Florida State’s 2013 defensive line produced three second round draft picks. Ohio State’s national title winning line in 2014 produced a first-round pick, a third-round pick and a fourth-round pick. Alabama’s title team in 2015 produced a first round pick and three second round picks. Clemson returns three of its four defensive line starters, but its runner up team from 2015 produced a first round pick, a second round pick and a fourth round pick from its line.

This article isn’t about whether or not Notre Dame has the talent to produce those kinds of NFL Draft results. It’s not about recruiting rankings either, as there are three, four and five-stars among the draft picks referred to above.

What has hurt Notre Dame in regards to producing championship caliber defensive lines is a failure to develop the talented players it has recruited, and inconsistent recruiting classes.

Notre Dame’s 2014 recruiting class had four ends and three interior players, but two of those ends eventually transferred out.

The following year, Notre Dame landed four interior players – including two-year starter Jerry Tillery – but it failed to land an end in the class.

A year later the Irish landed four ends, including five-star Daelin Hayes and a Rivals250 player in Khalid Kareem.

That lack of balance and poor numbers in the 2012 and 2013 classes, when Notre Dame landed just five total defensive linemen, including one (Jacob Matuska) that finished his career as a tight end.

Notre Dame landed a pair of defensive linemen on National Signing Day when end Kofi Wardlow and defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa. That duo joined the three players that were already in the class, including the No. 139 player in the country, defensive tackle Darnell Ewell.

The Irish finished the class with two raw but talented ends that have a lot of upside, and it hauled in three defensive tackles with starting position. Tagovailoa-Amosa is in the tackle category right now, but he could see action at end as well.

Balance is ideal when recruiting the defensive line. A team wants/needs to consistently bringing in interior and exterior players with ability, year after year.

The lack of balance in the 2012 through 2016 classes has created some holes in the Irish line. Moving forward, the staff must bring in line hauls that add impact talent to the inside and outside of the unit.

Notre Dame got off to a very good start by landing Jayson and Justin Ademilola from Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep. Jayson is a gifted interior player with outstanding upside. Justin is an edge player that provides the power rushing potential that Notre Dame needs up front.

It is imperative that Notre Dame put together back to back classes that not only have balance, but even more impact talent.

Ewell could certainly be an impact player for the Irish, and both Wardlow and Tagovailoa-Amosa are low floor/high ceiling players, but the 2018 class needs to be an upgrade.

Notre Dame has a chance to put together an outstanding line haul, one with the balance and impact talent it needs. The Ademilola twins are a great start, but the success of this class will be determined by the staff’s ability to hold onto those two players and to finish the class off on a strong note.

The Irish staff is on a very small number of interior linemen, with three players in focus at this point. Landing one of them three players would give the Irish a strong one-two punch along with Ademilola. Landing two of them would give the staff an elite interior haul.

Ridgely (Md.) North Caroline nose tackle Ja’mion Franklin is a must-get for the Irish staff. He’s a powerful interior lineman that explodes off the ball. Franklin has the ability to eat of space in the run game and the athletic skills to be a penetrator.

Franklin is a nose tackle while Ademilola is more of a penetrating three-technique. Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh defensive tackle PJ Mustipher is a combination of both of those players. Mustipher is a strong player with excellent hands, but he also has the athletic skills to play the three-technique.

Notre Dame leads for Franklin and is in good position with Mustipher. If it can land both players it will be able to bring in one of the best interior hauls in the country.

The Irish also made the Top 10 for Covington (Ga.) Newton defensive tackle Darnell Jefferies, but until he visits Notre Dame can’t really be considered a real player.

Maryland is home to a number of Notre Dame’s top linemen, and not just interior players. The Irish are in great shape with Baltimore (Md.) Gilman standout Thomas Booker, who is arguably the top end on the board at this point.

Booker is a powerful player that has everything Notre Dame wants and needs at the strong side end spot. He’s stout against the run but has the physical pass rushing skills needed at the position.

Booker and Justin Ademilola would give the Irish a pair of power ends that could play together, as both could play the drop spot in a pinch, although Ademilola is a better fit for the position.

Cleveland Heights (Ohio) end Tyreke Smith continues to mention the Irish as a legitimate player, even including Notre Dame in his Top 12. Until Smith makes it back to campus the Irish should not be considered a major player. Smith has set up trips to Notre Dame on multiple occasions in the last four months, but he has ultimately cancelled each of those trips.

A pair of West Coast ends – Salt Lake City (Utah) Olympus standout Cameron Latu and San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) J Serra Catholic athlete Abdul-Malik McClain – are high on the board for Notre Dame. Both continue to say great things about Notre Dame, but getting them on campus will be a must for the Irish to be considered a major player.

There are three linebackers that Notre Dame is after, and all three would be excellent fits for the drop end position currently manned by Daelin Hayes.

Temecula (Calif.) Great Oak linebacker Jack Lamb has the skills and frame to stay inside and play linebacker. He plays fast between the tackles, gets downhill well and shows impressive instincts. He also has the type of frame that could allow him to add a lot of good weight and slide down to drop end.

The same can be said for Portland (Ore.) Central Catholic linebacker Eli’Jah Winston. Ever since he was offered, Winston has said a lot of good things about Notre Dame. If he visits the Irish could be a player.

Notre Dame is high on raw but athletic end Richard Jibunor of Athens (Ga.) Christian School. Jibunor says all the right things about Notre Dame and the staff is certainly making him a priority, but he’ll be hard to get out of SEC country.

Should Notre Dame land at least four players from this list, the Irish defensive staff will be a very, very happy group of people. Notre Dame will also bring in its second straight balanced class, and it will add legitimate impact talent to the roster.

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