Notre Dame March 20 Practice Report: Defense Edition
Newcomers and veterans alike showcased an explosive, athletic defense. See which transfer linemen impressed and where the unit is already showing major gains.
Notre Dame held its first spring practice for the 2026 season on Friday morning, and the defense had an impressive first day. The Irish Breakdown team was in attendance and got to see firsthand the new-look Notre Dame defense. Here is the IB practice report for the Notre Dame defense.
DEFENSIVE LINE The focus today was on younger players and newcomers, but keep in mind you can only evaluate so much from linemen when they don't have pads on. Having said that, one couldn't help but notice how much bigger, more athletic and explosive the DL is to kick off spring ball. When they went to the first team period the starting DE were Boubacar Traore and Bryce Young, while the first team DT were Armel Mukam at nose and Elijah Hughes at DT.
We also saw Francis Brewu and Jason Onye get some work there. Onye didn't get a ton of work today. Tionne Gray was the second team NT and Christopher Burgess was the second team DT, with Loghan Thomas and Keon Keeley working with the second team DE unit.
We also saw Rodney Dunham and Ebenezer Ewetade working with the second team. Transfer Francis Brewu is short but very, very stout. He was quite impressive with his movement going through drills.
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