If Notre Dame has to rely a little more on its defense this season as it tries to get back to the College Football Playoff national championship game, that might not be such a bad thing.
The defensive line for the Fighting Irish should be stout, and it has been ranked as one of the best units in college football ahead of the 2025 season.
After lauding ND’s secondary, Athlon Sports ranked the ND defensive line as sixth-best in the country.
This is a unit that dealt with several significant injuries throughout last season but still managed to play solid football all year, so it is expected to take the next step this fall under the tutelage of line coach Al Washington. While Jordan Botelho will be sidelined to start the season due to a pectoral injury, this is still a talented and deep unit.
Both Gabriel Rubio and Jason Onye are healthy again at tackle, and the Irish brought in Jared Dawson from Louisville to rotate in as well. Meanwhile, Bryce Young leads a deep group on the outside. Once Boubacar Traore gets completely healthy, he should be a pass-rushing force off the edge.
There may not be a returning player that has off the chart stats, but there is proven depth with a lot of high upside for several players. Washington has a deep rotation, which should serve the ND defense well in 2025 as Marcus Freeman and Co. look to pick up right where they left off from last season starting with the opener at Miami.
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