Notre Dame 2023 Preview: Defensive Tackle Improvement Is A Must
Despite the loss of multi-year starter Jayson Ademilola and transfer Chris Smith, the Notre Dame defensive tackle depth chart has a chance to be much better in 2023. The defense needs that to be true, as the interior of the line will play a key role in Notre Dame's success this season.
There is plenty of talented depth, but not as much proven production as you'd like. So what is the bigger story by season's end? Will we be talking about the production from the talented group, or will we still be talking about the unit's potential?
That answer will tell us a lot about how good the Irish defense ends up being. Our 2023 Notre Dame season preview continues with a look at the Notre Dame defensive tackles.
2023 DEFENSIVE TACKLE ROSTER
A look at the career stats for the Notre Dame defensive tackles:
Howard Cross III - 75 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 5 sacks
Rylie Mills - 47 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 7 sacks
Gabriel Rubio - 18 tackles, 4 tackles for loss
Aidan Keanaaina - 4 tackles
Jason Onye - 2 tackles
BREAKOUT FINALLY COMING FOR MILLS?
Rylie Mills has been a key member of the Notre Dame defensive line rotation from the moment he arrived as part of the 2020 class. Now a senior, Mills is expected to become a much more productive player, a difference maker even. There is little doubt that Mills has the talent to be that kind of player, but now is the time for him to prove it on a more consistent basis.
Mills has shifted between defensive tackle and big end throughout his career, but late last season he was moved back inside, and that's where Mills will play this fall. He started at three-technique in the bowl game and finished with 4 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in the Irish win over South Carolina. Mills must carry that into the 2023 season.
The Illinois native has filled out impressively over the last year, and he's not almost 300 pounds. Mills certainly looks the part, and he has an impressive combination of length, athleticism and power. Despite not having a breakout up to this point, he has certainly shown flashes, and when he's been on his game Mills has been impressive.
Senior year breakouts at defensive tackle are also not new for Notre Dame.
Sheldon Day entered his senior season with 16.5 career tackles for loss and 3.5 career sacks. As a senior he racked up 15.5 tackles for loss and 4. sacks in 13 games.
Jerry Tillery entered his senior season with 14.5 career tackles for loss and 5.5 career sacks. As a senior he racked up 10.5 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks.
Mills enters his senior season with 11 career tackles for loss and seven sacks despite playing far fewer snaps than both Day and Tillery had in their first three seasons. His per-snap production rate is significantly better than his predecessors.
The question is will Mills follow in their footsteps and have the big breakout season his talent should dictate, or will he continue to be a player that shows flash but lacks the consistent impact. If the former happens the Irish senior will play a very, very important role in the defense taking a big jump.
CROSS IS A KEY FIGURE
Speaking of long-time members of the rotation, Howard Cross III has also been that. Cross was a depth player in 2020 and 2021, and last season he broke into the starting lineup. Cross had a career high in tackles (33) and played steady football all season.
Cross did take a step back in tackles for loss and sacks, but he was still disruptive for much of the season. Although his sack numbers went down (from three in 2021), Cross had more total pressures (21 according to Pro Football Focus).
The New Jersey native is a quick, penetrating defender that can be a handful when he's on his game. The issue for Cross, however, is that he's quite undersized at just 6-1 and 275 pounds. That doesn't keep him from being an effective player, but it does appear to cause him to wear down at times.
For Notre Dame's coaches, they need to find a way to limit his reps a bit. Last season, Cross earned 38 reps in the opener, and that was followed by 49 snaps against Marshall, 57 against California and then six straight weeks with at least 31 snaps. He had 50 snaps against Navy, 38 against USC and 47 in the bowl game.
That's a lot of snaps (477) for any interior player, especially one that is as light as Cross. That's 85 more snaps than Georgia star Jalen Carter had last season, and Carter is over 320 pounds.
Cross is better when he is fresh, when he can use his leverage and excellent first step quickness to shoot gaps. That means keep his overall snaps in check, but also using him to attack to an even greater degree. Far too often it seemed as though Cross was being used to occupy space instead of attacking, something that needs to change this season.
RUBIO AND ONYE ARE CRUCIAL
Depth is key up the middle, and juniors Gabriel Rubio and Jason Onye are expected to be important members of the rotation. How well this duo performs will certainly play a key role in determining if this defensive front can play at a high level by ensuring the production doesn't drop off when the starters leave the game.
Rubio gained valuable experience as a rotation player last season, but now a junior the former Top 100 recruit is expected to provide more impact production. Rubio gave solid snaps last season, but his play was much improved later in the season. Three of his four tackles for loss came in the final six games, and the hope is that he can carry over that improved play into the 2023 season.
