Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 85 DEFENSIVE LINEMAN QUOTABLE: DEFENSIVE LINE COACH MIKE ELSTON ON JONATHAN BONNER RETURNING FOR A FIFTH SEASON AND THEN SWITCHING TO NOSE GUARD: "He's such a tactician with his hands that I think he can really make a huge im- pact at the nose. There's more football in him. … When the physical part started to feel better at the end of the season, he knew he wasn't done with football. "He wanted to come back and make a run at it with the rest of the guys." 2017 VS. 2018: STOCK UP OR DOWN? Notre Dame put out a green defensive line last season, with three sophomores and two true fresh- men playing a lot of snaps. Seven of the top nine rotation players return, and the once young line is now a more seasoned and deeper group. Senior Jerry Tillery had a breakout season in 2017 at nose guard, doubling his career tackles for loss and sack totals. Shifting out to tackle puts him in position to be even more productive. Notre Dame is tasking fifth-year senior Jonathan Bonner and sophomore Kurt Hinish with replacing Tillery at nose guard. Moving inside puts Bonner at a spot that better suits his talent. Getting more snaps and production from sopho- more Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa is important for the Irish front this season. X-FACTOR The vaunted 2016 defensive end haul is now in complete control of the depth chart, and how that group develops this season will go a long way toward determining just how good this defense will be. Junior Khalid Kareem played limited snaps last season, but still managed 5.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and six quarterback hurries. His talent and spring progression were part of the reasons why fifth-year se- nior Jay Hayes decided to leave for Georgia. No defender on the Irish roster has more raw talent than junior Daelin Hayes, who returns as the starter at drop end. A breakout season from Hayes would make the Notre Dame defense quite dangerous. Fellow juniors Julian Okwara and Ade Ogundeji both bring explosiveness off the edge and pass rush- ing skills to the rotation. FRESHMAN OUTLOOK Notre Dame does not need its freshman defensive line class to play in 2018, but keeping tackle Jayson Ademilola off the field will be difficult. At 6-3 and 288 pounds, Ademilola has the size to hold up as a rookie, and he's strong enough to see early action. What makes Ademilola a threat to take minutes away from the returners is his com- bination of athleticism, strong effort and natural feel for making plays in the backfield. He brings the ability to rush the quarterback from the middle of the defense. DID YOU KNOW? Junior defensive ends Daelin Hayes, Khalid Ka- reem and Ade Ogundeji are all from the state of Michigan, and all three originally committed to other schools before opting for Notre Dame. Hayes and Kareem had pledged to USC and Alabama, respectively, while late-bloomer Ogundeji had an- nounced for then head coach P.J. Fleck's Western Michigan Broncos that went unbeaten in 2016. To land that trio in one season — along with Jamir Jones and Julian Okwara — was crucial to refute the notion that Notre Dame could not recruit top prospects along the defensive line, especially players coming off the edge. SCHOLARSHIP PLAYERS (15) Listed after the class year is the years of eligi- bility remaining. Strongside End 53 Khalid Kareem (6-4, 270), Jr./2 91 Adetokunbo Ogundeji (6-4, 251), Jr./3 44 Jamir Jones (6-3, 242), Jr./2 Defensive Tackle 99 Jerry Tillery (6-7, 299), Sr./1 95 Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa (6-2½, 285), So./3 57 Jayson Ademilola (6-3, 288), Fr./4 Nose Guard 55 Jonathan Bonner (6-4, 293), 5th/1 41 Kurt Hinish (6-2, 292), So./3 97 Micah Dew-Treadway (6-4, 309), Sr./2 94 Darnell Ewell (6-3, 324), So./4 98 Ja'Mion Franklin (6-1, 296), Fr./4 Drop End 9 Daelin Hayes (6-4, 264), Jr./2 42 Julian Okwara (6-4½, 230), Jr./2 47 Kofi Wardlow (6-2, 240), So./4 19 Justin Ademilola (6-2, 246), Fr./4 NOTABLE DATA The 24 quarterback sacks recorded by the Notre Dame defense last season were an ap- preciable upgrade from the 14 registered dur- ing the 4-8 campaign in 2016 — the second fewest among the 65 Power Five schools. The improved figure still ranked only No. 83 nation- ally, but it was 34 spots higher than No. 117 in 2016 (among 129 teams). Especially notable is the sack total from the defensive line expanded drastically from three to 16.5, led by the 4.5 by Jerry Tillery, who moves from nose guard to three-technique this year to better utilize his quickness and play- making abilities that also included a team-high 11 quarterback hurries. USC and Clemson re- corded the most sacks last year with 46, while Miami's 3.38 average per game led the country. With Quenton Nelson off to the NFL as the top offensive lineman, junior drop end Daelin Hayes is the lone Rivals five-star recruit on the 2018 Notre Dame roster. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL