Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 JANUARY 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY BRYAN DRISKELL N otre Dame has now gone 12-0 twice under head coach Brian Kelly during the regular season, and those two years — 2012 and 2018 — marked the two best defensive seasons of his tenure. The Fighting Irish received strong linebacker play in both, and the sec- ondary was especially productive this season. However, the driving force behind both was the line. The 2012 unit was fueled by a front that featured future NFL Draft picks Stephon Tuitt, Louis Nix, Kapron Lewis-Moore and Sheldon Day. The current unit has been one of the nation's most productive. Pro Football Focus ranks the Notre Dame pass rush as the fourth best in the nation, and the production from the end rotation (117 quarterback pres- sures) surpasses the vaunted Clem- son ends (94 quarterback pressures). Notre Dame's dominance in the trenches this season has been the combination of tackle Jerry Tillery up the middle and a four-headed monster at defensive end (juniors Ju- lian Okwara, Khalid Kareem, Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji). The depth, athleticism and produc- tion on the edge of the defense in 2018 has been unmatched during Kelly's tenure, and it is a vital ingre- dient to possessing an elite defense. Okwara has been a dominant pass rusher throughout the season. Pro Football Focus ranks his 58 pres- sures during the regular season as the fifth-best total in the country, and his 43 quarterback hurries rank third. He provides a speed element on the edge, while Kareem (34 quarterback pressures) and Hayes (22 quarter- back pressures) have been more about power. With the exception of Ogundeji, three will be out of eligibility follow- ing the 2019 season, assuming they return as seniors. Notre Dame has recruited the de- fensive tackle position extremely well in recent seasons. The 2017 class brought in current sophomore Kurt Hinish, who already gets starter snaps at nose tackle. Classmate My- ron Tagovailoa-Amosa began the sea- son as the top reserve inside before a foot injury in the first game cost him the next 11 contests. The Notre Dame staff expects much production from the talented Hawaiian once he returns to good health. The Irish landed Rivals250 stand- out Jayson Ademilola in the 2018 class, and the freshman had the best run stop rate of any interior player on the roster this season. A d e m i l o l a , w h o m 2 4 7 S p o r t s ranked as the No. 45 overall player in the 2018 class, was joined in the group by nose tackle Ja'Mion Frank- lin, who redshirted this season after being injured against Wake Forest. Notre Dame made Bowling Green (Ky.) South Warren big man Jacob Lacey and Sachse (Texas) High star Hunter Spears top targets in the 2019 class, and both committed to the Irish staff early in the process. Lacey is ranked by ESPN as the No. 114 over- all player in the country while Spears is ranked the nation's No. 275 recruit. The future is so promising in the defensive interior that sophomore Darnell Ewell — one of the nation's top prospects there in the 2017 class — was moved to offensive guard af- ter failing to move up the depth chart on defense. THE END GAME Where the future is murky, how- ever, is at defensive end. The current roster has just two ends total from the 2017 (Kofi Wardlow) and 2018 (Justin Ademilola) classes. Notre Dame's first five ends in this season's rotation are from the 2016 class, and all but one of those players will be gone after the 2019 campaign. Wardlow and Justin Ademilola are in developmental phases, and neither has the length or size of the current stars. Even if both pan out, the depth at the position is woefully thin mov- ing forward. That is why the 2019 class is so crucial to restocking the defensive end depth chart. Notre Dame's first pickup at the position was Montvale (N.J.) St. Jo- seph's four-star end Howard Cross III, whose father played tight end for the New York Giants for 13 seasons. Cross is on the short side (6-2), but he is a physical and powerful defender that is ideally suited for the strong- side end position. Rivals rates him as the No. 10 player in New Jersey and the No. 27 strongside defensive end nationally. Cross even played some inside for St. Joseph, and he has some de- fensive tackle in his game, showing the power to push blockers into the backfield. His powerful hands and high-octane motor make him quite effective at getting off blocks and on to the ball carrier or quarterback. Notre Dame identified Fort Worth (Texas) Nolan Catholic four-star NaNa Osafo-Mensah as its top de- fensive end target early in the pro- cess. Despite a heavy charge from the in-state Texas Longhorns, Irish defensive line coach Mike Elston was able to get Osafo-Mensah to join the class back in May. Osafo-Mensah is ranked among Final Key Piece Needed For 2019 Recruiting Class Landing four-star defensive end Isaiah Foskey of Concord (Calif.) De La Salle would put the finish- ing touches on a strong 2019 recruiting class along the defensive line for Notre Dame. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM