I think we found our TE (Staes)
- Thread starter NotreDomer1
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I want to see Braylon James get let loose. Merriweather getting chased down by a linebacker doesn't sit well with me.
Too bad for Eli Raridon. Something about having a grandson from those huge Nebraska teams playing for ND gets me all misty eyed.
Maybe against CMU. But there’s 5 solid guys ahead of James, maybe 6. It’s not like those guys aren’t performing
That linebacker runs a 4.4 and if Stayes would’ve blocked instead of just ran down the field it would’ve been a touchdown. Great game by Stayes but he’ll get chewed out in film for that play.
Staes had a great game. He may be our best receiving TE now. However, Evans is a good player too, and nice to see Sherwood also score a TD yesterday.
Staes went for the DB that was further upfield. I think he did the right thing there.
Freeman has called James perhaps the freshman receiver with the highest upside, which is a remarkable statement given Greathouse and Flores demonstrated abilities. He also has suggested James will red shirt this year because he has a lot of catching up on the finer points of running routes and blocking, etc….
4 games or less preserves the redshirt. We just need him (or someone else) that can take the top off of the defense once in awhile. They don’t need to know 100% of the offense in order to achieve that.
Pretty happy with all the players getting reps thus far. ND doing a good job there
If we NEED James to take the top off the defense once in awhile, then I think we need him to play more than four games. I think Parker is showing a lot of short and intermediate pass plays and largely holding back on over the top plays in preparation for playing Ohio St. At least I hope so!
Honestly, this team has much more balance than any ND team I can recall in recent memory. There’s not a single position group that carries the team IMO. We don’t have a single “marquee” position group on the team(maybe CB and/or RB). Thank god for what coach Mickens has done in a couple years time. But, They’re all solid and they’re all working in unison with each other.
Our QB is better, but what makes him very good is his ability to spread the ball around so the defense can’t just focus on taking “X” player out of the game and leaving us searching for answers.
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You very well could be right regarding the playbook.
I also think that if James is that good and can help us win more games now, we should burn his redshirt. I have little doubt THIS staff has measured that consequence, so we’ll see I guess.
Agreed. Lots of talent. There is little drop off in backups. Many getting good reps.
Liking it a lot
I was VERY critical of Freeman last year. Especially when Marshall/Stanford were able to beat us. He’s been MUCH sharper in year 2 thus far.
I thought Holden played a great game. I hadn't watched him closely in our first 2 games; he has more giddyup than I thought he had, and he also made some nice adjustments on balls in the air that resulted in catches. Seeing him tiptoe down the sideline for that 40-yd TD also displayed some nice agility and athleticism. I guess the knock on him has been his blocking, but if he can work on that he could be the next great ND TE. Physically he looks really well put together. I was looking at his bio and saw that he had offers from Bama, UGA and Texas, so obviously he must have looked good to some other highly ranked programs. Also saw that in HS he played basketball and threw the shot put and discus in track, which helps explain his athleticism.
He looks a little bigger from last year too. Still only a true sophomore. That was actually a really nice TD catch he had against TSU in addition to the NCSU game.
