Little surprising seems out of nowhere
Grad trfr wr to ND
- Thread starter napy2121
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This is a nice addition. He's a good player. I remember when ND played Northwestern last year and he competed hard. He was a captain for them. Adds some nice experience
to the receiving core.
Reminds me a lot of when Alabama plugged a hole with Gehrig Dieter a few years back.
to the receiving core.
Reminds me a lot of when Alabama plugged a hole with Gehrig Dieter a few years back.
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Are we supposed to be excited about this?
He better not be a starter, fine depth player probably better than Javon.
he’s also coming off a season ending leg injury early in the season.
He better not be a starter, fine depth player probably better than Javon.
he’s also coming off a season ending leg injury early in the season.
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It seems if we’d take a grad trfr a cb would have been a priority but maybe there’s a few guys they really like behind the scenes that just haven’t played a ton. I like this wr group without this guy (Austin, Lenzy, keys, Johnson) but hey it’s great to have experienced depth and this guy has been productive.
Why?
Jeff S's first three year stats:
101 Receptions, 1576 yards, 15 tds.
Ben:
110 Receptions, 1,417 yards, 8 tds
And Samardzija had ND's most productive QB, Brady Quinn, throwing to him! I'm thinking positively!
Have you watched him play? Hes quality. Jeff was a stud athlete. This guy will be a deprh rotation guy here
This is interesting and actually pretty damn exciting if you ask me. Any senior captain with experience and leadership is a bonus for our team next season. Very good news for 2020 season. Having some Ohio State and now Northwestern experience coming in can only diversify and support positive change within the culture of the team! I assume Book is excited and the fact he was respected enough to make captain at NU says he’ll most likely be welcomed with open arms.
Would you be reasonably excited about a 5 star freshman like Jordon Johnson if he accumulated 500-600 yards here and scored 5 TD's as the #3 WR?... I think that would be an awesome first season in South Bend.
History has shown that this kid will give us exactly that. He was on pace for a third straight 500-600 yard season when he got hurt early this year.
Look at it like a typical 5 star freshman, for one year.
Plug and play to go along with Austin and Lenzy in order to make the transition smoother for Johnson.
I bet there is a connection between this kid and Tommy Rees that dates back to his recruitment at Northwestern.
No, and you are right, I really don't know but I like that Book now has another 6'4" guy to throw to -- after Boykin and Chase, nice to have a guy with size.
He can do better than that with Book throwing his way. This is awesome news!
It does seem odd that WR is position where depth doesn't matter too much and/or my perception is that we always have a bunch of underclassmen who don't see the field. But best of luck to him.
He’s coming off season ending leg injury.
If we’re getting those stats and the option is player in their final year or frosh. I want the more talented player as they’ll get better more as season goes on.
Look at Pickens tonight and how far he has come since the beginning of the season.
We’re going to become “Big body, big hands, wide receiver U.” This kid fits the mold.
Maybe he can! It just depends on where he is in the pecking order. At Northwestern he was one of their two go to guys. At ND he will have to contend with Lenzy, Austin, Johnson, Keys, Tremble and hopefully Kmet, who are all equal or better athletes. The one thing that this kid has is size, which is a nice addition. I also think his leadership (he was a captain at Northwestern could be nice).
So if I told you that I'm projecting 600 yards and 3-5 TD's and you told me he'd have 800 yards and 5+ TD's... I wouldn't argue with you. It all depends where he slots in vs the other receivers at ND.
Clayton Thorson threw for 3183 yards in 2018, when Northwestern was ranked and Skowronek was their #2 WR behind Nagel. Skowronek caught 45 passes for 562 yards that season and averaged 12.5 yards per catch.
In Book threw for 3034 yards in 2019, a very similar number to Thorson in 2018. Ian Book's #2 receiver this year was Cole Kmet who caught 43 passes for 515 yards and averaged 12.0 yards per catch.
If you look at Skowronek's 2018 numbers as the #2 receiving threat and Kmet's 2019 numbers as the #2 receiving threat, in offenses that did near identical damage through the air in terms of yardage, you'd see that their production was extremely similar...
Now Ian Book also connected with Chris Finke for 41 passes and nearly 500 yards as the #3 target. Kmet and Finke sae a similar number of catches.
All of that is to say that Skowronek is the #2 or #3 passing catching threat this coming year at Notre Dame, I would expect him somewhere between 500-700 yards and 40-55 catches... And that's assuming that Ian Book takes another small step forward, behind a better OL and accumulates close to 3500 yards passing this year, rather than the 3100 yards he had last year.
