How Notre Dame DT Howard Cross III was one of the best players on defense in bowl games
Pro Football Focus gave 1,926 players a defensive grade across 42 bowl games leading up to Monday’s national championship game. Notre Dame defensive tackle Howard Cross III came away with the No. 15 grade among all of those participants.
Cross earned a game grade of 90.1 in Notre Dame’s 40-8 Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl victory over Oregon State. He had two total tackles, including a sack. His pass-rush grade of 92.4 was the fourth-best mark in that category out of anyone who played in the aforementioned bowls.
Put simply, Cross was one of the best defensive players of the postseason. He didn’t win the Sun Bowl Line of the Game award — that went to Notre Dame defensive end Jordan Botelho — but he was certainly still noticed by the graders at Pro Football Focus. Here’s the company Cross shared in that regard — the only players to receive a PFF game grade of 90 or higher during bowl season.
Top 15 Pro Football Focus game grades from defensive players in 2023 bowl games
1) Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr.: 97.3
2) Texas State linebacker Brian Holloway: 96.5
3) Oregon cornerback Rodrick Pleasant: 94.4
4) SMU edge rusher Elijah Roberts: 93.3
5) West Virginia edge rusher Tyrin Bradley: 93.2
5) Maryland cornerback Ja’Quan Sheppard: 93.2
7) Virginia Tech defensive lineman Pheldarius Payne: 92.9
7) Jacksonville State cornerback Marco Baker: 92.9
9) Florida State linebacker Tatum Bethune: 92.6
10) Northwestern safety Jaheem Joseph: 92.0
11) Clemson edge rusher Xavier Thomas: 91.7
12) Troy edge rusher Javon Solomon: 91.4
13) Louisiana safety Jalen Clark: 91.1
14) Marshall cornerback Micah Abraham: 90.3
15) Notre Dame defensive tackle Howard Cross III: 90.1
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Cross announced in December he’s returning to Notre Dame for a sixth season. The Irish are expected to have three of four starters from the defensive line back in 2024. Defensive tackle Rylie Mills and Botelho will be graduates next season alongside Cross.
The only departure — a mighty big one at that — is strong-side defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste. Notre Dame brought in Duke transfer R.J. Oben to replace him.
Cross, as well as graduate student linebacker Jack Kiser, are as good of candidates as any to earn team captain status for the Irish later this year. They both arrived at Notre Dame in the recruiting class of 2019. Cross has played in 51 games in an Irish uniform. Kiser has played in 53.
