We recently explored my grades for the Notre Dame offense recruiting stretching back to the 2013 class and today we turn our attention to the other side of the ball. As I mentioned in part one of this series, I am the toughest grader on this website. You saw a little bit of that with the offense and now you will get a heavy dose of this looking back at the defense.

Let’s get right to it now.

My grades followed by writers average grade in parentheses. 

Defensive Line

Eddie Vanderdoes – 96 (95)
Andrew Trumbetti – 95 (93)
Jordan Botelho – 94 (94)
Jayson Ademilola – 94 (93)
NaNa Osafo-Mensah – 93 (91)
Khalid Kareem – 92 (92)
Jay Hayes – 91 (91)
Isaac Rochelle – 90 (91)
Darnell Ewell – 90 (90)
Daelin Hayes – 89 (91)
Julian Okwara – 88 (90)
Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa – 88 (88)
Kurt Hinish – 88 (87)
Jacob Lacey – 87 (89)
Jhonny Williams – 87 (85)
Isaiah Foskey – 86 (90)
Bo Wallace – 86 (86)
Kolin Hill – 85 (87)
Elijah Taylor – 85 (87)
Daniel Cage – 84 (86)
Jerry Tillery – 84 (86)
Pete Mokwuah – 84 (85)
Ade Ogundeji – 83 (83)
Rylie Mills – 82 (87)
Aidan Keanaaina – 82 (86)
Grant Blankenship – 82 (84)
Jonathan Bonner – 81 (85)
Micah Dew-Treadway – 81 (83)
Hunter Spears – 80 (80)
Ja’Mion Franklin – 79 (84)
Howard Cross – 78 (81)
Jacob Matuska – 78 (81)
Brandon Tiassum – 78 (81)
Kofi Wardlow – 78 (81)
Justin Ademilola – 78 (78)
Jonathan MacCollister – 76 (81)
Alexander Ehrensberger – 76 (80)

Plus/minus difference of 3 points: Isaiah Foskey (-4), Rylie Mills (-5), Aidan Keanaaina (-4), Jonathan Bonner (-4), Ja’Mion Franklin (-5), Howard Cross (-3), Jacob Matuska (-3), Brandon Tiassum (-3), Kofi Wardlow (-3), Jonathan MacCollister (-5), Alex Ehrensberger (-4)

Overachievers: Jerry Tillery, Jonathan Bonner, Ade Ogundeji

Underachievers: Andrew Trumbetti, Jay Hayes, Darnell Ewell, Jhonny Williams, Bo Wallace

Apologies for including the infamous Eddie Vanderdoes who later fled to UCLA after signing with Notre Dame. His career with the Bruins was a bit of a disappointment set against his lofty expectations finishing with 122 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks while missing nearly all of his junior season due to injury.

Full disclosure, when we handed out grades for Tillery we all gave two, one for each side of the ball. Nearly all of us were in agreement that he was a much better prospect at offensive tackle compared to staying on the defensive line. Well, turns out he was quite good on defense although it took a couple years to blossom.

Jonathan Bonner wasn’t anything special but he started 26 games over his career and definitely qualified as someone who overachieved. Thus far, it looks like Ogundeji (34 tackles, 7 TFL, 4.5 sacks in 2019) will outplay his 83 grade with one more season to go in South Bend if he hasn’t already.

I was about as high on Trumbetti as anyone and he never moved past solid starter territory, finishing with 90 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, and just 2.5 sacks despite playing in 43 games.

Jay Hayes finally showed promise for the Irish in 2017 (27 tackles, 3.5 TFL) before finishing his career at Georgia where he did absolutely nothing for the Dawgs.

Ewell took a medical scholarship and is one of the most recent disappointments for the program, Jhonny Williams transferred to Toledo then to Grand Valley State, and Bo Wallace never enrolled at Notre Dame before washing out at Arizona State.

I thought this was a good visualization of how difficult it really is to develop lower rated defensive line recruits. Of the 16 players from Mokwuah on down, 3 are incoming freshmen, 3 are young and outside the two-deep, 8 had a small impact at best, and 2 became starter-level players.

