Notre Dame Impact Players For 2025: No. 28 Defensive Tackle Jared Dawson originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Notre Dame is now 28 days away from kicking off the 2025 season against the Miami Hurricanes down in Hard Rock Stadium. The Irish will be relying on some impact players to get them through the home opener as well as getting them back to another run at the National Championship. I broke down who I believe will be the top 50 impactful players for Notre Dame this season. Let’s continue this countdown to kickoff with my No. 28 most impactful player, Louisville transfer defensive tackle Jared Dawson.
After Al Washington’s unit lost Rylie Mills and Howard Cross III to the NFL Draft, they made an important decision to go to the portal and snag a couple of defensive tackles. One of them was Dawson, a standout at Louisville. He’s been an extremely productive player throughout his collegiate career and elected to play his final season of eligibility in South Bend.
What He Brings To The Table
Dawson was an extremely efficient player during his time with the Cardinals. He accumulated 19 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss which tied for third on the team, 4.0 sacks and generated a total of 12 pressures in just 294 snaps across 10 games with Louisville in 2024. He has experience playing in big games including a top 25 matchup against Notre Dame this past fall. Dawson has also lined up against Georgia Tech, SMU, Miami, Clemson, Florida State and USC just to name a few.
He’s an extremely twitchy tackle and is extremely strong at the point of attack. We got to see him up close on the first day of fall camp this past Thursday and his performance throughout the day caught the eye of many. On paper, he’s the same size as Cross from a season ago at 6-1 288 pounds, but when you see him in person, the body type is completely different; Dawson is a significantly bigger player. He’s one of the lighter players in the interior defensive line rotation, but has one of the quicker first steps amongst the tackles and will be an impact pass rusher for them this season.
What Is His Impact?
The defensive side of the ball is slightly different than the offensive side. Naturally, coaches will rotate players more on defense than they will on offense, especially along the defensive line. Dawson came to South Bend and was almost immediately inserted in the defensive line rotation. His efficiency alone last season proved why he should be one of the main players in Washington’s rotation.
Mills and Cross were impactful pass rushers on the interior of the defensive line last season, and that production will have to be replaced in 2025. Dawson alone won’t be tasked with doing so, but he will play a crucial role in filling that void. He, along with Jason Onye, Gabriel Rubio, Donovan Hinish and Armel Mukam, will have to all play a role in making that happen.
The Tennessee native came to South Bend to finish out his collegiate career and be a part of what Marcus Freeman is building. It goes without saying that the Notre Dame defensive line will have to play at a more consistent level this season to reach their full potential as a team. Dawson provides a unique skillset with his pass rushing ability and overall size. He and Hinish will be an impactful potential pairing on third downs rushing the quarterback. Dawson’s experience, efficiency and athleticism is what makes him my No. 28 most impactful player for the Irish in 2025.
PAST TOP 50 BREAKDOWNS
No. 29 – Armel Mukam
No. 30 – Will Pauling
No. 31 – Jaylen Sneed
No. 32 – Luke Talich
No. 33 – Jalen Stroman
No. 34 – Micah Gilbert
No. 35 – Loghan Thomas
No. 36 – Cam Williams
No. 37 – Tae Johnson
No. 38 – JaDon Blair
No. 39 – Karson Hobbs
No. 40 – Kevin Bauman
No. 41 – Ty Washington
No. 42 – Jack Larsen
No. 43 – Cole Mullins
No. 44 – Preston Zinter
No. 45 – James Flanigan
No. 46 – Noah Burnette
No. 47 – Guerby Lambert
No. 48 – Sullivan Absher
No. 49 – Jordan Botelho
No. 50 – Charles Jagusah
Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge
Irish Breakdown Content
2025 Depth Chart
2025 Football Schedule
Notre Dame 2026 Scholarship Offers
2025 Commit Rankings – Offense
2025 Commit Rankings – Defense
2024 Recruiting Class
2023 Recruiting Class
2022 Recruiting Class
———————
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!
Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @TTrow5
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook
Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
