Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish stacked with young high upside defensive breakout candidates ahead of the 2025 college football season
Depth had been a major issue for the Notre Dame program for some time under the previous head coach. In just a couple of years, head coach Marcus Freeman has rebuilt this roster and increased the talent pool tremendously. That is especially true on the defensive side of the football. It’s impressive to think that […]
Depth had been a major issue for the Notre Dame program for some time under the previous head coach. In just a couple of years, head coach Marcus Freeman has rebuilt this roster and increased the talent pool tremendously. That is especially true on the defensive side of the football.
It’s impressive to think that the Fighting Irish just lost Benjamin Morrison, Xavier Watts, Jack Kiser, Howard Cross III, and Riley Mills, and not many people are worried about filling those holes. Of that aforementioned depth, there are several potential breakout players to know heading into the 2025 college football season. Here are the future stars of that unit.
EDGE Bryce Young
Young got his feet wet in 2024, finishing the year with 23 total tackles, three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and three blocked kicks. At 6-7 and 258 pounds, Notre Dame hasn’t seen an athlete like Young coming off of the edge in some time. Young has first round upside, and all the tools in the world. Continuing to get bigger, stronger, and more technically refined will be able to unlock that potential at big end.
LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa
We saw some good flashes from Viliamu-Asa in 2024, finishing the season with 37 total tackles, three tackles for loss, and a sack. The California native now has a chance to win the starting WILL linebacker job next to Drayk Bowen. If “KVA” gets a higher volume of opportunities, he has the talent to develop into one of the best linebackers in all of college football. The versatility he provides at 6-3 and 240 pounds is something special.
S JaDon Blair
Even though you’re talking about a program that once had Kyle Hamilton in the secondary, you just don’t see guys like Blair come around very often. At 6-5 and 195 pounds, Blair has some rare movement skills and versatility that he brings to the table. Adding solid weight to his frame would be huge for him this offseason, but he should have every chance to compete to start opposite of Adon Shuler.
CJ Carr headlines Notre Dame Fighting Irish wildly impressive group of offensive breakout candidates ahead of 2025 college football season
Notre Dame offensive breakouts to know for the 2025 season.
