Just how good will Notre Dame’s pass defense be this season?

If you can’t pass, run the triple option…

Notre Dame arguably has the best returning defense in the country. According to this magnificent tweet, the Irish ranked 3rd last season for opponent adjusted pass defense. Those numbers still include the rough start in the first two games of the season as the Chris Ash defense was just getting started.

So… how good will this year be? Notre Dame didn’t just keep its best secondary talent from last year with Leonard Moore, Adon Shuler, Tae Johnson, and Christian Gray — they added to it via the transfer portal in DJ McKinney from Colorado and Jayden Sanders from Michigan.

While lazy talk almost always starts with the offense and how the Irish will replace Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, the real talk should be… who in the hell is going to score against Notre Dame?

Notre Dame has been recruiting and developing top talent for a few years now under the leadership of head coach Marcus Freeman. According to ESPN, the Irish are ranked in their power rankings through the 2027 college football season.

Texas Tech QB, Brendan Sorsby… seriously man — this is insane.

Texas Tech’s journey to the dark side is now complete. There’s no way in hell this would have remotely been something fans suggested just a few years ago, but here we are. I like Notre Dame’s ranking here, and I think a national championship would also help the Irish get back on top of the Sith hierarchy.