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Last season, South Bend was home to one of the most underrated defensive lines in the country. When the regular season was over, the Notre Dame defensive line led the country in total pressures, but they didn't get the recognition they deserved.

Athlon Sports took notice to the Fighting Irish defensive line and are paying attention to the level of talent they return; they've ranked Notre Dame's defensive line as the No. 2 unit in the country in their National Unit Rankings and when you dive into its makeup, it's not difficult to see why. 

Let's start at the defensive end position. Notre Dame defensive end Boubacar Traore is on the verge of a breakout this season and it's something he'll have to do to play his part in the Irish taking that next step to becoming a championship-caliber football team.

Last season, we got our first full dosage of Traore in the starting lineup. Unfortunately, his season was cut short in 2024 due to a knee injury, but he was back for the start of the 2026 season against Miami and recorded the only sack of the game for the Irish. From there, the 6-5, 253-pound edge rusher proceeded to rack up 31 total pressures, 16 hits plus sacks on the quarterback, 10.0 tackles for a loss and tallied 26 run stops.

Opposite of Traore is rising junior Bryce Young who holds the key to this truly becoming an elite edge rushing duo. 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.

The edge position also has plenty of depth when you factor in the return of Loghan Thomas and the acquisition of Keon Keeley through the portal and Rodney Dunham and Ebenezer Ewetade from the freshman class. All four players will have to continue to develop, but all four players will also play a role this season as well. 

Let's turn our attention to the interior of the defensive line. Back in January, the outlook for this unit was looking bleak, but in a matter of weeks, everything changed and this was one of the most talented interior defensive line units from top to bottom. Factor in the hire of former NFL defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, the outlook for this group has changed drastically. 

Super senior Jason Onye was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA, Armel Mukam withdrew his name from the transfer portal, former USC transfer Elijah Hughes is going into his second year and final year in South Bend and former 2025 defensive end recruit Christopher Burgess moved to the inside. Then, they went out and added Tionne Gray from Oregon and Francis Brewu from Pitt via the transfer portal. The potential for this six-man rotation along the interior is looking fantastic. 

There's very few defensive lines that can match Notre Dame's depth, but schools like Oregon, Texas and Miami have more proven production when you talk about players like Matayo Uiagalelei from Oregon, Colin Simmons from Texas and Damon Wilson II from Miami. Having said that, the level of talent from top to bottom along the Fighting Irish defensive line is next to none. There was some projection used with Notre Dame's defensive line in Athlon's ranking, but the talent, returning production and ceiling back up their ranking. 

Athlon Sports Top 10 Defensive Lines

1. Oregon Ducks 
2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 
3. Miami Hurricanes
4. Indiana Hoosiers
5. Texas Longhorns
6. Oklahoma Sooners
7. Ohio State Buckeyes
8. Georgia Bulldogs
9. Michigan Wolverines
10. Texas Tech Red Raiders

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