Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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32 APRIL 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED I saiah Foskey had a Day 2 NFL Draft grade. Notre Dame is 32-6 since he arrived, with a Col- lege Football Playoff appear- ance. He put up a double-digit sack season. That's more team and individual success in a three-year span than, oh, about 98 percent of college football players can boast. He wanted more. First-round status. The program's single-season sack record would be nice. Most of all, he's chasing a national title. Game-changers like Foskey push teams closer to the top. He's the head of the snake at arguably Notre Dame's best position, but the body can do some damage too. Nine Notre Dame defensive linemen played at least 160 snaps last year, and seven of them are back. Foskey wasn't the only notable return-to-school decision. Three-technique tackle Jayson Ademilola came back as a super senior after lead- ing the team in quarterback pressures (43) and finishing fifth in tackles (49). His twin, Justin, also is back for a fifth year. His 5.0 sacks ranked second be- hind Foskey, the man he backed up. The defensive line projects to go eight or nine deep again, but the two departures from last sea- son were three-year starters and captains: nose tackle Kurt Hin- ish and strong-side end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa. Seniors Howard Cross III and Jacob Lacey have played nose tackle (Cross started there twice last year) for large p a r t s o f their careers, and one figures to replace Hinish. At worst, both will be in the rotation. Replacing Tagovailoa-Amosa is less clear-cut, but Notre Dame has a plethora of options. Junior Rylie Mills moving from tackle to end full-time makes sense. He's a dis- ruptive interior rusher who shined in his one start on the edge last year. Senior NaNa Osafo-Mensah was the backup last year, and the coaches will be looking ALL EYES ON … JUNIOR RYLIE MILLS Mills is as athletic as any defensive lineman on the team not named Isaiah Foskey. Does he stay on the interior or move to strong-side defensive end to try to take over for Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa? Either way, Mills will work his way onto the field. He's too physically talented not to. This spring will go a long way in determining where he fits in best. PERSONNEL UPDATE Position Coach: Al Washington (1st season) Departing Starters: NT Kurt Hinish (36 career starts), SDE Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa (33) Additional Departures: Junior vyper Jordan Botelho (moved to rover) Returning Starters: Graduate student Jayson Ademilola (15 career starts) at DT and senior Isaiah Foskey (13) at vyper Projected New Starters: Senior Howard Cross III (2) at NT and senior Nana Osafo-Mensah at SDE Also Back: Graduate student Justin Ademilola at vyper, senior Osita Ekwonu at SDE, senior Jacob Lacey at NT, junior Alex Ehrensberger at SDE, junior Rylie Mills at DT, junior Aidan Keanaaina at NT, sophomore Gabe Rubio at DT, sophomore Jason Onye at SDE and sophomore Will Schweitzer at vyper New Faces: Freshman Tyson Ford at SDE, freshman Aiden Gobaira at vyper and freshman Donovan Hinish (arrives in the summer) at NT DEFENSIVE LINEMEN NUMBERS TO KNOW 97 Pressures, 26.5 tackles for loss and 19.5 sacks combined for defensive linemen Isa- iah Foskey, Jayson Ademilola and Justin Ademilola during the 2021 season. Each member of that trio had the option to go pro this year, but each of them made the decision to return to Notre Dame for one more season. 127 Sack yards posted last season by Fos- key, which led the country by almost 20 yards. Right behind him? Star Alabama linebacker Will Anderson, who was in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy late in 2021. $83,000 Is Foskey's On3 NIL Valu- ation, which leads Notre Dame defensive players. The index looks to set the market value for college athletes. It does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed but signifies the athlete's value at a specific moment. POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH WHO STARTS AT NOSE TACKLE? It'll be strange not seeing Kurt Hinish plug up the middle of the line of scrimmage. Seniors Howard Cross III and Jacob Lacey could split time in that role, but sophomore Gabriel Rubio also could work his way into the mix. Those are the top three options. Cross and Lacey have the experience edge, but Rubio could be the most gifted of the trio. He's also a tireless worker. 2022 SPRING FOOTBALL OVERVIEW PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER ISAIAH FOSKEY to see if there is another gear he can hit and win the job. Jus- tin Ademilola has played strong-side end in the past, too. None feels like the wrong answer. The clear-cut right choice should emerge by the end of spring.