Onye played just eight snaps last season, but he was one of the surprise breakout players this spring. The former defensive end was up to 292 pounds, but the good news we saw this spring is that he remained a quality athlete. The expectation is that Onye can not only provide rotation snaps, but he can provide disruptive playmaking off the bench.
If Rubio and Onye can both take junior season leaps the Irish should see a significant jump in production. That jump would also give Al Washington the confidence in his depth to play them more, which takes the snaps burden off of Mills and Cross, which will help them stay fresh.
WHERE'S THE BEEF?
The loss of Chris Smith to graduation took away the only 300-pounder from the 2022 rotation. Smith was a stout run stuffer up the middle and provided the defense with some beef.
There should be more beef up the middle this season despite the loss of Smith. Rubio is now up to 302 pounds and showed more strength this spring, which should help provide more run stuffing beef to the middle of the line.
The other player that could do that is senior Aidan Keanaaina. Despite missing at least half the season due to a spring knee injury, Keanaaina worked his way back onto the field late in 2022. The Colorado native actually earned eight snaps in the win over Boston College, and he was solid late in that blowout win.
If Keanaaina can earn a role as a short-yardage/goal line player, and give some base down snaps as part of the rotation the 312-pounder would provide the defense with a much-needed boost in size and power.
SOPHOMORE CLASS QUESTIONS
Rising sophomores Tyson Ford and Donovan Hinish will likely be rotation players for Notre Dame in the future, and both have starting talent. The question is whether or not they will make enough of a jump in 2023 to work their way into the rotation.
Ford's upside is arguably as high as any interior player on the roster. The former end was a Top 100 recruit in the 2022 class, and he put on a lot of weight in a short period of time. Ford showed in the spring game he kept his athleticism despite the added weight (he's up to 292 pounds).
Ford came to Notre Dame as a raw player and he needed a lot of work, but he's the kind of talent that Washington must take a major interest in. Getting a player with his talent to play to his potential gives the defense a defender with star potential, which is why Washington needs to make Ford a pet project up the middle, much like he needs to do with Josh Burnham on the edge.
Hinish is the younger brother of former Notre Dame captain and three-year starter Kurt Hinish. Coming out of high school, the younger Hinish showed himself to be a more athletic version of his older brother, which is a positive. Hinish might be a year away physically, and the depth chart is much deeper now than when his brother worked his way into the rotation, but Hinish has impressed coaches early in his career. He'll be a factor at some point in the near future.
FRESHMAN IMPACT
Freshman Devan Houstan was an early enrollee, but an injury kept him from getting any spring work. The depth and talent in the older classes could make it hard for Houstan to work into the rotation, but I wouldn't count him out just yet. Houstan has good size (6-4, 287), he's talented and he is the kind of player that could eventually work his way up to the rotation sooner rather than later.
My wish is that Houstan gets a chance to take a redshirt in order to get healthy, add an extra year of development in the weight room and then go into 2024 with four seasons of eligibility remaining. That's easy to say, but it can be hard for coaches to show that kind of patience with a player that has Houstan's talent.
KEY STORYLINES
1. Can The DTs Provide More Production - Notre Dame's defensive tackles have actually upped their production in the last two seasons since Marcus Freeman arrived. The Irish defensive line averaged 21 tackles for loss and 11 sacks the last two seasons. The previous four seasons those averages were just 17 and 6, respectively. Notre Dame's defensive tackles actually averaged more sacks per game than did Clemson's interior players the last two seasons.
Being more consistent in the pass game is a must, and while the sack numbers were solid (10 in 2022, 11.5 in 2021), they need even more. But it's the run game disruptives (tackles for loss, stuffs) that must take a big jump this season. While the sack numbers were actually better than Clemson's defensive tackles, the run game production was significantly behind.
2. Does Mills Finally Break Out - If Notre Dame is going to have the kind of dominant, productive defensive line it needs to have in 2023 it will likely need Mills to finally break out. He was quite flashy the last two seasons, and he was much better in 2022 than fans seem to give him credit for.
If you take Mills' production on a per snap basis as an inside player last season, and project it to the same number of snaps that Jerry Tillery had during his All-American season in 2018 he would have racked up 16.0 tackles for loss and 9.0 sacks, compared to Tillery's 10.5 and 8.0. If you project it to the same number of snaps as Sheldon Day in 2015, Mills would have produced 10.0 TFL and 5.5 sacks, compared to Day's 15.5 and 4.0.
Mills needs to now do that on a far more consistent basis.
3. Will The Junior Class Make A Jump - Notre Dame's depth will every bit as important as the starters. That means Rubio and Onye have to step up and provide starter caliber snaps. But will they do that, or will they just be okay players that take up snaps to keep the starters fresh? That answer will have a big say on how good this defensive line can be.
4. Can A Youth Movement Happen - Notre Dame has some raw but talented young players in the sophomore and freshman classes. If those classes can force their way onto the field the interior of the line will be quite good.
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