Welcome to our individual breakdowns of the Notre Dame 2024 recruiting class. In case you missed it, you can read our overview of this Fighting Irish recruiting class, the second full group of the Marcus Freeman era.

Today, we look at the big guys up front on defense.

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

DE Loghan Thomas

Eric: 85

Good nose for the ball and a versatile long athlete in space. I was expecting a more ready-made pass rusher but I don’t think that’s in the cards just yet. I like his tools and think he’s someone who can grow into a steady pass rusher down the road.

Tyler: 87

My hope here is that Notre Dame landed the next Julian Okwara in Thomas. They’re both really similar prospects coming out of high school — long, lean, a bit raw but obvious athleticism and upside.

DE Bryce Young

Eric: 96

When Young committed it was exciting to see how quickly he could reach his potential. He doesn’t seem to be slowing down and is accelerating his development even. From a size and athleticism standpoint he runs away as the best player in this class. There are snaps where he looks scary good and as freakishly athletic as anyone in this 2024 cohort. I think he’ll end up the highest draft pick from this class.

Tyler: 95

I remember back when Bryce committed and not everyone subscribed to the pay sites was thrilled about it. At the time he was a 3-star and some on the message boards wondered if he would have been a take if he wasn’t a legacy. Since then he’s made huge strides as a defensive linemen and is viewed as a 5-star by some in the recruiting industry.

DL Cole Mullins

Eric: 83

Man, injuries suck. We’re in an era where most high school injuries become a blip on the radar but not always. Mullins was the type of player who needed a senior year of development and a season to figure out just exactly what he’ll be at Notre Dame. I really liked what I saw from his junior film. He seems like a Josh Burnham type except he’s already playing more on the edge in high school. I think Mullins will become a solid backup-type but there’s also the possibility he’s fully the darkhorse of this class and he’ll explode once he’s healthy.

Tyler: 84

It’s really unfortunate that Mullins got injured at the beginning of his senior year. Most around the Notre Dame beat had him pegged as a guy that was going to prove he made a big leap over the offseason. It’s tough to grade a guy that really didn’t even have a senior season.

DT Sean Sevillano

Eric: 83

Sevillano is lightning quick off the ball which is the first thing I look for in a defensive lineman on the interior. Clearly, he’s extremely disruptive and can make plays in the backfield. He’s built like a fridge and I’ll be curious to see how tall he really is because sub 6’0″ wouldn’t shock me. Being a little shorter is okay and can be overcome but his ceiling is a little lower for me if he’s going to struggle with leverage and run blocking at Notre Dame.

Tyler: 81

The physical tools are there for Sevillano. He’s a little short, but is so quick off the ball for a dude of his stature that it’s easy to forget he’s already well over 300 pounds. He’s going to come into Notre Dame pretty raw and will probably need a lot of work in the weight room, but it’s easy to see why the ND staff likes him.