Finish this class...

[stu4don]

IIO, Farley, Telx, et al.... any thoughts on how best we finish this class? I listened to the rivals podcast and it seems Kelly and his team have done a really good job last year and this year in that both classes meet needs and build depth... Seems we can afford to be patient in all positions but...

DE: Do you agree? And which of the two is there greater need?
Any other position you are worried about?

Then there are players we'd love to have like Turner or Sinclair...

Do you agree we can now take our time and try to grab or flip an elite player at any position? (Is there a Noah Boykin or, hope springs eternal, Manti Te'o out there?)

Thanks for all thoughts...

 

[IrishInOntario]

ND is nearly done if everyone sticks. They have a really solid, quality, unspectacular class of kids committed and they've hit at nearly are their needs. I'm predicting they wind up with 21-22 players in the class. They took some lesser quality players in some instances, but it serves as a nice depth class and I see a lot of contributors to winning football.

The primary need is defensive ends. I'd take two if they could get two that are quality and they aren't just taking a guy to take him.

QB: Done
RB: Done
WR: Done unless it's Trey Knox or Kyle Ford lol
TE: Brenton Strange or Done
OL: Walter Rouse or Enokk Vimahi or Done
DT: Done
DE: 1 or 2 needed
LB: Turner and Sinclair are both takes
S: Done
CB: Done unless it's a Isaiah Rutherford or Max Williams type.

ND has 3 or 4 spots left, with DE and Rover being the only prioritys. Anyone thry land after that would just be a product of big game hunting down the stretch.

 

[justified1]

Max Williams, how good is he?

 

[IrishInOntario]

Max Williams, how good is he?

Shawn Crawford before the knee and achilles injuries... Very good. Killed it at the Opening.

 

[uteck42]

RB Done??

They have 3 unproven RB's -Jones, Smith, C'BO, Jafar moving over and Kyren W as the one recruit.

seems hopeful to close shop

 

[stu4don]

Thanks IIO --

 

[Telx1]

Thanks IIO --

Hey Stu....good questions and IIO nailed it in my opinion. Hope we close with Rouse, Turner and Sinclair. Yes, DE is a need, but don’t forget we have two very good ones committed. There’s debate on whether we would ever move NaNa to SDE, but it is not at all inconceivable; which to me suggests we should be focused on either or both DE positions.

 

[IowaIrish1]

ND is nearly done if everyone sticks. They have a really solid, quality, unspectacular class of kids committed and they've hit at nearly are their needs. I'm predicting they wind up with 21-22 players in the class. They took some lesser quality players in some instances, but it serves as a nice depth class and I see a lot of contributors to winning football.

The primary need is defensive ends. I'd take two if they could get two that are quality and they aren't just taking a guy to take him.

QB: Done
RB: Done
WR: Done unless it's Trey Knox or Kyle Ford lol
TE: Brenton Strange or Done
OL: Walter Rouse or Enokk Vimahi or Done
DT: Done
DE: 1 or 2 needed
LB: Turner and Sinclair are both takes
S: Done
CB: Done unless it's a Isaiah Rutherford or Max Williams type.

ND has 3 or 4 spots left, with DE and Rover being the only prioritys. Anyone thry land after that would just be a product of big game hunting down the stretch.

What DE's on the board are left? I agree we need more.

I'd like to see ND try to get one of the TE's to take a stab at DE. Sell them on the money difference at the next level.

 

[IrishInOntario]

RB Done??

They have 3 unproven RB's -Jones, Smith, C'BO, Jafar moving over and Kyren W as the one recruit.

seems hopeful to close shop

I'm actually with you on this one. I'd like to see them take one more as well. That said, I have no say in who Notre Dame recruits and I'm simply going off of Notre Dame's actions right now. They don't seem to be pursuing anybody at the moment. Denson missed on most of ND's top targets and they're happy to pull Kyren Williams.

The other comment I'd make in response to yours is that at the college level, good luck finding many teams that have more than two proven college backs on their roster. Even at the schools who recruit the position the hardest, usually two backs play, one comes as a change of pace (ala Avery Davis) and maybe a third conventional back gets mop up duty. It's extremely rare to find a roster with 4 proven backs. There is only one football, and today, more than ever, the quarterback is featured more than the running back, especially with the addition of the quarterback as a central figure in the running game... So for the most part, they're all unproven, until they're not.

 

[NDlb46]

Shawn Crawford before the knee and achilles injuries... Very good. Killed it at the Opening.

