← the board · drewhoover.com · 2024–2026
Notre Dame's best defenders since 2024
Jaiden Ausberry leads with 127 tackles in 35 games at Notre Dame; Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa had 100.
Every defender with 5 or more games at Notre Dame since 2024, ranked by tackles; the lines are each player's tackles game by game, the top 8 drawn. A link opens the player's page, where he has one, or his row on the board.
90 defenders with 5+ games at Notre Dametackles
| # | player | seasons | games | tackles | sacks | tackles for loss | interceptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaiden Ausberry | 2024–2026 | 35 | 127 | 2.5 | 12 | 0 |
| 2 | Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa | 2024–2026 | 28 | 100 | 4 | 14 | 3 |
| 3 | Leonard Moore | 2024–2026 | 30 | 92 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 4 | Bryce Young | 2024–2026 | 32 | 64 | 6.5 | 13 | 0 |
| 5 | Brauntae Johnson | 2024–2026 | 13 | 52 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Rod Heard II | 2024 | 16 | 37 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | Jalen Stroman | 2025 | 9 | 37 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 8 | Jordan Clark | 2024 | 14 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 9 | Elijah Hughes | 2025–2026 | 10 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 10 | Dallas Golden | 2025–2026 | 9 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Loghan Thomas | 2024–2026 | 17 | 21 | 3.5 | 4 | 0 |
| 12 | Jared Dawson | 2025 | 10 | 20 | 0.5 | 4 | 0 |
| 13 | DeVonta Smith | 2025 | 7 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | RJ Oben | 2024 | 13 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | Madden Faraimo | 2025–2026 | 8 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 16 | Francis Brewu | 2026 | 7 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | Mark Zackery IV | 2025–2026 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | Kahanu Kia | 2024–2026 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | Kennedy Urlacher | 2024 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | Tionne Gray | 2026 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | Joey O'Brien | 2026 | 5 | 10 | 0.5 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | Ben Minich | 2024–2025 | 7 | 9 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | DJ McKinney | 2026 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | Teddy Rezac | 2024–2026 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | Ethan Long | 2025–2026 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Rodney Dunham | 2026 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | Sean Sevillano Jr. | 2024–2026 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Karson Hobbs | 2024–2025 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 29 | Jayden Sanders | 2026 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 30 | Jaylen Sneed | 2022–2026 | 42 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 31 | Drayk Bowen | 2023–2026 | 38 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 32 | Adon Shuler | 2023–2026 | 36 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 33 | Christian Gray | 2023–2026 | 35 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 34 | Jack Kiser | 2020–2024 | 30 | — | — | — | 4 |
| 35 | Luke Talich | 2023–2026 | 29 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 36 | Xavier Watts | 2022–2024 | 26 | — | — | — | 13 |
| 37 | Howard Cross III | 2019–2024 | 25 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 38 | Josh Burnham | 2023–2025 | 25 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 39 | Boubacar Traore | 2023–2026 | 23 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 40 | Donovan Hinish | 2023–2025 | 23 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 41 | Gabriel Rubio | 2022–2025 | 23 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 42 | Junior Tuihalamaka | 2023–2025 | 23 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 43 | Jason Onye | 2023–2026 | 22 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 44 | Rylie Mills | 2021–2024 | 22 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 45 | Lorenzo Styles Jr. | 2021–2022 | 21 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 46 | Jordan Botelho | 2020–2025 | 20 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 47 | Benjamin Morrison | 2022–2024 | 17 | — | — | — | 9 |
| 48 | DJ Brown | 2019–2023 | 17 | — | — | — | 4 |
| 49 | Armel Mukam | 2023–2026 | 15 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 50 | Clarence Lewis | 2020–2023 | 15 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 51 | Marist Liufau | 2020–2023 | 13 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 52 | Drew White | 2019–2021 | 12 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 53 | Isaiah Foskey | 2019–2022 | 12 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 54 | JD Bertrand | 2021–2023 | 12 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 55 | Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa | 2018–2021 | 12 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 56 | Troy Pride Jr. | 2016–2019 | 12 | — | — | — | 4 |
| 57 | Austin Collinsworth | 2010–2013 | 11 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 58 | Bo Bauer | 2018–2022 | 11 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 59 | Daelin Hayes | 2016–2020 | 11 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 60 | Jaden Mickey | 2022–2024 | 11 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 61 | TaRiq Bracy | 2019–2022 | 11 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 62 | DaVonte' Neal | 2012 | 10 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 63 | Drue Tranquill | 2014–2018 | 10 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 64 | Julian Love | 2016–2018 | 10 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 65 | Justin Ademilola | 2018–2022 | 10 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 66 | Kyle Hamilton | 2019–2021 | 10 | — | — | — | 8 |
| 67 | NaNa Osafo-Mensah | 2019–2023 | 10 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 68 | Adetokunbo Ogundeji | 2018–2020 | 9 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 69 | Cam Hart | 2021–2023 | 9 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 70 | Jayson Ademilola | 2018–2022 | 9 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 71 | Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah | 2019–2020 | 9 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 72 | Ramon Henderson | 2021–2023 | 9 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 73 | Shaun Crawford | 2016–2020 | 9 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 74 | Brandon Joseph | 2022 | 8 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 75 | Cole Luke | 2014–2016 | 8 | — | — | — | 8 |
| 76 | Julian Okwara | 2017–2019 | 8 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 77 | Kurt Hinish | 2018–2021 | 8 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 78 | Matthias Farley | 2012–2015 | 8 | — | — | — | 8 |
| 79 | Alohi Gilman | 2018–2019 | 7 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 80 | Cody Riggs | 2014 | 7 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 81 | Jalen Elliott | 2018–2019 | 7 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 82 | Javontae Jean-Baptiste | 2023 | 7 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 83 | Khalid Kareem | 2017–2019 | 7 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 84 | Asmar Bilal | 2018–2019 | 6 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 85 | Preston Zinter | 2023–2025 | 6 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 86 | Te'von Coney | 2016–2018 | 6 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 87 | Thomas Harper | 2023 | 6 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 88 | Houston Griffith | 2018–2022 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 89 | James Onwualu | 2013–2016 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 90 | KeiVarae Russell | 2012–2015 | 5 | — | — | — | 5 |
Also at Notre Dame: quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers, punters. Every school and conference: schools, conferences. The games are ESPN's box scores since 2004 (the Method says where they fall short); a position is the roster's, else read off the box score, so a tight end from before 2014 may be listed with the wide receivers.