Unfortunately, we didn’t have a preseason or mid-season Notre Dame football defensive player of the year to vote on, but a few guys stick out as such. Before the year started, it would have been silly to not include Julian Okwara on this list, however a season ending injury shut the door on that plan. At the mid-season update, a case could have been made for Kareem, Hayes, or any one of the three starting linebackers — of course we know Hayes was also lost for the season.
Now that the regular season is over, defensive player of the year was probably a pretty clear decision, but plenty of guys deserve mention.