For real? Shaun Crawford is legit. Prior to his 2-3 years of injuries, he was an NFL caliber playmaker despite his size. He had Tyrann Mathieu (SP?) skills and instincts. Shame he got derailed.

 

[justified1]

For real? Shaun Crawford is legit. Prior to his 2-3 years of injuries, he was an NFL caliber playmaker despite his size. He had Tyrann Mathieu (SP?) skills and instincts. Shame he got derailed.

Except Williams is CB’d to USC.

 

[uteck42]

I'm actually with you on this one. I'd like to see them take one more as well. That said, I have no say in who Notre Dame recruits and I'm simply going off of Notre Dame's actions right now. They don't seem to be pursuing anybody at the moment. Denson missed on most of ND's top targets and they're happy to pull Kyren Williams.

The other comment I'd make in response to yours is that at the college level, good luck finding many teams that have more than two proven college backs on their roster. Even at the schools who recruit the position the hardest, usually two backs play, one comes as a change of pace (ala Avery Davis) and maybe a third conventional back gets mop up duty. It's extremely rare to find a roster with 4 proven backs. There is only one football, and today, more than ever, the quarterback is featured more than the running back, especially with the addition of the quarterback as a central figure in the running game... So for the most part, they're all unproven, until they're not.

Agree for the most part.

But with issues of dex, mcintosh, cj and Adams declaring early, the cupboard is bare of any experience.

I just don’t think you can count on jones, smith, jafar or KW being the real deal. Personally I wouldn’t stand pat.....I would start poaching 4star recruits who maybe already committed

 

[Shakin' Down the Thunder]

Sometimes I just don't know how to feel about this class. It's a solid class but there isn't anyone that I would say is on par with someone like Clausen, Tuitt, Te'o, Rudolph, J. Smith, or Floyd. Read an article awhile back that Jaylon Smith is the only consensus 5 star recruit that went to ND and became an all american (I believe there have been 8 5 star recruits total) in the Kelly era. With that said, while I want ND to land 5 star recruit as bad as anyone, they seem to end up being disappointments i.e. Lynch, Bryant, Redfield. I like every recruit ND has landed, but there's 2 or 3 that I thought they could have slow played to wait and see if the bigger fish would show interest. Although, that may have been unrealistic, as ND staff would know better and just focused on landing the guys they felt they could get. But as always time will tell how good this class is.

 

[NDAFArly]

Agree for the most part.

But with issues of dex, mcintosh, cj and Adams declaring early, the cupboard is bare of any experience.

I just don’t think you can count on jones, smith, jafar or KW being the real deal. Personally I wouldn’t stand pat.....I would start poaching 4star recruits who maybe already committed

What is a 2019 kid going to do to change anything about the RBs currently on the roster?
There is nobody ND is in on in the 2019 class that will be a gamechanger & play next year. Jones will be in his third year of eligibility (4th year in system) in 2019. Armstrong is talented. Nobody ND could get would pass him up.

ND is tight on numbers. They aren’t just going to take a RB for the sake of it. Then they would have to eliminate somebody else already on the team or take one less in 2020 (which is a stacked class) just to take a guy they don’t want in 2019?
Only way ND takes another RB is if they flip a big fish or have a big year & somebody wants on board late that ND is interested in.

 

[uteck42]

What is a 2019 kid going to do to change anything about the RBs currently on the roster?
There is nobody ND is in on in the 2019 class that will be a gamechanger & play next year. Jones will be in his third year of eligibility (4th year in system) in 2019. Armstrong is talented. Nobody ND could get would pass him up.

ND is tight on numbers. They aren’t just going to take a RB for the sake of it. Then they would have to eliminate somebody else already on the team or take one less in 2020 (which is a stacked class) just to take a guy they don’t want in 2019?
Only way ND takes another RB is if they flip a big fish or have a big year & somebody wants on board late that ND is interested in.

I’m talking by about 2019 recruitment for the 2020 season

 

[NDAFArly]

I’m talking by about 2019 recruitment for the 2020 season

I know.
You talked about having no proven RBs on the current roster.
How is a 2019 recruit, who would be a true freshman in 2020, going to change that?

 

[uteck42]

I know.
You talked about having no proven RBs on the current roster.
How is a 2019 recruit, who would be a true freshman in 2020, going to change that?

Good point, don’t recruit any rbs and solve the problem! Especially a high 4 star rb who could come in and play from day one.

