Crawford Cleared

[stu4don]

Great news for the Irish secondary. If he stays healthy, a big if given the history, I believe he can be the best to wear an Irish uni at cb in a long, long time... We now have some real athletes and talent in that secondary (best depth of the Kelly era)! Like what I saw yesterday.

Go Shaun!

http://notredame.247sports.com/Arti...n-Crawford-fully-cleared-and-healthy-52450499

 

[Kelso86]

That is great news for the young man! Having 2 major injuries can really take away from a player's desire to want to continue.

I hope he comes back and makes an immediate impact!

 

[NDIRISH53]

Shaun Crawford the forgotten man

 

[Pennick44]

The kid has endured so much.

 

[impossibilityofreason1]

This guy was going to be a star. I hope he still will be.

 

[OrlandoIrish]

This guy was going to be a star. I hope he still will be.

Feel for this kid. He is one of those players that really seems to love the game and plays that way. Hope he can stay healthy, big time play making talent.

 

[IrishInOntario]

Even if he can get back to 80% of the type of athlete he was before two bad leg injuries, he'll be fantastic slot defender and will give Elko a nice option when he wants to take his traditional Rover off the field depending on the type of athlete Tranquil would be matched up against and get a smaller, quicker, better coverage guy on the field instead.

 

[REMND]

Should be Crawford at Nickel. If he is hurt, then Love with Vaughn as the field CB.

 

[Nocalirish]

Love will be one of the starting corners and that is for sure.

 

[OneillIrish]

Love will be one of the starting corners and that is for sure.

Love is the starting FCB, unless something crazy happens and he gets moved to FS (where he would also probably start)

I could see love sliding down to NB in Nickel sets, depending on who's the 3rd DB we bring on.

If Vaughn can completely overcome his back spasms, I would imagine he'd be the 3rd DB, and Vaughn/Watkins would man the outside CB positions, while Love plays the slot

Love is our most athletically limited CB, but he's also our most advance/fundemental CB too, and by far our best tackler. He's the starter until a CB with more skills develops A LOT, and even then, Love will be tough to get off the field.

Kid is a good CFB player

 

[Telx1]

Love is the starting FCB, unless something crazy happens and he gets moved to FS (where he would also probably start)

I could see love sliding down to NB in Nickel sets, depending on who's the 3rd DB we bring on.

If Vaughn can completely overcome his back spasms, I would imagine he'd be the 3rd DB, and Vaughn/Watkins would man the outside CB positions, while Love plays the slot

Love is our most athletically limited CB, but he's also our most advance/fundemental CB too, and by far our best tackler. He's the starter until a CB with more skills develops A LOT, and even then, Love will be tough to get off the field.

Kid is a good CFB player

Oneillirish....in total agreement with this. Wish Love had elite speed as I expect this will be an occasional problem, but his cover instincts make up a lot for this, and he is an exceptional tackler as you noted. Thought he was the most impressive freshman DB last year, and was disappointed with all the early Spring projected lineups that had him on the second unit. First time in recent memory where we are talking about which highly skilled defensive backs are going to be on the second unit, as we typically are wondering which WR is going to be moved to DB to fill an urgent need.

 

[OneillIrish]

Oneillirish....in total agreement with this. Wish Love had elite speed as I expect this will be an occasional problem, but his cover instincts make up a lot for this, and he is an exceptional tackler as you noted. Thought he was the most impressive freshman DB last year, and was disappointed with all the early Spring projected lineups that had him on the second unit. First time in recent memory where we are talking about which highly skilled defensive backs are going to be on the second unit, as we typically are wondering which WR is going to be moved to DB to fill an urgent need.

All the spring reports I saw had Love starting at FCB the whole time, with Watkins starting at BCB.

I agree 100% with your evaluation of love.

However, if Troy Pride develops technically and physically, his quickness and speed will make him a better play than Love (long term).
Also, I don't see how we can keep Vaughn off the field, if he's health. When he was healthy, I thought he was even better than Love as a Frosh (both were MUCH better than I expected)

It is really nice to have 4-5 CB's that I'd like to get onto the field at the same time, if fully healthy. Much better than most years.

I'm hoping that Safety continues to develop as well. Sounds like Coleman has exceeded expectations following the move, but his tackling form and strnegth are still really poor (thanks BVG/Longo). Elliott and Studstill both seem like high upside players as well.

DB and LB have the potential to be very good......but our DL scares me, a lot.

 

[Telx1]

Coleman's emergence as the starting safety with lots of accolades from the coaches was the Spring's biggest surprise for me. Frankly, I thought he was a bust based on his play at corner, and still have a hard time reconciling this. Elko's scheme places a premium on tackling by the safeties, and so let's hope your assessment of his tackling and strength changes by this Fall.
Right tackle scares me on offense as Kraemer was abused by D Hayes in the BG scrimmage, and he doesn't seem to play well in space. His run blocking was outstanding while pass protection was terrible. They need to fix this before the season starts.
The DL should be scary, as we have a ton of questions marks. Will Tillery play with disicipline and effort? Will Bonner finally deliver on the promise the coaches raved about during practice his freshman year? Will Cage be healthy? Will D Hayes be the rush end we desperately need? Will Trumbetti finally show consistency and be a disruptive presence at SDE? And similar questions about Hayes and Khalid, etc... it's going to be interesting to see how these guys answer these questions on the field, and whether the incoming freshmen like Ewell and Amosa, et al.... come in and make their cases for some reps.