Notre Dame Still Searching For Defensive Ends While Marcus Freeman Says Tackle Is Set

Notre Dame does not know who its next defensive ends are, and Marcus Freeman said Tuesday that is one of the jobs camp has to settle before Sept. 6, alongside the backup quarterback competition, the offensive line and the top of the receiver rotation. The top of the rotation is set, but what’s behind them isn’t. He drew a clear line between the edge and the interior in the same breath, saying the tackle room is already one he trusts.

“And defensively, who’s going to be the next DE? I think we have a group of tackles that we feel good about. Who’s going to be the next couple DEs to help us?”

Camp opens Thursday, and Wisconsin arrives Sept. 6, which puts a month on the clock. Freeman ran through the other open jobs without hesitating, “We got to figure out who are those five guys on the offensive line. Who’s going to be the top six, seven wideouts that we count on?”

Tackle looks settled

Inside, the rotation looks as though it’s already set. Asked about the interior rotation, Freeman named his core by first name only. Jason Onye was on that list, a year removed from 26 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

“Well, I think there’s four guys, five guys, that you know are going to be out there and helping you with Onye and Francis (Brewu) and Tionne (Gray) and Armel (Mukam) and Elijah,” Freeman said. He then pointed to Sean Sevillano Jr., who has five career tackles, as one of the names pushing behind them.

“And, you know, there’s a list of others. Big Sean (Sevillano) has done a really good job. There’s going to be a competition for who’s those next guys in there. We’re going to need all of them.”

Even the competition inside comes with a caveat: “But that’s a position that is deep and I don’t have much concern about, you know, who’s going to be on the field.”

Three names already lead the edge room

Boubacar Traore is the headliner and has the production to hold the label. He finished last season with 37 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, including a two-sack afternoon against NC State and three tackles for loss in the Syracuse blowout. He is also one of the players whose name came back to Freeman when he asked his staff who had stepped up as a vocal leader over the summer.

Bryce Young was on that same list, which matters given where his production sits. Coming off Notre Dame’s 2024 playoff run, Young was supposed to be the next one to take the jump. He put up 20 tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks and three pass breakups last season, roughly where he was in 2024 with 23 tackles and 1.5 sacks. The tools have never been the issue for either him or Traore. Consistency is the part still outstanding, and both have NFL futures waiting on it.

Keon Keeley is the third, arriving from Alabama with 13 tackles, three tackles for loss and three sacks in 2025 and a strong finish to the season. He will be heavily in the mix from the first week of camp.

What camp has to decide next

Behind those three sits young talent without college snaps, and Rodney Dunham is the most intriguing of it. The No. 3 edge in his class and a five-star out of Charlotte’s Myers Park, Dunham was the best player North Carolina had to offer in the cycle and landed in South Bend as the No. 12 recruit nationally. Freeman was asked about playing freshmen in the running back room, and under the new eligibility rules the answer applies across the roster, Dunham’s case included:

“Man, if they can help us win, like, let’s do it, right?”

The rule change took the four-game redshirt math out of those decisions.

“If you can help us win, put them on the field.”

Loghan Thomas is the other name to look for in camp. He had 1.5 sacks in 2024 and did not build on it, finishing last season with two tackles and no sacks. He has flashed without ever holding a consistent role, and he is still listed at 221 pounds on the official roster. This is the year it either happens or it does not. Outside of Thomas and Dunham, Dominik Hulak, Joe Reiff, and freshman Ebenezer Ewetade will be in the mix for reps.

The top three will play. What the next month has to produce is a fourth and a fifth, and Dunham and Thomas are the candidates for both. Notre Dame opens against Wisconsin with whatever that rotation looks like on Sept. 6, and Traore, Young and Keeley cannot play every snap of it.