Former defensive lineman at Notre Dame. 2019: 4 sacks, 6 tackles for loss, 18 tackles.
6′4″ · 248 lb · Charlotte, NC
Recruiting
WDE recruit
No. 296 nationally · Signed with Notre Dame
Statement game3 tackles · 3 TFL · 3 sacksvs Virginia (FBS) · W 35-20
Top 1% sacks game since 2021.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Former defensive lineman at Notre Dame. 2019: 4 sacks, 6 tackles for loss, 18 tackles.
Julian Okwara
This is his fourth year in the same defensive front at Notre Dame. The receipt on tape: 3 tackles against USC, Week 7, 2019.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
How it ended
Four seasons at Notre Dame, 12 sacks — drafted at #67 overall by Detroit.
His career
He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2016–2019
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Brian Kelly.
Where He Ended Up · NFL
DetroitEntering 7th NFL season
Season context · Team result + system
4 seasons under Brian Kelly — 37-14 over that span.
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Elite: qb hurries (98th percentile). Strength: sacks (91st percentile). Concern: solo tackles (16th percentile).
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 · Per-game
2019 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 2.2 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Marcus Freeman
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2019
Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Notre Dame | 18 | 8 | 6.0 | 4.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2018 | Notre Dame | 34 | 23 | 10.0 | 5.5 | 1 | 1 | -- |
| 2017 | Notre Dame | 14 | 8 | 3.5 | 2.5 | -- | 1 | -- |
| 2016 | Notre Dame | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 70 | 41 | 19.5 | 12.0 | 1 | 2 | -- |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2019
W 30–27
vs USC
3 TOT · 1 QB HUR
A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 at home.
With I. Book — 165 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 57.1 · 49 rush yds (12 car) · 1 TD · T. Jones Jr. — 176 rush yds (25 car)
Game log · Week-by-week
2019 season · 9 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 35-17@ Louisville | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 66-14vs New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 17-23@ Georgia | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 35-20vs Virginia | 3 | 3 | 3.0 | 3.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Wk 6 | W 52-0vs Bowling Green | 3 | 2 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 30-27vs USC | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 14-45@ Michigan | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 21-20vs Virginia Tech | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 38-7@ Duke | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 18 | 8 | 6.0 | 4.0 | — | 0 |
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
18 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 6 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.