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As crazy as it sounds, Notre Dame's 2023 recruiting class is gearing up for their junior year of college. The 2023 recruiting class was also the first full recruiting class head coach Marcus Freeman brought to South Bend. There's several impact players on offense and defense from this class, and the defensive line recruits are well in the mix.
For the past two seasons, Notre Dame has been known for their elite defense, but a lot of that has been highlighted by the play of their secondary. This season, under new defensive coordinator Chris Ash, the Irish look to generate a more consistent and impactful defensive line unit and some members of the 2023 class have the opportunity to spear head that effort.
Over the years the Irish have produced NFL caliber edge rushers with players like Isaiah Foskey, Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara headlining that group. Defensive line coach Al Washington has another rising star moving up in the ranks with Boubacar Traore. Traore had an unfortunate season ending knee injury in the first half against Louisville and hasn't made it back to the field since. Fortunately, he is projected to make it back by the start of the season.
Traore flashed in the first half of the season. Despite only playing in four and a half games, he finished the season fifth on the team in sacks, seventh on the team in tackles for a loss and tallied nine total pressures. At 6-4 240 pounds, Traore has great length and is extremely quick off the line of scrimmage. In the first couple of games played, he began to live up to the five-star upside grade that Irish Breakdown gave him as a recruit.
Another player who has the potential for a big year is Armel Mukam. Mukam doesn't have the numbers that Traore put up in 2024, but he has good size and has been one of the players we've consistently heard good things about from spring practices. At 6-3 305 pounds, Mukam is one of their bigger interior defensive lineman on the roster. In the spring game, Mukam showed the ability to play on the outside of the defensive line in an odd front, and he looked relatively comfortable there as well.
The Quebec native adds much needed depth to the interior defensive line rotation and joins Jason Onye, Gabriel Rubio, transfer Jared Dawson, transfer Elijah Hughes and Donovan Hinish in rounding out the rotation. Mukam is another player that had a five-star upside grade from Irish Breakdown and has the potential to live up to that in the coming seasons.
Ohio native Brenan Vernon was also a member of the 2023 class along with Traore and Mukam. The 6-6 293 pound lineman has yet to see meaningful minutes on the field, but he's starting to find his footing on the interior of the defensive line. He's another player that could potentially play a role on Notre Dame's defense this fall as long as he continues to develop and remain healthy. He was held out of the spring game due to a minor injury but is slotted to return in fall camp.
Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge
Irish Breakdown Content
2025 Depth Chart
2025 Football Schedule
Notre Dame 2026 Scholarship Offers
2025 Commit Rankings - Offense
2025 Commit Rankings - Defense
2024 Recruiting Class
2023 Recruiting Class
2022 Recruiting Class
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For the past two seasons, Notre Dame has been known for their elite defense, but a lot of that has been highlighted by the play of their secondary. This season, under new defensive coordinator Chris Ash, the Irish look to generate a more consistent and impactful defensive line unit and some members of the 2023 class have the opportunity to spear head that effort.
Over the years the Irish have produced NFL caliber edge rushers with players like Isaiah Foskey, Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara headlining that group. Defensive line coach Al Washington has another rising star moving up in the ranks with Boubacar Traore. Traore had an unfortunate season ending knee injury in the first half against Louisville and hasn't made it back to the field since. Fortunately, he is projected to make it back by the start of the season.
Traore flashed in the first half of the season. Despite only playing in four and a half games, he finished the season fifth on the team in sacks, seventh on the team in tackles for a loss and tallied nine total pressures. At 6-4 240 pounds, Traore has great length and is extremely quick off the line of scrimmage. In the first couple of games played, he began to live up to the five-star upside grade that Irish Breakdown gave him as a recruit.
Another player who has the potential for a big year is Armel Mukam. Mukam doesn't have the numbers that Traore put up in 2024, but he has good size and has been one of the players we've consistently heard good things about from spring practices. At 6-3 305 pounds, Mukam is one of their bigger interior defensive lineman on the roster. In the spring game, Mukam showed the ability to play on the outside of the defensive line in an odd front, and he looked relatively comfortable there as well.
The Quebec native adds much needed depth to the interior defensive line rotation and joins Jason Onye, Gabriel Rubio, transfer Jared Dawson, transfer Elijah Hughes and Donovan Hinish in rounding out the rotation. Mukam is another player that had a five-star upside grade from Irish Breakdown and has the potential to live up to that in the coming seasons.
Ohio native Brenan Vernon was also a member of the 2023 class along with Traore and Mukam. The 6-6 293 pound lineman has yet to see meaningful minutes on the field, but he's starting to find his footing on the interior of the defensive line. He's another player that could potentially play a role on Notre Dame's defense this fall as long as he continues to develop and remain healthy. He was held out of the spring game due to a minor injury but is slotted to return in fall camp.
Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge
Irish Breakdown Content
2025 Depth Chart
2025 Football Schedule
Notre Dame 2026 Scholarship Offers
2025 Commit Rankings - Offense
2025 Commit Rankings - Defense
2024 Recruiting Class
2023 Recruiting Class
2022 Recruiting Class
———————
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.
BECOME A MEMBER
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!
Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @TTrow5
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Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter
Continue reading...