Just shut it down now and plan to run 4 receiver sets with a te

 

[stu4don]

I would feel better at RB if Dex wasn't in limbo... I think Dex and Jones are good ones. I like Jafar's potential and C'Bo and Jamir have real potential (say what you want about Denson's recruiting, I believe he's done an excellent job coaching kids up... It may have been the line last year but all of those guys looked like five stars!)

If Dexter was starting from week one -- he and Jones would get all of the work, which would give the inexperienced guys time to learn the system, etc. I was really looking forward to McIntosh this year, kid was dynamic in mop up.... who will be that guy in 2018?

Agree with taking an RB only if he is a home run. Same with WR as next year's class is supposed to be loaded.

 

[NDAFArly]

Good point, don’t recruit any rbs and solve the problem! Especially a high 4 star rb who could come in and play from day one.

Just shut it down now and plan to run 4 receiver sets with a te

Did you read my post?

Who is the high 4 Star RB that ND is in on?

That’s the point...they missed on their top 5-6 guys. They aren’t just going to take a guy to have another RB on the roster.

You obviously have no idea how this recruiting cycle has gone for RB, you just jumped in & spouted off “hey, let’s get a high 4 Star RB.”
No shit Sherlock, ND would if they could. But no high 4 Star RBs are interested.

Maybe ND should just go get a 5 Star RB, what the hell?

I also love how kids actually playing college football at ND against elite D1 competition aren’t as “proven” as a HS recruit who hasn’t even played his Senior year yet?

I will play your game.
You are a premium member, so go over to the RB big board & tell me exactly who ND can get in the 2019 RB class? We can ask the analysts & recruiting reporters over there why ND doesn’t have high 4 Star RBs in the class? (Even though they have already explained it about 100 times already).

 

[NDAFArly]

I would feel better at RB if Dex wasn't in limbo... I think Dex and Jones are good ones. I like Jafar's potential and C'Bo and Jamir have real potential (say what you want about Denson's recruiting, I believe he's done an excellent job coaching kids up... It may have been the line last year but all of those guys looked like five stars!)

If Dexter was starting from week one -- he and Jones would get all of the work, which would give the inexperienced guys time to learn the system, etc. I was really looking forward to McIntosh this year, kid was dynamic in mop up.... who will be that guy in 2018?

Agree with taking an RB only if he is a home run. Same with WR as next year's class is supposed to be loaded.

Exactly.

Look at the offensive side of the ball for the 2020 class ND already has commitments from & who ND leads for. They can do great.

 

[justified1]

^ P.M.S.
(premium membership syndrome)

 

[stu4don]

Just looking at C'Bo's numbers -- low 3*.... unranked at position...

But then our two most dynamic players in the last two years (besides Kizer) were both 3*.

Stepherson (66 at his position.)
Adams (47 at his position.)

Hope springs eternal.

 

[stu4don]

^ P.M.S.
(premium membership syndrome)

Even Farley has to admit that is funny. THanks for the discussion guys.

 

[NDIRISH53]

Must go Big. Game. Hunting.

Win 10-11 games, and the best of the best will want to play here, that’s when you really put the heat on.

 

[IrishInOntario]

For real? Shaun Crawford is legit. Prior to his 2-3 years of injuries, he was an NFL caliber playmaker despite his size. He had Tyrann Mathieu (SP?) skills and instincts. Shame he got derailed.

Max Williams is super legit despite his diminutive size. If he was 5'11 instead of 5'9, he'd be a 5 star. Top 100 player regardless.

 

[uteck42]

Did you read my post?

Who is the high 4 Star RB that ND is in on?

That’s the point...they missed on their top 5-6 guys. They aren’t just going to take a guy to have another RB on the roster.

You obviously have no idea how this recruiting cycle has gone for RB, you just jumped in & spouted off “hey, let’s get a high 4 Star RB.”
No shit Sherlock, ND would if they could. But no high 4 Star RBs are interested.

Maybe ND should just go get a 5 Star RB, what the hell?

I also love how kids actually playing college football at ND against elite D1 competition aren’t as “proven” as a HS recruit who hasn’t even played his Senior year yet?

I will play your game.
You are a premium member, so go over to the RB big board & tell me exactly who ND can get in the 2019 RB class? We can ask the analysts & recruiting reporters over there why ND doesn’t have high 4 Star RBs in the class? (Even though they have already explained it about 100 times already).

