Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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30 MARCH 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE B OUBACAR TRAORE stared down Miami right tackle Francis Mauigoa, deter- mined to show the college football world what he could do. Traore stutter-stepped and spun to the inside, completely fooling the likely 2026 first-round pick. He darted toward Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck, drag- ging him down for his first of 6.5 sacks in 2025. Notre Dame's top edge rusher showed flashes of brilliance, like that fourth-quarter sack at Miami, in his first full season following his torn ACL in September 2024. But the Irish hope Traore, as a redshirt junior, can take the next step and become a con- sistent force — much like their defensive line as a whole. The coach tasked with facilitating that: Charlie Partridge, who in seven seasons at Pitt helped his team finish among the top three nationally in sacks four times. He then spent two years with the Indianapolis Colts, and he begins his first at Notre Dame this spring. Partridge joins forces with his college roommate, Irish defensive coordinator Chris Ash. He takes over a defensive line that could make or break Notre Dame's 2026 season. The smart money is on "make." Joining Traore on the edge is Bryce Young, who still has that All-America ceiling but must put it to- gether in his junior year. He'll compete for the starting spot with Keon Keeley, a former five-star Notre Dame commit who made his way back home after three seasons at Alabama. "When he came on his visit, I'm like, 'Yep, it's the same Keon that we re- cruited a couple years ago,'" Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said. "He fits here." At defensive tackle, Notre Dame flipped a potential weak- ness into a strength. Partridge secured Pitt's Fran- cis Brewu and Oregon's Tionne Gray in the transfer portal. Brewu is an instant starter, while Gray could develop into a two-down stalwart at 6-foot-5, 333 pounds. Ad d a s t ro ke o f l u c k — t h e NCA A granting returning starter Jason Onye a sixth year of eligibility — and the Irish have every piece they need for their best defensive line in years. It's Partridge's job to make that happen. ✦ 2026 S P R I N G F O O T B A L L O V E R V I E W POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH DEFENSIVE END Traore is a locked-in starter, but after that, things get tricky. Young and Keeley are ex- pected to compete for the starting spot oppo- site Traore, giving Notre Dame two extremely high-upside options — but also two players who need to improve in order to become trusted every-down fixtures. Beyond the top three, the Irish also need a fourth option to emerge. Thomas is the favor- ite, but don't count out uber-talented fresh- men Dunham and Ewetade. PERSONNEL UPDATE Position Coach: Chris Partridge (1st season) Returning Starters: DT Jason Onye (9 career starts) and DE Boubacar Traore (13) Projected New Starters: DT Francis Brewu (13, all at Pitt) and DE Bryce Young (1) Returning Reserves: DT Christopher Burgess Jr., DT Davion Dixon, DT Elijah Hughes, DE Dominik Hulak, DT Armel Mukam, DT Cole Mullins, DT Sean Sevillano Jr., DE Joe Reiff, DT Gordy Sulfsted, DE Loghan Thomas and DT Brenan Vernon Departing Players: DE Jordan Botelho (22), DE Joshua Burnham (15), DT Jared Dawson (18, 7 at Notre Dame), DT Donovan Hinish (6), DT Gabriel Rubio (8), DE Junior Tuihalamaka (7) and Preston Zinter Transferred In: Brewu from Pitt, DT Tionne Gray (3) from Oregon and DE Keon Keeley from Alabama Transferred Out: Burnham to Indiana and Zinter to Rice Incoming Freshmen: DE Rodney Dunham, DE Ebenezer Ewetade, DT Tiki Hola and DT Elijah Golden NUMBERS TO KNOW 16 Career tackles for loss for Boubacar Traore in just 21 games, and he played 10 or fewer snaps in six of them. Traore has been a well-known name on the roster for a while, so it's easy to for- get that he hasn't really played that much football for the Irish. The redshirt junior is just scratching the surface. 24th Was Francis Brewu's ranking on Bruce Feldman's Freaks List for The Athletic entering the 2025 season, and he ranked 77th in 2024 as a true freshman, too. Don't be fooled by his 6-foot-1, 277-pound frame: Brewu squats 685 pounds, bench- presses 475 and has a 33-inch vertical jump. 86.6 PFF defense grade for Jason Onye in Weeks 8-14. No defensive tackle in the Power Four was better. He also had 14 quar- terback pressures in his final six games, which tied for third among Power Four defensive tackles. It's hard to overstate the significance of Onye's return for a sixth season. DEFENSIVE LINEMEN PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER ALL EYES ON … REDSHIRT FRESHMAN CHRISTOPHER BURGESS JR. Notre Dame's defen- sive tackle depth chart is suddenly crowded with veteran talent, but if there's a young breakout player here, it's Burgess. According to his dad on social media, he's up to 299 pounds at 6-foot-4 after moving inside full-time (he played defensive end as a true freshman). If he develops like the Irish expect him to, watch out.