r/notredamefootball

Ok, every year there is that unit that unexpectedly didn’t mesh well until later in the season. Last season you could say the Oline or various defensive groups like the DBs to start the season looked lost at times despite the returning starters. Who you got this year and why? I have the chemistry between defensive linemen or the wrs with Carr, gonna go with the latter since all the transfers could win big roles due to injury and lack of proven depth but likely aren’t yet in sink with Carr like Faison is. They didn’t seem to gel in the blue-gold game that well except Faison. I really hope they get the starting jobs locked down early in Fall camp and work on chemistry.

May get dragged for this after ND got 2 massive WR transfers that could be important to Carr and the passing game, but I think Keeley will be a star.

I loved him as a recruit, and hated when he de committed. The talent is there, the opportunity should be there, and the D-Line is the biggest question mark of the whole team. If Keeley lives up to his original HS potential, and this defense with this strong of a LB/Secondary adds a pass rush… we will be deadly.

Who would you say?

I get that Drayk Bowen and Ausberry are really good but I’ve been seeing preseason All American and 1st round nfl mock draft status for KVA.

If you’re that good you should be starting.

In what situations do you see KVA getting on the field and not the other 2?

Every talking head is coming out with top defenses and top secondaries, etc, and most have ND as top 1/2 in both categories. Yet every name being dropped doesn’t talk about Christian Gray. I’ve seen obviously Moore, Bowen, KVA, Johnson, Keeley, but not once Christian Gray.

I know he isn’t a lockdown corner, but he has been a 2-year starter and has made some of the biggest plays of the season with the Penn State pick among others. Is he being overlooked? Or is he just an average player with some key moments that make up for sub-par play the rest of the game?

There's always a specific Saturday, win or lose, where the identity of the team just felt right again after a rough stretch. Mine happened in a game that didn't even end up mattering much in the standings. What's yours.

What is peoples opinions on Brian VanGorder as a coach but mostly a Defensive Cordinator

*I know he wasn’t the Head Coach but im curious as a South Carolina fan what yall think 

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Take our starting depth chart from week 1 of 2024:

>We had 27 total players listed on that depth chart, and 28 games later, 12 of those players are still here. Of the 15 who are gone, I count a full 6 of them that flat out got passed up by better players on the roster. And that was a defense that finished 2nd in the country.

Factor in the emergence of players like Brauntae Johnson, DL additions since then that include Hughes, Keeley, Brewu, Gray, portal additions shoring up an elite secondary (McKinney and Sanders would be surefire starters and preseason all conference players with literally any other team in the country and one of them might start next year) and this is going to be an all time defense.

Our defensive rankings went off a cliff last year to start the season. I'm having a hard time finding rankings that are not weighted from the season before, but take FEI for example, we started off the season ranked 2nd (weighted from 2024 results) and fell to 10th by week 5. By the time we finished the season and all the previous year's rankings were wiped away, we finished 6th in FEI.

>Notre Dame is returning 77% of their returning production on defense from last year, which is 2nd in the whole country. We are bringing back 49% of our snaps along the interior DL, 51% at DE, 99.8% at LB, 80% at safety and 80% at CB.

I remember in 2012, Notre Dame had the #1 scoring defense in the country by a wide margin. Teams could move the ball on us pretty well, because our secondary wasn't good (Matthias Farley is the only guy from that unit who would even make the press release depth chart this year and even that might be a stretch with Ethan Long...), but once we got to goal line defense, that team was money. And people talked about that defense at the time (before the Bama debacle) as being one of the best ever at ND. We'll have a much better offense than the 42nd one in the country next year, to put it mildly.

This defense is elite at multiple position groups across the board, has ridiculous depth across the board everywhere and should be getting buzz along the lines of it not only being one of the best defenses in the country next year, but one of the best defenses in the last 20 years.

We're all scarred by Chris Ash to start last season, I get it. But defensive coordinators rarely start out hitting the ground running. People didn't like Golden that much at first and I remember people cheering on him flirting with returning to the NFL after just one year. Marcus Freeman in his first game as DC at Notre Dame gave up 38 points to FSU's 60th ranked offense... a game the defense would have blown if not for a missed PAT in regulation and a missed FG in OT.

When Ash was DC at Ohio State, they went from being the 14th ranked defense in year 1 to the 2nd ranked defense in year 2. He came in last year unable to bring in any defensive staff with him, and now the entire defensive staff is hand picked by him, some of them very highly respected guys too.

The three best offenses in the country, per 2026 SP+, that we will face next year are ranked 12th, 16th and 25th... and we'll get two of those teams at home in night games. The next best offense is Navy, checking in at 58th. Michigan State is next at 61st. Most of the rest of the schedule checks in worse than the mid 80's. All of this to say I do believe the defense will get their flowers (and then some) as the season wears on...

Buckle up boys, we're in for a hell of a ride next year. Carr is getting a lot of good pub lately, and rightfully so, but don't forget just how monstrous this defense is going to be next year. It's not only sleeping under the radar nationally, but within the fan base. We could be a playoff semifinal team with the 2022 QB situation next year with this defense.

After having seen him get some reps last season, the guy seems like an absolute bruiser.

I think most ND fans trust Aneyas and don’t see him as the question mark the rest of the NCAA pretends he is. This guy is shifty, broken off big runs, and his hands are probably some of the greatest we’ve ever had in a running back.

NJJ is a seemingly perfect compliment to what he does and could force some frustrating adjustments from other teams. Any word on how he looks in practice? Is he a guy we turn to on third and short?

If anyone has some insight or could list some reasonable expectations from him this upcoming season, do comment below!

Obviously this is mostly a joke but wouldn’t it be nice to get out of September undefeated and then keep the traditional October-December train rolling? As a treat?