Just joined today. Lurked for the past 4 years.

My point is in reference to IIO’s post about ND shutting down RB recruiting. It’s only my opinion, but I would rather the Irish continue to go hard after every single 4-5 star rb that is close to playing.

It seems that there are more bodies going out then coming in right now. That type of attrition takes it toll very quickly.

 

[NDIRISH53]

I would feel better at RB if Dex wasn't in limbo... I think Dex and Jones are good ones. I like Jafar's potential and C'Bo and Jamir have real potential (say what you want about Denson's recruiting, I believe he's done an excellent job coaching kids up... It may have been the line last year but all of those guys looked like five stars!)

If Dexter was starting from week one -- he and Jones would get all of the work, which would give the inexperienced guys time to learn the system, etc. I was really looking forward to McIntosh this year, kid was dynamic in mop up.... who will be that guy in 2018?

Agree with taking an RB only if he is a home run. Same with WR as next year's class is supposed to be loaded.

Denson has done an excellent job coaching them up? Strongly disagree, part of coaching especially in high school and college and double especially at Notre Dame is that your kids respect you and don’t let you down off the field. It’s clear the kids don’t fear letting Denson down. He is easily the worst coach on the staff. He’s close to BVG bad, the only thing is his guys don’t fumble. In 3 years Dex still doesn’t know how to do basic things apparently. Running backs were so freaking soft last year, they damn near begged to get out of the game.

It was so sickening watching Bryce Love run injured while Josh Adams literally sat out basically a whole game because he had a hard week academically or something like that vs. Wake. All the backs refused to run hurt as well, and took themselves out of the games more times than I can remember.

 

[Maxgalt12]

What about kendall-abdur-rahman? We’re we recruiting him as a wr?

 

[zonairish]

Denson has done an excellent job coaching them up? Strongly disagree, part of coaching especially in high school and college and double especially at Notre Dame is that your kids respect you and don’t let you down off the field. It’s clear the kids don’t fear letting Denson down. He is easily the worst coach on the staff. He’s close to BVG bad, the only thing is his guys don’t fumble. In 3 years Dex still doesn’t know how to do basic things apparently. Running backs were so freaking soft last year, they damn near begged to get out of the game.

It was so sickening watching Bryce Love run injured while Josh Adams literally sat out basically a whole game because he had a hard week academically or something like that vs. Wake. All the backs refused to run hurt as well, and took themselves out of the games more times than I can remember.

The weak link in the coaching staff

 

[uteck42]

The weak link in the coaching staff

Actually it really tough to get a read on how good a rb coach Denson is.

His RB’s last year ran behind

McG Q Mustipher Bars Kraemer/Hainsey

 

[TDIrish27]

I like the RB from Texas we're recruiting

 

[NDAFArly]

uteck42, my man.
You just took multiple beatings over there.
You just got into arguments with actual former players & coaches & current paid analysts, then told them they were wrong & you are right because you are a college OL coach?
I actually felt bad for telling you to go over there. My bad.

 

[uteck42]

uteck42, my man.
You just took multiple beatings over there.
You just got into arguments with actual former players & coaches & current paid analysts, then told them they were wrong & you are right because you are a college OL coach?
I actually felt bad for telling you to go over there. My bad.

Dude stfu and don't ever butt in my conversations with others again

 

[justified1]

Dude stfu and don't ever butt in my conversations with others again

 

[stu4don]

There are some very (very) good WR prospects with ND interest in the 2020 class, and as we've seen WR is a position where solid players can play as Freshman. With Sheffield gone, do we even need another WR in 2019?

 

[IowaIrish1]

There are some very (very) good WR prospects with ND interest in the 2020 class, and as we've seen WR is a position where solid players can play as Freshman. With Sheffield gone, do we even need another WR in 2019?

 

[BGI User 1596]

There are some very (very) good WR prospects with ND interest in the 2020 class, and as we've seen WR is a position where solid players can play as Freshman. With Sheffield gone, do we even need another WR in 2019?

No

 

[justified1]

What is a reasonably decent 40 time for a TE. 4.6-4.8 ?

 

[IrishInOntario]

What is a reasonably decent 40 time for a TE. 4.6-4.8 ?

Yep. Anything sub 4.6 is ELITE.

 

[FriedmanIP]

Dude stfu and don't ever butt in my conversations with others again

Really enjoying working down this thread during a boring flight.

Providing much amusement.