Reviewing the Redshirts is an off-season project meant to resurrect discussion about the 2022 Notre Dame freshmen who retained a year of eligibility and discuss their possible impact in 2023 and beyond. The Fighting Irish were able to redshirt 17 players this past season while 1 player medically retired (Joey Tanona) and another player has transferred already to Syracuse (Jayden Bellamy).

Today we’ll take a look at a big-time recruit with a chance to step up in 2023.

DT Tyson Ford

Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Height: 6-3 7/8
Weight: 275

247Sports Composite Ranking: 4-star, No. 17 DL, No. 2 MO, No. 120 National, 0.9516 score

18 Stripes Grade: 94.0

Murtaugh’s Blurb from the Class Grade:

His explosion off the ball is tantalizing. His frame looks like he’ll have plenty of room to add size and be effective as an interior player but still be a potent pass-rusher. He reminds me of Khalid Kareem with maybe a higher ceiling. At times, he’s laughably unblockable against high school competition. Packs a big punch when he arrives at the ball carrier. His feet are so quick. I really have a hard time seeing Ford not being a great player for the Irish.

Notre Dame wasted no time engaging Ford and handing him an offer during the 2020 spring evaluation period. He would commit in January of 2021 and then officially join the Irish during the early signing period in December of that same year.

Ford was the 4th highest rated recruit for Notre Dame in this 2022 class. He was recruited as an athletic strong-side defensive end although it doesn’t look like that will be his future in South Bend.

Need at Position: High

Ford was moved to defensive tackle as a freshman and that’s where he should find a long term home. Looking at the comparisons to Khalid Kareem, as a freshman Ford is already 10 pounds heavier than the senior Kareem. We can probably expect Ford to keep adding some more size and grow into a powerful defensive tackle.

His progress this off-season is super important because Notre Dame needs help as soon as possible at defensive tackle.

Expected Spot on the 2023 Depth Chart: 2nd String

During the late Kelly era I was really getting pretty stingy with some of my recruiting grades. Over the last couple cycles I’ve softened my stance a little bit which is why I handed out a super serious 96 grade for Ford last cycle. I’ll be greatly anticipating news of his development this spring because Ford will get every opportunity for two-deep snaps right from the first practice.

You could argue taking a redshirt was a bit disappointing for Ford. Still, he was transitioning from an edge rusher to the interior, which is never easy, and looking back at his high school days I’m not sure he was always carrying a ton of weight. Once Jacob Lacey decided to leave the team I wondered if Ford would get involved in 2022 but sitting out and saving a year was probably the smart decision.

Since I gave Ford such a high grade I’m going to stick with it and say he’ll be one of the most surprising players in 2023. There’s really no veteran talent behind him on the depth chart and unless they move some other players around Ford is pretty much walking into a backup role this season. Maybe he’ll struggle being thrown into the fire but with his talent and size I’m betting he makes us look forward to the future as a multi-year starter.