Notre Dame Defensive Tackle Armel Mukam To Enter The Transfer Portal
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This evening, Notre Dame defensive tackle Armel Mukam announced his intention to enter the transfer portal. This was first reported by Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports. Mukam will have two years of eligibility remaining. This is a definite blow to the Notre Dame defensive line rotation, specifically along the interior. With departures from Gabriel Rubio, Jared Dawson, the retirement of Donovan Hinish and the likely departure of Jason Onye, the interior defensive line depth was looking thin. Defensive tackle is now the No. 1 priority for this Notre Dame program.
Mukam played in 9 games this season for the Irish and his impact was most felt in the Navy game. The 6-3, 305-pound defensive tackle also played the most snaps of his career against the Midshipmen in week 11 of the college football season. In his career, the Quebec native totaled 11 tackles, one forced fumble which came this season and seven total pressures. His opportunities were limited due to being behind a lot of veteran talent like Rubio, Dawson and Onye this season as well as Rylie Mills and Howard Cross III in 2024.
He was a member of the 2023 recruiting class and was a Top 200 recruiting according to 247Sports. Mukam was a three-star player ranked No. 469 in the country according to On3 and Rival's industry rankings. The Canada native was one of 23 recruits in the 2023 recruiting class which had some heavy hitters on the defensive side of the ball including defensive end Boubacar Traore, linebackers Drayk Bowen and Jaiden Ausberry, cornerback Christian Gray and safety Adon Shuler. Mukam was expected to be an impact player this upcoming season with the interior defensive line rotation thinning out, but he's taking his opportunities elsewhere.
The major concern now is the depth at defensive tackle and it makes dipping into the portal an absolute necessity. As things stand right now, there are going to be eight scholarship defensive tackles on the roster and that includes incoming freshman Tiki Hola and Elijah Golden. The only player returning with any significant in-game experience is former USC transfer Elijah Hughes who played 264 snaps this past season for the Irish. Behind Hughes is Cole Mullins who played 59 snaps this season. Outside of Hughes and Mullins, there's very limited to no experience.
Defensive line coach Al Washington will have his work cut out for him this offseason. The room is extremely talented, albeit very unproven. Players like Sean Sevillano Jr., Davion Dixon, Gordy Sulfsted, Brenan Vernon, along with the incoming two true freshman will have to be developed and developed quickly. The transfer portal opens tomorrow; it will be interesting to see what the Irish do in the portal at defensive tackle and it will also be interesting to see where Mukam ends up. We wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.
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