Linebacker

Jaylon Smith – 98 (97)
Shayne Simon – 95 (96)
Nyles Morgan – 93 (96)
Jack Lamb – 91 (93)
Asmar Bilal – 90 (89)
Tevon Coney – 89 (90)
Doug Randolph – 89 (88)
Josh Barajas – 88 (91)
Osi Ekwonu – 88 (89)
Drew White – 88 (89)
Nile Sykes – 88 (88)
Michael Deeb – 87 (88)
Jamir Jones – 87 (87)
David Adams – 83 (85)
Matt Bauer – 83 (83)
Spencer Perry – 83 (83)
Greer Martini – 82 (83)
Ovie Oghoufo – 81 (83)
Jonathan Jones – 80 (85)
Marist Liufau – 80 (82)
JD Bertrand – 80 (80)
D.J. Morgan – 77 (78)
Jack Kiser – 76 (82)

Plus/minus difference of 3 points: Nyles Morgan (-3), Josh Barajas (-3), Jonathan Jones (-5), Jack Kiser (-6)

Overachievers: Greer Martini

Underachievers: Shayne Simon, Doug Randolph, Josh Barajas, Nile Sykes, Michael Deeb

I was shocked at how few overachievers were at this position. Martini certainly qualifies after finishing his career with 190 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks. He had a very good 4-year career for the Irish.

My grade on Jack Kiser is likely to be hilariously wrong as he may be the backup Rover as soon as this spring and by all accounts is heavily favored by the coaching staff.

This will be a big 2020 for Shayne Simon who has 12 tackles through 2 seasons thus far. If he develops into a starter he may fulfill his promise, if he’s a backup or worse in 2020 it might not happen for him.

Doug Randolph’s career was cut short by a back/neck injury after 2 seasons and just 6 tackles. The trio of Barajas, Sykes, and Deeb also made no impact at Notre Dame. Barajas transferred to Illinois State where he was injured and played sparingly, Sykes transferred to Indiana where he made a decent impact with 49 career tackles, and Deeb had to take a medical scholarship in South Bend.

Defensive Back

Max Redfield – 95 (95)
Kyle Hamilton – 94 (96)
Shaun Crawford – 93 (94)
Devin Studstill – 92 (92)
Derrik Allen – 91 (91)
Houston Griffith – 90 (91)
Troy Pride – 90 (89)
Julian Love – 90 (88)
Cole Luke – 89 (91)
Nick Watkins – 89 (91)
Isaiah Robertson – 89 (89)
Landen Bartleson – 87 (84)
Jalen Elliott – 86 (87)
Devin Butler – 86 (82)
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah – 85 (88)
K.J. Wallace – 85 (86)
Nick Coleman – 85 (85)
Ramon Henderson – 85 (83)
Donte Vaughn – 84 (86)
Caleb Offord – 84 (84)
Noah Boykin – 83 (86)
Drue Tranquill – 83 (85)
Jordan Genmark Heath 83 (84)
Rashad Kinlaw – 83 (84)
Mykelti Williams – 82 (87)
Isaiah Rutherford – 81 (82)
D.J. Brown – 80 (84)
Clarence Lewis – 80 (83)
Ashton White – 80 (82)
Joe Wilkins – 80 (82)
Litchfield Ajavon – 80 (81)
Paul Moala – 78 (79)
Nicco Fertitta – 77 (80)

Plus/minus difference of 3 points: Landen Bartleson (+3), Devin Butler (+4), Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (-3), Noah Boykin (-3), Mykelti Williams (-5), D.J. Brown (-4), Clarence Lewis (-3), Nicco Fertitta (-3)

Overachievers: Nicco Fertitta, Paul Moala, Drue Tranquill, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Julian Love

Underachievers: Max Redfield, Devin Studstill, Derrik Allen, Houston Griffith, Isaiah Robertson

Everyone. Was. Wrong. About. Max. Redfield. Although I bet most wouldn’t remember he put together 143 tackles across 3 seasons. He played a lot his last two years but never came close to being one of the better defenders on the team.

The career of Devin Studstill was so strange featuring 38 tackles as a freshman, then 18 tackles, and 4 tackles in an injury-shortened 2018 season. He transferred to USF this past season where he finished his career on a high note with 74 tackles.

Derrik Allen transferred to Georgia Tech this past year, while Houston Griffith took a step back as a sophomore and will have to fight for a two-deep spot at safety this spring, and Isaiah Robertson hasn’t made an impact after switching to wide receiver.

Fertitta got a handful of snaps at safety but mostly special teams work where he cobbled together 36 career tackles. Moala could be in line to start in 2020 so he’s likely an overachiever.

I forgot how little we thought of Tranquill (originally a safety, remember) and in retrospect his career looks even more absurd: 292 tackles, 25.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and a spot on our Hall of Fame Pyramid. We all liked Julian Love a lot, and still he outperformed expectations.

It’s funny I always felt like I was driving the JOK hype train but not until we saw him in his first spring game. As a recruit I was a little less enthusiastic about him coming in compared to others. Now, he’s well on his way to being in the conversation as one of the top linebackers of the Kelly era.