I think for some of us it's healthy to turn the page from the Fiesta letdown for a moment and focus on the future, so I want to give a quick recap of the 3 ND signees' performances during the Under Armour All-American game this past Saturday for anyone who didn't get a chance to watch. The quick overall summary is all 3 played well. Here's what I saw and heard as well as my eval.
Steve Angeli, QB - 4-8 for 41 yds, 5yds rushing. Didn't get many chances due to long drives by the opposing offense. He executed 1 long scoring drive that ended with a handoff TD from the 2. Earlier in the game, he threw a nice pass to a streaking TE who he hit in stride that went for about 55 yds (approx 20yds in the air) but was called back due to Zach Rice ripping the helmet off of a defender. If the pass had counted he likely would have ended up with the most yards of all QBs. Overall, he had a decent game and a good week of practice which earned him the start. His 1st two passes of the game were off the mark but he settled in after. His mechanics are good but he needs better pocket awareness so that he can set his feet properly when making contested throws. None of the QBs were great but others also had good moments. Overall, Angeli was likely the best QB on his team and probably the 2nd or 3rd best QB overall during the week.
Jaylen Sneed, LB - tied for team lead in tackles with 5. That was his official stat line but I thought he had at least 1 or 2 more that the stat-keeper might have missed. Either way, he looked as expected. Very athletic. Covered a lot of ground quickly and had a nose for the ball. He also had 2 fumble recoveries, one of which didn't count due to the RB being ruled down. On the replay, it looked to me like JS snatched the ball out of the runner's hands before he touched the ground but replay wasn't used during the game so the call stood. Overall, he had a very good game and a very good week of practice. It's very hard not to make JOK comparisons so I won't bother trying not to. But like JOK, he will need to put on some good weight. I'm not sure he's even 200lbs yet and he'll need to be at least 215 or so to reach his potential.
Ty Chan, OL - didn't start but was rotated in at LG regularly throughout the game. Don't let anyone tell you he didn't have a good game. Other than one play where he lost his base and got bull-rushed by a DT (the QB got rid of the ball before he got sacked), he had a pretty solid game. He mostly locked up and handled his guy at the LOS and was able to get to the 2nd level on several plays. There were reports of him struggling during practices, and that's likely true - I saw him get dumped on his ass on ESPN's practice coverage - but that was true for a lot of OL. The all-star 1 on 1, DL vs. OL battles always favor the defenders because they can go in either gap while the individual OL are left on an island. Once Chan had a supporting cast around him he looked solid. He'll just need to work on maintaining his base and overall technique. I think the interior will be where he stays and that's fine.
The All-American Bowl practices began yesterday. The game will be played this Sat at 1pm on NBC. The rosters are stacked with ND signees. 11 will be playing in the game, the most representing any team. I don't think that's ever happened to ND before so I'm very excited to watch. Here are the ND signees that will be playing:Aamil Wagner
Joey Tanona
Billy Schrauth
Ashton Craig
Tobias Merriweather
Tyson Ford
Aiden Gobaira
Josh Burnham
Niuafe Tuihalamaka
Nolan Ziegle
Bryce McFerson
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