Notre Dame football enters the 2026 college football season as one of the elite programs in the country, and defensive coordinator Chris Ash’s unit is a major reason why.

Head coach Marcus Freeman has built a roster loaded with talent on that side of the ball, headlined by All-American cornerback Leonard Moore, pass rusher Boubacar Traore, and linebackers Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and Drayk Bowen. The Fighting Irish defense has the potential to be one of the best in college football this fall, but several key position battles during fall camp will determine just how dominant this group can be.

In a previous article at A to Z Sports, we identified the three most important defensive position battles: the interior defensive line, the defensive end spot opposite Traore, and the field cornerback position. Here is how I see each of those battles playing out.

Interior defensive line

Notre Dame has a deep and talented group competing for two starting spots at defensive tackle. That includes returners Jason Onye, Armel Mukam, Elijah Hughes (who carved out a nice role down the stretch last season), Cole Mullins, and Christopher Burgess. Oregon transfer Tionne Gray and Pittsburgh transfer Francis Brewu arrived with heavy expectations to crack the rotation immediately.

Each of those players brings a different skill set to the table, which makes it such an impressive group of options at Freeman’s disposal.

As things currently stand, the one player I feel best about is Brewu starting at one interior spot and becoming a mainstay for this Notre Dame defense. For the other defensive tackle spot, I’m going to roll with Onye as the guy who starts the season opposite Brewu. But down the stretch, I would not be surprised at all if Gray begins to earn more and more of those reps.

Gray, only a redshirt sophomore at this point, has some of the highest upside of any defensive lineman on the Notre Dame roster. He’s my pick for the second half of the season to be one of the most improved players on this defense.

Defensive end opposite Boubacar Traore

The battle rages on between returning starter Bryce Young, a truly talented player at 6-foot-7 and 260 pounds, and former Alabama transfer Keon Keeley, a former five-star recruit. True freshman pass rusher Rodney Dunham also deserves a mention in this conversation.

I believe Bryce Young will be the starter at defensive end opposite Traore. Having guys like Keeley and Dunham in competition this offseason will tremendously help Young’s development. The talent has always been there, but being able to work with defensive line coach Charlie Partridge for a full offseason will be huge for Young’s opportunity to rise in 2026. Keeley and Dunham, meanwhile, become tremendous rotational players in one of the deepest Notre Dame defensive end rooms we have ever seen.

Field cornerback

Leonard Moore is locked in at boundary corner. The talented safety duo of Adon Shuler and Tae Johnson will be among the nation’s best. The field cornerback spot is expected to belong to DJ McKinney, but he needs to hold off Christian Gray, who has been cross-training between nickel and outside corner.

If McKinney shows he can hold that job, I expect Gray to settle in as the starting nickel cornerback, completing a truly talented cornerback room. I also wouldn’t count out the likes of rising sophomores Mark Zachary and Dallas Golden to showcase that they deserve reps as well.

My prediction is that McKinney has the best season of his college career. He’s going to get a lot of targets with Moore opposite him, and I think he rises to the occasion and shows flashes more regularly than what we saw during his time at Colorado.

The big picture

One thing is very clear about this Notre Dame defense heading into fall camp: the depth is real. Freeman and his staff have done an excellent job of stacking the roster through recruiting, development, and the transfer portal. These position battles will push every player involved, and the competition should raise the ceiling for Ash’s entire unit. From the defensive interior to the secondary, this group has the talent to be elite. Now it comes down to sorting out the rotation and letting the best players separate themselves during camp.