Much needed. Hopefully some of the injured players heal enough to see the field soon. The extra time should also be very beneficial in helping the young guys who may not have been in the plans this season get up to speed due to the injuries. Hoping Schrauth and Rubio will be ready for Stanford. Love the impact the young players are having.
Bye week
- Thread starter echowaker
- Start date
Obviously the bye doesn't do anything for Craig, Jagusah, botelho, and probably Traore (i'm assuming out for season).
But yes, need Billy back, and rubio would be huge. Hinish is getting eaten alive in the run game along with Oben & Junior. Our LBs are missing fits at times, but it's probalby worse than normal because Oben Junior and Hinish can not hold up in the power run game. Hinish can at least track side to side though.
My hope coming out of the break is we see Burnham healthy at vyper (his better position) and Young starting at SDE.
I'd also like to see Spindler at LG and Billy at RG. IMO spindler has played better the last few games than pendleton. He got eaten up a little bit when louisville realized we were sliding the pocket. But i think that's more a scheme issue because louisville was shooting the gap to the obvious side we were sliding too. It took until the fourth quarter screen pass to exploit it.
Having both Schauth and Rubio back for Stanford would be a huge development. Can’t recall a time where ND had so many young guys playing and making an impact as with the Louisville game. Expected our young linebackers to contribute, but think Bowen and KVA are making cases to play even more. Never expected to see plays without some combination of Grey and Morrison and Mickey, but we sure did against Louisville and the young guys exceeded my expectation.
Echo, you played at this level and have a much better understanding of what goes on in practice for the two deep during a season, but I’m wondering if a true freshman like Lambert can learn the system and development quickly enough during a season to make the case to start? If nothing else, the bye week will give Knapp the mental and physical break he seems to badly need and maybe get coached up on his pass pro; but can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a better option on the bench. I love his run blocking, especially downfield, but his pass pro is very weak, and had hoped to see steady improvement, but have not. Getting Schrauth back and getting improved pass pro from our LT would significantly improve our offense, especially the passing game.
It's interesting, before A&M because of the knapp hype you had a lot of "What is ND going to do moving forward with all their tackles". The answer is pretty clear, we have people playing tackled that shouldn't be. IMO, knapp needs to be working at guard/center next year. Jagusah LT, Wagner RT, and Lambert first one off the bench.
If Lambert becomes that good where he's ready to start at tackle, then jagusah to LG could be an option.
I would love to see our starting 5 next year be lambert, jagusah, craig, billy, wagner.
I also don't clearly see how pendleton is better than coogan and or Rocco.
It's plain to see to me how Spindler and Coogan got beat out. Spindler was hard to watch Saturday. Coogan appears to be better suited at center than he was at guard. Nice to have experience there with Craig out. Spindlers short area quickness is non existent. With young guys run blocking always matures first. I expect Knapp to struggle in his protection most of the year. Reminds me of when Jarrett Patterson in his first year. Lots of growing pains.
If Lambert has been working exclusively on the right side it will be tough to switch at this point. If it was going to happen the next two weeks would be the time. None of us are there. That said they might not see a front as good as Louisvilles the rest of the year. I'll be curious to see how they look coming out of the bye. Attention to detail these two weeks. Gotta get Schrauth back. Spindler just not good enough.
Vs pendleton? Pendleton has been making so many mistakes.
Agree spindler short area burst is not good, but we called a game that IMO didn't play to the strenghts of the line, it was called to try and help riley out. First quarter it worked out great, then louisville adjusted, we didn't have a counter until the screen pass fourth quarter.
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And that screen play was absolutely executed to perfection! Pendleton makes plenty of mistakes, but he does get to the second or third level of defenders better than Rocco. Will be interesting to see what changes are made to the OL with Schrauth’s return.
Agree re Knapp. Always felt he belongs on the inside. Next year will be challenging for Rudolph to settle on his best complimentary five. Can’t discount the experience Knapp and Pendleton and Wagner are gaining, but hard to imagine Lambert not grabbing a starting tackle spot, and hard to imagine Jagasuh not starting as well.
With Coogan gone next year, we'll need quality depth behind Craig.
I agree: There seems to be a logjam brewing at Tackle. Maybe Knapp moves inside, and becomes a utility guy at the 3 IOL spots.
The 25 and 26 lines should be outstanding.
Coogan has another year of eligibility remaining. I would assume he's welcomed back if he wants to come back (if not starting). Or does he transfer to start his 5th year.
Perfect world i'd love to see the starting 5 be this left to right (see below) if the players earned it. I think you'd see roco and coogan transfer with final year of eligibility so your backups (2nd team) are in no particular order pendleton, absher, knapp, terek, Jones or Chan
Lambert
Jagusah
Craig
Billy
Wagner
Hard to imagine Wagner not starting. He's been our best OL this year
I like that. 25 and 26 should be experienced, huge, loaded offensive lines.
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Will be interesting to see if Spindler and Coogan are asked back/want to come back. Both are eligible.
Probably depends on how much they believe in absher, lambert, terek, and possibly jones. WE know they believe in knapp and pendleton despite those two not playing well.
