Notre Dame football has a chance to put its money where their mouth is to fill the biggest hole on the current Irish roster
There is a new Transfer Portal entrant that Notre Dame football should have a lot of interest in.
When it comes to Notre Dame football heading into the 2026 college football season, there is no question about what the biggest need is on the roster right now. Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish staff have built a very good overall roster, but defensive tackle is one position that needs to get much better. The team is saying goodbye to Jared Dawson, Gabriel Rubio, and Jason Onye this offseason, which was a high volume of snaps for the team this past year.
Those losses will force Notre Dame to attack the Transfer Portal in a big way once it opens on January 2. The Irish defense needs at least one defensive tackle addition, but going after two might be the better decision. There have already been several talented defensive linemen who announced their decision to enter the portal, and that continued on Thursday.
The Auburn Tigers had a difficult loss this week when it was announced that starting defensive tackle Malik Blocton was entering the portal. The 6-3, 300-pound defender is one of the better run defenders who will be entering the market, and he should be a player that Notre Dame at least inquires about to see if the fit makes sense. If the fit does make sense, this is the type of player that the program needs to throw some money around on.
Blocton isn’t the only talented option that could be out there for Notre Dame. We have also seen John Walker (UCF) and Mateen Ibirogba (Wake Forest) enter, a couple of other players that the Irish should also do their homework on. Both players are good, but Blocton is better. He is the type of physical run defender who still has upside to tap into. Notre Dame has been much more willing to throw their money around recently, and this is the type of player they should be aggressive with to close a big hole on the roster.
Malik Blocton’s career background
From a recruiting rankings perspective, the Pike Road (Ala.) High School product had some varying opinions coming out in the 2024 class. On the 247 Sports Composite ranking, Blocton ended as a four-star player, sitting as the No. 434 overall player, the No. 48 defensive lineman, and the No. 24 player from the state of Alabama in the class. There were multiple outlets, however, that had Blocton rated as a three-star recruit.
Despite those lower rankings, a long list of impressive programs pursued the talented defensive tackle. Blocton chose the Auburn Tigers over other offers from Alabama, Texas, Oregon, Ole Miss, Florida, Tennessee, Texas A&M, USC, Clemson, Missouri, Louisville, Arkansas, Maryland, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Houston, and West Virginia, among many others.
Even with Blocton being a part of a deeper rotation with the Tigers, he made his presence known in the run game in each of the last two seasons. In 24 games played, including ten starts, Blocton managed to collect 34 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, and two sacks. The Alabama native has also recovered a fumble while being pretty immovable at the point of attack.
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