Notre Dame looked to have an excellent defensive line class led by Keon Keeley for the 2023 cycle. Keeley signed with Alabama and the Irish were left reeling quite a bit. So far we’ve broken down the grades for the offensive line and the rest of the incoming freshmen on offense. Now we are grading out the rest of the defensive linemen without Keeley in tow.

As a reminder, here’s our standard grading scale for this exercise:

95-100: Truly elite prospect with All-American potential
90-94: Multi-year starter with All-conference level potential
85-89: Eventual starter with chance to play as underclassman
80-84: Raw prospect with decent potential but a couple years away from impact
75-79: Likely a backup
70-74: Reach by the coaching staff

DL Brenan Vernon

18S Average: 91.0

Brendan: 92

Vernon was the longest-tenured commit of the class, jumping on board in the June before his senior season. He was a five-star, #18 overall in the 247 Composite, then but slid steadily down as Drayk Bowen did – but slid much further, as he eventually fell to #200 in the final rankings for the cycle. Similar to my thoughts with Bowen, I don’t think he’s really the 18th best prospect but he’s considerably better than the 200th.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a kid less interested in the recruiting game – he hardly ever gave interviews and his last Hudl season highlight video is from his sophomore year – which I would guess has something to do with why he slid. He held his own at the All-American Bowl, including an impressive intereception in the game, despite trimming down considerably and dealing with an illness during the week. I think he’ll quietly develop into a front line player in the trenches.

Eric: 91

Vernon looks like he’s dropped a bit of weight at the all-star festitivites recently and is looking a lot more athletic. I thought he’d be coming in as a definitive jumbo type of end with his body but he looks really long and quick enough to potentially be a very good pass rusher. His ceiling is really difficult to predict. I think we’ll love him on 1st and 2nd down. Will he grow into someone with flexibility to play inside but not be a big pass rusher?

Tyler: 90

Initially a 5-star at the time of committing to Notre Dame, Vernon dropped quite a bit in the rankings after an injury-ridden junior season where he just did not look to be in great shape. He looked much better as a senior with much of his athleticism returning, but the damage to his ranking was already done.

DL Boubacar Traore

18S Average: 86.3

Brendan: 87

Traore is a little hard to judge as there isn’t much film available on him, at least not from his senior year, but he definitely has potential. It’s a little fuzzy whether his best position at this level will be 3-tech DT or SDE, with the possibility that he could play either as needed. He has some explosive athletic traits and solid bloodlines – his older brother Badara played OT at LSU and is hanging on as a practice squad player in the NFL. He’s more towards the Uncarved Block side of the development equation but there’s definitely some potential there.

Eric: 86

Ideal frame for a big end with very long arms. He can flash pretty well as a pass rusher. His lower half is pretty large already and I’m assuming his upper body is going to catch up. How big will he get? He reminds me of Ade Ogundeji who was a decent pass rusher and solid against the run. I find strong side ends among the most difficult to predict. I think Traore has a pretty good ceiling overall.

Tyler: 86

I think he’ll stay at big end, but there is certaily some question to whether or not he will outgrow the position. Riley Mills somehow didn’t (TBD for 2023), and he was already 280+ when he arrived on campus, so I’m guessing Traore won’t either. I think he could project as an every-down guy at big end, though.

DL Devan Houstan

18S Average: 83.3

Brendan: 86

Houstan is the inside piece of a pair of Canadian defensive line imports in this class with some similarities in their backstories (tease!). Just like end prospect Armel Mukam, Houstan is relatively new to football and transferred to an established stateside prep power to make himself more attractive to D1 programs.

The differentiators for Houstan are his frame – a no-doubt 6-5/280 that starts him out bigger than most of the Irish’s recent recruits – and motor combined with excellent flexibility and explosiveness, perhaps helped by (true story) dance lessons in his younger years. He may need to add a little size before he can truly enter the DT rotation but he has the tools to be pretty good once he gets there.

Eric: 79

Houstan has a nice frame and carries his weight really well for his age. To me, he’s definitely a nose guard prospect for the Irish. He moves pretty well for his size but I don’t see an athletic enough difference maker for defensive tackle. With his background from Canada I think it’ll take some time adjusting to this level and likely adding quite a bit of weight.

Tyler: 85

I like his frame and potential at nose guard. He’s pretty quick off the line and could prove to be disruptive in the middle of the line. He’ll need to add some weight so it will take him time, but I think he’s one who will just appear in the offseason before his junior year and start making an impact.

DL Armel Mukam

18S Average: 84.3

Brendan: 84

To be entirely honest I hadn’t heard Mukam’s name until the Irish flipped him from Stanford, but after looking into him I really like this take. His best football is ahead of him for sure. He’s a late comer to football after growing up in hockey, and has said he likes football because he has more license to hit people. He could develop into a twitchier version of Ade Ogundeji; it might take a couple of years but I’ll roll those dice every time.

Eric: 85

I hesitate to call Mukam a project because he’s a potent weapon at the high school level. But, we know his background and the lack of overall football played in his life. Once he beats his man he’s a missile towards the ball-carrier. He’s really strong and mean with a nasty side to his tackling. I’m not sure where his body and size will take him at Notre Dame, though. However, he’s got a high ceiling.

Tyler: 84

He’s quick off the line and relentless in the backfield at the high school level. He hasn’t played a ton of football to this point, so it’s fair to call him raw. But this is the kind of guy who could be a Top 200+ prospect if he was more polished.