Id personally rather these guys be in the wr rotation
Austin Lenzy Keys Johnson Watts Wilkins
But if he can help out as a depth player so be it
You're going to get both. The guy who is ready right away, to help ND vs Wisconsin at Lambeau early in the season, and you're also going to see Johnson play as the #4 WR, whose role will gradually increase as the season goes on.
For all intents and purposes, this is like adding two 5 star wide receivers (in terms of production) for a single season and plugging them into the #3 and #4 receiving roles or #4 and #5 receiving roles, behind Kevin Austin, Braden Lenzy and maybe Lawrence Keys... Not to mention, one of those guys is going to get hurt, they always do. Pickens only played as much as he did this season because Holloman got kicked out in the off season and Georgia was ravaged by injury to their receiving group... That looks great now, but it didn't help them earlier in the season when they were badly missing receiving threats in their 2 losses, where they combined to score 17 and 10 points. They were badly missing playmakers in those games due to injury, in a year where it was playoffs or bust for the Bulldogs.
Skowronek gives ND great flexibility. He can be any of the #1, 2, 3, 4, 5 wide receivers, all of whom play a ton of snaps, based on Kevin Austin and how he looks after a year away from football and how Jordon Johnson looks as a true freshman who isn't enrolling early.
You have to see how Skowronek is valuable right? Twice proven, former captain, power 5 receiver, who adds a 6'4, 215lb frame that is sorely lacking from ND's receiving core. Johnson measured in at 6'0, 180lbs at The All American game. He's two inches shorter than people thought he was coming out of high school. He's not George Pickens. He's going to have the same build that TJ Jones did as a freshman. About 6'0, 185-190lbs.
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Austin is the only guy with any height I that rotation. The rest of guys are talented, but the group is missing the big jump ball receiver who high points like Claypool did this year and Boykin did before him. That will be Skowronek's role, as well as leadership for a group that is void of a senior. He's not coming to ND for them to make him an 80 catch, feature guy. He's going to be one if the top 4-5 guys, who you can plug and play while Johnson and Watts learn to play the game. It's really rare for college freshman receivers to dominate.
George Pickens is a 6'3, 200lb (essentially Michael Floyd) beast of a freshman (much bigger and stronger than Johnson and Watts) and coming into tonight he had 37 catches for 552 yards, with a capable quarterback. It's flat out hard to dominate as a freshman. Skowronek is going to be 4 inches taller and 35lbs heavier than ND's freshman pair of wide receiver. Not to mention he's spent 4 more years learning to run routes and 4 more years in a college weight room. He's not their to stunt their growth. He's there to serve a different role entirely, which is includes mentoring the young guys and an insurance policy un case they are in over their heads.
Notre Dame wants to compete for the playoffs next year. The last thing they'd want derail them is Kevin Austin being ineligible or an early season injury to a key receiver that would leave them starting 2 guys 6' or shorter and having to rely on true freshman. That was a major factor in what cost Georgia their chance this year.
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Big, tall, competitive, possession receiver with strong hands and who high points the football and makes contested catches in the end zone on jump balls... Anybody want to bet me that this kid doesn't grow into a safety blanket that Ian Book relies on heavily in replacing Claypool and Finke?... I'm thinking 50 catches, 5-6 TD's, and a slew of chain moving 3rd down catches on short and intermediate routes. An ideal player to line up to the field when you have Lenzy opposite taking the top off the defense... Also wouldn't be surprised if he's ND best stalk blocker at that size, replacing Claypool.
Btw... For people wondering. His 2018 injury was to his ankle. It's not ad if he's coming back off an ACL or an Achilles. He'll be ready to go for spring ball (which I'm assuming he'll attend) and he can already lift.
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Im hoping you're wrong. If hes getting 50 catches, that means Austin and Lenzy arent ready for primetime. And our more athletic guys havent stepped up like Keys Johnson Watts and Wilkins. Plus if Kmet comes back him and Tremble will be getting a lot of touches.
I'll say 25 to 30 catches for him maybe
Don't worry, this dude ain't getting anywhere near 50 catches next year. If he does, ND is like a 8-4 team next year or at least has that caliber of an offense.
IIO is just having one of his weekly "smartest man in the room" rants.
Just best to let him be when he starts to get like this.
This year ND had a total of 253 receptions. 240 of those were passes thrown by Ian Book, with a completion percentage that dropped to 60.2%, an 8% drop from 2018's completion percentage. I think with a better offensive line in 2019 he can get back near 65%. He really scuffled at times early this year, and he had an uncharacteristic 8-25 game against Michigan, in a monsoon, that really hurt his numbers... All that said, 5% of 253 (including passes completed by Jurkovec) is about 12 more catches. When you consider what I think will be better offensive line play, a more developed group of pass catchers and an extra year of development for Book... I'm predicting 270 team completions for a 9.0 average this coming season.
