Notre Dame Defensive End Bryce Young Will Play A Major Role In 2026
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Notre Dame's defense is loaded with star-power potential heading into the 2026 season. There's one proven star on defense and that's Unanimous All-American cornerback Leonard Moore who will be the best returning corner in the country two years in a row. There's others that are on the verge like defensive end Boubacar Traore and safety Tae Johnson who PFF has ranked as the No. 1 returning safety in the country.
Another player making a push to become a star on this loaded defensive roster in rising junior defensive end Bryce Young. Young was one of the highest rated defensive recruits in the 2024 class. The 6-6, 260-pound North Carolina native came to Notre Dame with a lot of hype, but he was relatively raw coming out of high school and needed time to develop.
In 2024, he played 374 snaps in their 16-game season. He came onto the scene against Purdue when they lost defensive in Jordan Botelho to a season ending injury. His snap volume ramped up during the Louisville game due to an injury suffered by Traore which put an early end to his season as well. In total, Young finished with 17 total pressures and seven hits plus sacks on the quarterback; 15 of his 17 pressures and six of his seven hits plus sacks on the quarterback came from the Louisville game to the end of the season.
This past year, Young's snap volume went up. He played 314 snaps this season which was 60 less than his freshman season, but the Irish played in four less games. Out of his 314 total snaps, Young played 202 pass rushing snaps. In those 202 pass rushing snaps, Young tallied 29 pressures and 11 hits plus sacks on the quarterback. He also recorded 10 run stops in 104 run snaps. His production last year was good, but there's definitely another level he can get to.
Notre Dame has one of the best returning edge-rushing duos in the country with Traore and Young. To varying degrees, we're confident in what we're going to see from Traore this upcoming season. It's likely he ends up breaking out nationally and could end up in the same conversation with players like Dylan Stewart from South Carolina, Damon Wilson II from Miami and Collin Simmons from Texas. Young, on the other hand, is more of a question mark.
There are some things we saw from him this spring, in terms of his development, under new defensive line coach Charlie Partridge that make me confident that Young is on his way to a taking that next big step. For Notre Dame to have one of the best edge-rushing duos in the country, they need Young to play his part as well. We've seen previous defensive lines in South Bend in the past that are dominant to just one side, and that's easy to game plan around.
Young has first-round NFL talent, measurables and potential. Now, it's about going out and turning that potential into production. He's had a solid first two seasons in South Bend, but this is a year where he's poised to take the next step and be the game-changing counterpart to Traore's impact on a weekly basis. If Young takes the next step as a pass rusher and a run stopper, this defense will be very hard to move the ball against in the fall.
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