#56

Howard Cross III

Former defensive lineman at Notre Dame. 2024: 4 sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss, 27 tackles.

DL · Notre Dame · Sr. · #56

6′1″ · 288 lb · Paramus, NJ

CFB Index 29 · #334 of 426 edge rushersLow confidenceNotre Dame 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

4★

SDE recruit

No. 322 nationally · Signed with Notre Dame

Statement game13 tackles · 3.5 TFL · 1 sackat Duke (FBS) · W 21-14

Top 1% tackles for loss game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former defensive lineman at Notre Dame. 2024: 4 sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss, 27 tackles.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Notre Dame in 2019.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Six seasons at Notre Dame, 12 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

He barely played early on. Then he did not come off the field.

20193 games

Signed with Notre Dame4-star out of St. Joseph Regional

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#322 national

CFB

College

Notre Dame

2019–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2019–2024

2 coaches

2019–2021

Brian Kelly

Notre Dame

2022–2024

Marcus Freeman

Notre Dame

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Brian Kelly → Marcus Freeman. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2019Notre Dame11-2HC: Brian Kelly · Balanced

2020Notre Dame10-2HC: Brian Kelly · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2021Notre Dame11-2HC: Brian Kelly · Balanced

2022Notre Dame9-4HC: Marcus Freeman · Run-heavy

2023Notre Dame10-3HC: Marcus Freeman · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2024Notre Dame14-2HC: Marcus Freeman · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

29Below cohort / limited sample #334 of 426?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (93rd percentile). Strength: qb hurries (83rd percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#177 / 2892 · 93rd pct

4.0

QB hurries#397 / 2892 · 83rd pct

Tackles for loss#682 / 2892 · 75th pct

4.5

Passes defended#1155 / 2892 · 49th pct

Tackles#1544 / 2892 · 46th pct

Solo tackles#1627 / 2892 · 42nd pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	2.1	0.5	0.4	0.1
Road4g	3.0	0.2	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-78g	2.5	0.6	0.5	0.1
Weeks 8+3g	2.3	0.0	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Marcus Freeman

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

29 · #334 of 426 edge rushers

Former four-star. Now #334 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Notre Dame	27	13	4.5	4.0	1	--	--
2023	Notre Dame	65	27	7.0	2.0	2	--	--
2022	Notre Dame	34	13	3.0	2.5	--	--	--
2021	Notre Dame	22	13	4.5	3.0	--	--	--
2020	Notre Dame	12	7	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2019	Notre Dame	7	3	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		167	76	19.0	11.5	3	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 20 · 2024

W 27–24

at Penn State

3 TOT

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 on the road.

With R. Leonard — 223 yds · 1 TD · 2 INT · QBR 80.3 · 35 rush yds (18 car) · 1 TD · J. Rendell — 39 AVG · 4 IN 20 · 44 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 23-13@ Texas A&M	4	2	1.0	1.0	—	0	Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 2	L 14-16vs Northern Illinois	1	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 28-3vs Miami (OH)	4	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 31-24vs Louisville	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 49-7vs Stanford	4	4	2.0	2.0	—	0	2 sacks
Wk 8	W 31-13@ Georgia Tech	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	W 51-14@ Navy	4	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 52-3vs Florida State	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	W 27-17vs Indiana	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Bowl	W 27-24@ Penn State	3	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	L 23-34vs Ohio State	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		27	13	4.5	4.0	—	1

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Howard Cross III

20193 games

2024 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

3-Tech Penetrator

Players who play like Howard Cross III