If I divide ND's receptions based on what I saw from receivers in 2019 I would say.
Kmet: 50 receptions (if he returns)
2019 numbers: 43 receptions
Skowronek: 40-50 receptions
2018 numbers: 45 receptions
Austin: 40 receptions
2018 numbers: 5 receptions
Lenzy: 30 receptions (plus about 25 runs)
2019 numbers: 11 receptions
Running Backs: 30 receptions
2019 numbers: 32 receptions
Tremble: 20-25 receptions
2019 numbers: 16 receptions
Johnson: 15-20 receptions
2019 numbers: not applicable
That leaves between 25-45 projected balls I'm not accounting for that I think will wind up in the hands of Keys, Wright, Wilkins, Mayer, Watts, Davis, running backs, etc...Or split between the guys I've already listed.above.
Skorownek had 45 catches in both 2017 and 2018 by the way. Identical numbers back-to-back seasons.
What do you think?
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What do you mean, terrible take? He's literally 6'0, 180lbs... He weighed in and measured in yesterday. He'll play next season at around 185-187lbs.
I didn't say he was the same player at TJ Jones, I'm just saying that the two are built similarly. For those expecting him to be some 6'2, 200lb freshman built like Kevin Austin, that's nowhere near his build... Not even close. Doesn't change the fact that I think he's going to be an awesome player down the road, but he's not likely taking all of Braden Lenzy's reps away as freshman, unless there is an injury.
TJ Jones had 23 receptions for 306 and 3 touchdowns at Notre Dame as a freshman, in a receiving core that featured Michael Floyd catching 79 balls, Theo Riddick catching 40 balls and Kyle Rudolph and Tyler Eifert combining to catch 56 balls... That kid was a criminally under appreciated (former top 100 recruit) by ND fans, especially because he had Dayne Crist and a freshman Tommy Rees throwing him passes that year.
If Jordan Johnson has 300+ yards and catches 20-25 balls and catches 3-4 TD's as a freshman, accounting for much better QB play than Jones did as a freshman, I'll be friggen pumped.
Maybe 50 is a bit high (I'm hoping for big year out of Book) but I'm, unfortunately counting on some small injuries to Lenzy and Keys who have been banged up numerous times since they got to South Bend...
40 receptions over 13 games is 3 per game... Because of Skowronek's unique size among ND's WR's (he's the only guy bigger than 6'2 with any experience) and the fact that he's a possession type, I could see that. Chris Finke numbers wouldn't surprise me (although he's a different player). 50 is a touch high, but his back-to-back 45 catch seasons in 2017 and 2018 says that he's quite capable.
Northwestern finished 10-4 and ranked in a season in which this kid was the #2 WR on their team and caught 45 passes. I don't think it's impossible that he recreates that kind of reproduction at ND, with more yardage.
I'll be here to own it if I'm wrong and way off.
Not a bad pickup at all. This guy buys us some time in developing the younger WR’s(Johnson mainly) and will be a leader for that position group(which there isn’t one currently)
I'm not saying Jones was a bad player. He has had a roster spot in the NFL so obviously he can play.
However, I don't think simply taking a player's height and weight is an accurate assessment of their physical prowess.
For example, I'm 6'2 and 185 lbs and I guarantee a 6'0 180 lbs Jordan Johnson would easily dispatch me in any strength endeavor we might partake in.
I know a lot of schlubs that are 6'3 225 lbs but they look nothing like a SEC linebacker physically.
Johnson is a vastly better put together player as an incoming freshman than Jones and he compares much more favorably to Austin.
Now I highly doubt he is anywhere near as productive as Jones as a freshman (Austin wasn't either for various reasons up to debate) but if I'm taking one of those two in a street fight its Johnson all day, every day.
A lack of physical prowess will not be a reason why Johnson might not be able to contribute as a freshman.
Maybe.... does it say staff doesn’t have confidence in current group? Maybe it’s a Javon replacement and I’m good with that as I think he’s better than Javon.
I’m good if he’s the backup outside.
I don't think the concern is about getting a quality experienced player. I think the general concern is the possibility of relegating a talented young player to the bench, much like finke and keys. If it's a true rotation at the position it sounds like a good pickup.
Jones has what 300 yards and a couple tds. I expect a healthy Johnson to be in the two deep from day 1. He is a physical WR and most importantly for frosh, he has elite hands and can snatch a ball better than Lenzy or keys.
I think 400-500ish yards .
He may start right out of the gate next year, but I’d be surprised if he’s still starting at the mid point of next year.
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