Notre Dame 2024 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense Edition

Handing out position-by-position grades for the Notre Dame 2024 defensive recruiting class

Notre Dame has wrapped up its 2024 recruiting class, landing 23 prospects during the early signing period. Notre Dame signed 12 defensive players in the class.

The defensive class isn't quite as good as the offensive class, at least on paper, but it's a deep group that met all of its needs, there is balance in the class and there is potential for multiple impact players.

With it being National Signing Day it's time to take a look back at the grades for the 2024 class. (Note: Grade key is at the bottom of the article)

DEFENSIVE LINE

Grade: B+
Signees: Bryce Young (DE), Cole Mullins (DE), Loghan Thomas (DE), Sean Sevillano Jr. (DT)

The grade for this defensive line class rose quite a bit after the 2023 season. When the class was put together it was filled with very raw players that had lower floors, but also had very high ceilings. Then Mullins went down with a broken leg, which was concerning. Once the season played out and the grades reflected that change, the view of this class changed.

Young is the driving force behind that. When he committed he was a very raw, slim and pure projection pick up by the staff. By the time his senior season arrived he was a big, physical, explosive, dominant edge player that emerged as one of the nation's best defensive linemen. Notre Dame needs more edge players that have the size and length to dominate, plus the explosiveness to be a high producer in the run and pass game.

Thomas also grew his game as a senior, and he was far more productive as a senior against very good competition. His body still needs a lot of weight room work, but Thomas is incredibly long, explosive and his ceiling remains very high. The fact Young and Thomas have five-star upside grades, and the fact they are projected to play opposite each other, is reason enough to argue for a higher overall grade.

If Mullins didn't get hurt this season I would be surprised if this grade wasn't an A, as I was expecting him to really break out this season. I'm still quite high on his future as long as he can recover well from his leg injury. Even if he's just the third end in this class it's a strong group. Sevillano provides much-needed beef up the middle, and he was a highly productive prep player.

So why the B+ after all that praise? Well, I don't believe Notre Dame quite met its numbers. I feel this class needed another interior player in this class, even if it was a projectable player that needed time, because the current roster would allow that. There is also still a lot of projection needed with Thomas, Mullins and Sevillano. Those are the reasons this class didn't quite get up to the A range, but it's still quite good.

LINEBACKER

Grade: B+
Signees: Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Bodie Kahoun, Teddy Rezac

Notre Dame needed three linebackers in this class and it landed three. The Irish also landed a trio of linebackers that can play together, which is important. Notre Dame also landed an elite, impact linebacker, which is always key when trying to build a championship caliber unit.

Viliamu-Asa is arguably the best linebacker in the country. He certainly has one of the highest floors, but in his second season removed from his 2021 injury he showed he's also a very quality athlete. His combination of size, power, athleticism and instincts is as good as you'll see at linebacker in the 2023 class. Viliamu-Asa is also capable of impacting the roster as soon as he arrives on campus.

Kahoun had a monster senior season, which also happened to be his first at linebacker. There is a lot to work with here; he's tall, he's long, he's athletic and he has some natural pop. Kahoun is still learning how to play linebacker, and there is a lot of technical work still needed, but the tools are impressive. Rezac is listed at just 185 pounds, so he'll need a lot of time to build up his body, but his speed and athleticism is outstanding.

This group certainly continues upgrading the athleticism of the linebacker position. This group of backers can flat out run. The reason this class didn't get an A grade is similar to why the DL class didn't get there. It's because there's so much projection needed with Kahoun and especially Rezac. If one of them had a higher floor this class would easily be an A grade.

CORNERBACK

Grade: B+
Signees: Leonard Moore, Karson Hobbs

Moore is one of the most underrated players in the class, and landing him has a chance to be the latest coup by position coach Mike Mickens. He's an exceptionally long corner (6-2), he has really good long speed and he's a smart football player. As he fills out his game will take off, because he likes mixing it up in the run game and as a cover player. This young man has a lot of talent.

The grade of the cornerback class also rose after the 2023 season despite Moore being banged up for part of the season. 

That is because my grade for Hobbs went way, way higher. Truthfully, I wasn't all that high on Notre Dame landing Hobbs. He was always physical, and I liked that, and he plays the ball very well, that was always true. What changed in his senior season is his speed exploded, and he showed a bit more fluid movement skills in coverage. He went from a borderline three-star (his grade was at 3.5) to being an easy four-star player and a Top 250 caliber prospect.

This duo won't impress you if you look at national recruiting rankings, but this class is exactly what Mickens does. He finds players with big time potential, and this duo has really impressive talent and potential, it will just need to be coached up a bit.

SAFETY

Grade: C+
Signees: Brauntae Johnson, Kennedy Urlacher, Taebron Bennie-Powell

This is the class that drags down the overall defensive haul, but there are some things to like. Notre Dame needed three safeties and it got three safeties, so box checked. It landed three safeties that can do different things, which is always preferred, so that's a plus.

Landing Johnson was important for a few reasons. He's very fast and rangy, and he can play centerfield, something the Irish needed. His range and playmaking potential is impressive, and he graded out as a Top 100 player despite his senior season injury issues. There is a lot to work with there.

I'm also higher on Urlacher than most. I think he can run, he's extremely physical and he projects to be an impact run defender at the next level. My questions are can he cover like you need at the level, and there is some projection there in my grade. 

Bennie-Powell was much better as a senior, showing an unexpected comfort level playing on the back end after playing near the line of scrimmage most of his career. I still have some questions about his athletic fit, but I felt better about landing him after his senior film.

The grade is this low for a couple of reasons. One is that the best player in the class has an injury history that has some concerns. The other two players have potential, but there are question marks, and Notre Dame's current lack of depth at safety demanded there be some more "sure things" in this class, and I don't know that it landed a sure thing. As good as Johnson is, his frame needs to be built on and the shoulder injury woes are a red flag. If he can answer those two questions this grade immediately becomes a B-, and if one of the other two safeties shows the ability to at least be a Notre Dame caliber rotation safety this becomes at least a B. There is some potential, but just too many questions.

The good news is that despite getting warranted criticism as a recruiter, O'Leary has proven himself as an outstanding position coach from a development standpoint. You know that this trio of safeties is going to get coached up at a very high level as long as O'Leary is on the staff.

GRADE KEY

A — Elite / College Football Playoff caliber
B — Outstanding / Top 15 caliber
C — Solid / Borderline Top 25 caliber
D — Subpar / Not good enough
F — Disaster

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Irish Breakdown Content

2024 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2024 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2024 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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