With the injury update about Nick Watkins, it doesn't sound good, as he may be out for the year. Devin Butler is likely redshirting this year as well. That leaves Luke and Crawford as the likely starters, which I'm okay with, as they are both talented. However, the depth and quality behind those two is questionable. God forbid one of Luke and Crawford get hurt. With today's spread offenses, you basically need 3 corners who can play. The remaining guys are A. White, D. Vaughn, J. Love, N. Coleman, T. Pride Jr. And possibly J. Elliott if needed. From what I've read there are good things to be said about Vaughn. If ND goes in their nickel package, I'd like to see Luke on the best WR, Crawford on the slot WR, and Vaughn on the tallest/slower WR. We'll see what the coaches do.
Anyone feeling nervous about ND's cornerback situation?
- Thread starter Shakin' Down the Thunder
- Start date
We've gone past the point where any kid you are not really familiar with isn't any good. That was the way it was with the latter years of Davie, then Willingham and Weis. This program has lots of depth, lots of kids who can step in and do the job. That said, it is a scary position to throw a kid out there who hasn't played at all.
Agree...... Keivarae did not have the CB quicks you need, extremely powerful and great against the run but not the best man cover corner.
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I'm more nervous about the coaching. Kelly is below average. He constantly makes in-game mistakes. It's almost like he's unwilling to learn from his mistakes. He's cost ND so many games.
Sounds like Kelly is in good shape to use his same ole injury bug excuse.
Kelly has never used that excuse.
He does the exact opposite actually.
Do you even watch ND or know what Kelly says/does?
You don't like Kelly. Got it. You don't have to post it every day or in every thread.
It is the clinical diagnosis of obsession.
Tranquil , Redfield will be the safeties , the corners look to be Luke ,Crawford . Hope one or two of the 6 freshmen defensive backs can come through in a big way . Certainly thin here .
Wonder how the defensive schemes will change under the coaching staff . Shumate ,Russell , Day, Smith Okwara huge losses . Can there really be improvement on defense . No real proven studs . Rochell ? Pass rush ? We know about Cage, Tillery ,Hayes ,Jones ,Trumbetti . Seem more like contain linemen than pass rushers . Freshmen D. Hayes,K. Kareem , Okwara ? Hope they also come through in big way.
Wonder how the defensive schemes will change under the coaching staff . Shumate ,Russell , Day, Smith Okwara huge losses . Can there really be improvement on defense . No real proven studs . Rochell ? Pass rush ? We know about Cage, Tillery ,Hayes ,Jones ,Trumbetti . Seem more like contain linemen than pass rushers . Freshmen D. Hayes,K. Kareem , Okwara ? Hope they also come through in big way.
If we can get a pass rush we will be fine at corner...if we can't get a pass rush even if we had great corners we'd be in trouble..
If your biggest concern is nickel situations, it's possible we go Studstill during Nickel. Playing 3 safeties helps alleviate the weakness against the run going with an extra DB and if he's as good as they say, it may mean going that route to get the best players on the field..
According to Eric Hansen, Nick Coleman is the leading candidate to start in the nickel package which makes him our 3rd best CB. BK thinks he's improved quite a bit from last year. Donte Vaughn and Julian Love are also ascending at CB. Here's a link to the article.
http://www.ndinsider.com/football/a...cle_aea22a9c-6199-11e6-8e7b-f706dd513ca7.html
http://www.ndinsider.com/football/a...cle_aea22a9c-6199-11e6-8e7b-f706dd513ca7.html
Agreed on that and yet he had a couple of great interceptions last year, one against USC, the other against Temple.
Well, there was a lot more to KR's 2015 story than that. He actually played the entire year injured even before the injury that ended his season. We didn't find that out until after the season ended. Also, he was playing in a new defensive scheme for the first time. Even with those significant obstacles to overcome he was the 2nd leading tackler on the team at the time he went down, he made the two biggest defensive plays of the season, and he did this on a defense that struggled overall, and especially struggled at rushing the passer and in the secondary. We all had high expectations for KR heading into the season but once the season unfolded I think it's safe to say the entire defense struggled, and if there's any finger pointing it shouldn't start with KR.
I should add, I wasn't claiming you were being critical of KR, HDK, I just think it's important that we put his 2015 season in context.
How is KVR doing in the NFL? I haven't had the chance to see him yet? Haven't heard anything either?
I didn't see the KC vs. Seattle game over the weekend but I know he had 4 solo tackles against the Seahawks which put him in a tie for 2nd for most tackles on the team. I really haven't heard much else.
I hope it works out. That way kids can see what good can happen by sticking with it at ND through adversity.
