Notre Dame DE Isaiah Foskey to return for Fighting Irish football in 2022
Professional football will have to wait another year for Notre Dame defensive end Isaiah Foskey.
Foskey announced Saturday he will return to the Fighting Irish roster in 2022. He had the third most sacks in a single season in program history with 11.0 as a junior this past year.
“Everyone and all the support has been truly amazing through my three years playing here,” Foskey said in a social media video. “To my coaches, this is not the end but a new beginning. The beginning of a run to the national championship and the Freeman era.”
Foskey will be a true senior, so technically his name is not added to a list of eight Notre Dame players who have announced they will return for a fifth or sixth season. Foskey is just as important as any of them, though.
A true next level prospect, Foskey could have been picked on the second day of this year’s NFL Draft. He chose to stay for the first year of Irish head coach Marcus Freeman‘s tenure instead.
Foskey flourished in Freeman’s first season as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator. Only nine players nationally had more sacks than Foskey, who also ranked fourth on the Notre Dame roster with 52 total tackles.
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Notre Dame lost two starters from the defensive line this offseason, defensive tackle Kurt Hinish and defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa. Hinish exhausted his eligibility as a “super” senior this past season. Tagovailoa-Amosa is moving on to explore his NFL options.
Foskey and defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola have returned. Ademilola led Notre Dame in quarterback pressures with 43. Obviously, Foskey is no stranger to getting to the quarterback either. He had 32 quarterback pressures, and he made good on many of those opportunities by totaling 11 sacks. Both back again, Foskey and Ademilola will make up a strong one-two punch on the Notre Dame defensive line in 2022.
The Irish have plenty of ways they can hone in on filling the voids left by Hinish and Tagovailoa-Amosa. Senior Nana Osafo-Mensah and junior Alex Ehrensberger are certainly in the running to replace Tagovailoa-Amosa at the “big” end spot. Junior Rylie Mills made a midseason position swap from tackle to end and also is a candidate for playing time there.
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Senior Howard Cross III started for Hinish against Wisconsin when Hinish couldn’t play because of a concussion. He’s the early favorite to become Notre Dame’s new starter at tackle. Sophomore Gabe Rubio and senior Jacob Lacey could be in line for more reps as well.
Notre Dame has depth at defensive line. It’s all about how Freeman and defensive line coach Mike Elston want to use it. Part of that process is finding a way to get Justin Ademilola, a fifth-year senior, onto the field with the news Foskey has returned. Both play the “vyper” end position. Ademilola played the 10th most defensive snaps of any Notre Dame player last year, so a similar rep distribution could be in store for Foskey and Ademilola in 2022.
Too much talent isn’t a bad thing. Notre Dame has plenty of its household names returning on the defensive side of the ball. That should make Freeman’s first season a little easier to navigate.
“This decision is for all of us and out future, not just mine,” Foskey said. “Leaving or staying, no matter what, Notre Dame is Notre Dame.”
