Notre Dame football is a couple of weeks into fall camp and only a few more from the 2026 college football season opener at Lambeau Field against the Wisconsin Badgers. 

For head coach Marcus Freeman and defensive coordinator Chris Ash, this is perhaps the deepest Notre Dame defensive group South Bend has seen in quite a long time. When you truly evaluate the roster, the depth chart, and all the feedback from fall camp so far, it’s hard to poke holes in the unit overall. 

This is an elite group with the ability to be outstanding on all 3 levels. In the wonderful world of college football, though, with the transfer portal and NIL considered, every team is going to have a couple of potential holes. 

You’re splitting hairs when you talk about the negatives for this Notre Dame defense, but let’s take a deeper dive at the good, the bad, and the uncertain heading into 2026.

The good

You have stars everywhere

To say this Notre Dame defense is elite would be a massive understatement, at least on paper, going into the 2026 season. A big reason for that is the Fighting Irish have high-end talents on all three levels and some potential All-Americans all over the place.

In the secondary, which is arguably the best in the country, you have All-American cornerback Leonard Moore, who has a chance to be a top-5 overall selection in the 2027 NFL Draft. You also have safety Brauntae Johnson, who could be the first safety selected next April and perhaps the best overall ball hawk in the country this year. 

Those two have made us underrate players like Adon Shuler, Colorado transfer DJ McKinney, Christian Gray, Luke Talich, and several key youngsters. This Notre Dame secondary is tremendous, but Moore and Johnson could be the best at their respective positions in college football.

On the second level at linebacker, you have Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, who could end up being the best overall linebacker in college football in 2026. He can rush off the edge, play on the second level, work in coverage, and do whatever you need him to do.

On the defensive line, there are several great assets, but the leader in the clubhouse right now is star pass rusher Boubacar Traore, who led the team with 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks a year ago. He should be one of the more productive edge rushers in the entire country.

Best secondary in college football

As I’ve already stated, this Notre Dame secondary could be the best in the entire country in 2026, and I’m not sure the depth is even arguable. 

While Moore, Shuler, and Johnson lead the way on the back end, six total players from the secondary hold draftable feedback from the NFL for the 2027 NFL Draft in the preseason. That has taken the shine off of youngsters like Dallas Golden, Mark Zachary IV, Ethan Long, and Joey O’Brien, all of whom would most likely play a lot more for Notre Dame in most years. 

That secondary depth is a great thing to have and a huge asset, especially in modern college football where teams are more and more trying to spread defenses out. Notre Dame has the ability to match it with anybody because of how talented they are on the back end.

Deep linebacker room led by KVA

I’ve already highlighted Viliamu-Asa, who has the talent to be the best linebacker in the country, but he is far from all the talent Notre Dame has on the second level. 

Senior Drayk Bowen was the team’s leading tackler last season and returns. While he plays an old-school game, Bowen is a downhill physical presence who got better as the season went on a year ago. 

You also have Jaiden Ausberry and Jaylen Sneed, who have played a ton of football during their careers over the last couple of seasons, as well as sophomore Madden Faraimo, who could end up being the best of this group when all is said and done. 

Not many teams can go legitimately 5 deep at linebacker in the country. You can utilize those guys in so many different ways, and there might even be times where three to four of them are on the field at the same time.

Deepest Notre Dame defensive line room in a long time

Traore is the headliner of this group, but on defensive end you also have names like Bryce Young, Keon Keeley, and 5-star freshman Rodney Dunham. That has the ability to be one of the deeper edge rooms this team has had in a long, long time. 

The defensive tackle group is also underrated and can go 5 to 6 deep depending on how a couple of the youngsters pan out this offseason. They are led by Pitt transfer Francis Brewu as well as Oregon transfer Tionne Gray, mixing and matching with the likes of Armel Mukam, Jason Onye, Elijah Hughes, and Sean Sevilano Jr. 

The best teams over the last few years have been able to throw a lot of bodies out there on defense and maintain strong play. Notre Dame can finally do the same going into this year.

The bad and/or uncertainty

Weaponizing KVA (health)

There’s a chance that if Viliamu-Asa is healthy going into the season, which he seems to be right now, he could be one of the biggest difference makers on this defense for everything he can do on the football field. He can play either inside linebacker spot, rush the quarterback, spy, and do a little bit of everything you need from the linebacker position.

Of course, one of the main talking points is him coming off of an ACL injury. Will KVA be back to full health and the explosiveness we saw before the late-season injury a year ago? That’s going to be a question until it’s not anymore. 

I have confidence that we will see the best version of Viliamu-Asa, explosive and instinctive, but there is some question of just how efficient he is going to be, especially early on in the season.

Will the real Chris Ash please stand up?

The last 9.5 games of the 2025 season were impressive for the Notre Dame defense under Ash. The beginning of the year, however, was incredibly rocky, and there is still some question about whether the defense was extremely improved or if the Fighting Irish were just playing against some not-great football teams. 

I tend to believe we saw them turn a corner, but there is something to be said about whether Ash will be able to stay out of his own way and let the talent take over. He overcomplicated things early on last season, so I want to cautiously take a look at what they’re able to do on the field before I fully buy into the defensive surge.

I am buying early stock, though.

Christian Gray at nickel?

Gray has made the transition from field cornerback to nickel this offseason. While I do believe this has the opportunity to be incredibly good for Notre Dame, we have not seen him play nickel in a real game yet. 

When Gray has been on during his Notre Dame career, he’s been a tremendous football player. When he’s been bad, however, he’s been almost unplayable. Notre Dame got McKinney via the transfer portal this offseason to take over his field cornerback spot, which pushed Gray inside to the slot. 

Gray has the makeup and physicality to be able to play that position, but just how smooth the transition is will only be told during real games. It’s a wait-and-see approach. Notre Dame does also have Golden, who possesses a very good floor at that position that perhaps Gray does not.

Secondary pass rushers

While the defensive end room for Notre Dame is incredibly deep, Traore is the only true proven commodity in that room right now. Who will be the secondary pass rusher to step forward? 

Last year, Bowen was the second-leading sack man for Notre Dame with 3.5 sacks. The Irish need bigger contributions from Young, a Keeley breakout, or Dunham stepping up to take some things off of Traoré’s plate. 

That room is incredibly talented, but potential now needs to actualize into production.