Elijah Hughes Adds Important Depth To Notre Dame’s Defensive Line
USC transfer Elijah Hughes can impact Notre Dame's defensive line over the next couple of seasons
The Irish lost some depth on the defensive line with Howard Cross and Rylie Mills departing for the NFL Draft. They picked up Jared Dawson in the transfer portal, but with some depth question marks still looming ahead of the 2025 season, they elected to take Elijah Hughes in the portal from USC as well. He will have an additional year of eligibility which Notre Dame hasn’t had a lot from their portal usage. Hughes has the potential to impact the 2025 and 2026 defensive line if he continues to develop well.
Hughes At USC
Hughes hasn’t played a lot of football, but the snaps he has played have been promising. He appeared in seven games in 2024 which included games against Notre Dame, Maryland on the road, Nebraska at home, and Washington on the road. Hughes also played in eight game in 2023 which included on the road against Notre Dame, on the road against Oregon, and the bowl game against Louisville. He’s played a total of 214 snaps with the Trojans, with 126 of them coming this past season. He was used more as a depth piece on their defensive line.
He has three sacks in his career, and had two this past season, one against Nebraska and one against Rutgers. For his size at 6-3 294, Hughes has pretty good quickness that the Trojans would use on pass rushing situations. Out of his 126 snaps in 2024, 82 of them were on pass rush attempts.
The Notre Dame Need
With players like Jason Onye and Gabriel Rubio working their way up to playing a full season for the Irish, they needed some players to add depth to the room and push their way into the rotation. They also needed more players with size. Both of their transfer portal pick ups fit that bill, with Dawson going 6-2 302 pounds and Hughes being 6-3 294 pounds. They will also need more depth in season to come along the interior, which is what Hughes provides them. If he has a good year of development in this system, he has the potential to be a breakout player for the Irish in both 2025 and 2026.
The injury bug hit the defensive line hard this past season, with four of their main interior players missing chunks of the season. Mills, Cross, Onye, and Rubio all missed time. Hughes will be on the development track alongside players like Armel Mukam, Sean Sevillano, Brenan Vernon, and Cole Mullins. Donovan Hinish compliments the transfer additions nicely with his quick hands and pass rush ability.
Breaking Down Hughes’ Game
Hughes has the ability to play multiple spots along the defensive line, something Notre Dame doesn’t currently have along the interior. His sack against Nebraska came on an outside rush, something you don’t typically see from interior defensive lineman. His film is limited, but there was a good sample size from his performance against Rutgers where he played 42 total snaps. 27 of those snaps came on pass rushing situations and he finished the game with two total pressures (one sack and one hurry).
He has played against big time competition in his limited snaps at USC. Having experience against teams like Notre Dame, Oregon, Louisville, Nebraska, and Washington are going to bode him well during his time in South Bend. He will have to work on his run support, and showcase the ability to eat up blocks to let the linebackers fill and make plays. He played in 44 run defensive snaps in 2024 and didn’t have a missed tackle on record.
Hughes’ Impact At Notre Dame
With the departure of Cross and Mills, there is some areas of concern for the ability to generate a pass rush from the interior of the defensive line. That is an aspect that both Dawson and Hughes bring to the table. Hughes played the majority of his snaps in 2024 in pass rushing situations, the same can be said about 2023 when he also played 43 pass rushing snaps. At the end of the day, Hughes is one of the more unknown portal players, and his role this year will be to provide immediate depth and the ability to rush the passer. He has the potential to be a breakout player down the road, but will have to hone in his skills over the next couple of months.
