Notre Dame 99-to-0: No. 99 Rylie Mills, senior defensive tackle, moving back inside from end

Listed measurements: 6-foot-5 ⅛, 296 pounds 2023-24 year, eligibility: A senior, Mills has two seasons of eligibility remaining since playing nine games as a freshman in 2020 did not take away from his eligibility clock. Depth Chart: Mills should start every game he is healthy in 2023, lining up alongside fifth-year nose tackle Howard Cross in the middle with only unproven depth backing up Mills. Recruiting: Mills could have gone to Alabama, Clemson or Georgia. A consensus four-star recruit and the No. 15 overall prospect in the class, per rivals.com, Mills was the rare blue-chip recruit for whom Notre Dame had a distinct geographic advantage, thanks to Mills hailing from the Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, Ill.

CAREER TO DATE The pandemic season required all levels of depth to be constantly ready. Mills was, but that did not yield any moment of glory. His first such chance came at Virginia in 2021 when defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa was sidelined by illness. Mills stepped outside into Tagovailoa-Amosa’s role and tallied three sacks, though only two were officially credited to him that Saturday night.

That led to largely playing defensive end in 2022, helping create depth there while Cross and Jayson Ademilola manned the interior. Mills played his best at North Carolina, taking down star quarterback Drake Maye twice, while starting nine games.

2020: 9 games, 1 start; 7 tackles with two for loss including half a sack. 2021: 13 games; 16 tackles with three sacks. 2022: 13 games, 9 starts; 24 tackles with six for loss including 3.5 for loss.

NAME, IMAGE, LIKENESS This never would have come to mind if Mills had not shared it on his Twitter, tagging former NFL star defensive end JJ Watt and tweeting,