Jafar Armstrong, RB, Cole Kmet, TE, Michael Young, WR, Kevin Austin, WR, and maybe Chase Claypool ?

[chaseball]

All of these losses already at major positions of need that are lacking serious depth talent and upside. all of these guys where first-teamers or at least projected to be in the 2 deep.

I feel sorry for ian book this guy better be the second coming of Superman at quarterback or he's going to be eaten alive by this fanbase who simply refuses to make the connection between quarterback performance and the quality of the players at skill positions

 

[Get Nasty]

Chase is fine

 

[chaseball]

Notre Dame's depth chart on offense:

Rb: TJ Jones, Jahmir Smith, Williams
Wr: Claypool?, Finke, Keys, Lenzy, Wilkins?

this is basically the type of skill-position players you'd expect to see at some bottom-feeding power 5 team

 

[chaseball]

Chase is fine

he's been banged up all camp and being held together by duct tape.

 

[echowaker]

All of these losses already at major positions of need that are lacking serious depth talent and upside. all of these guys where first-teamers or at least projected to be in the 2 deep.

I feel sorry for ian book this guy better be the second coming of Superman at quarterback or he's going to be eaten alive by this fanbase who simply refuses to make the connection between quarterback performance and the quality of the players at skill positions

Book has stunk it up 3 games in a row now and it has nothing to do with his teammates.

 

[d1042]

Book has stunk it up 3 games in a row now and it has nothing to do with his teammates.

See, different strokes! I am very impressed by Book.

 

[BodiTheGreat]

All of these losses already at major positions of need that are lacking serious depth talent and upside. all of these guys where first-teamers or at least projected to be in the 2 deep.

I feel sorry for ian book this guy better be the second coming of Superman at quarterback or he's going to be eaten alive by this fanbase who simply refuses to make the connection between quarterback performance and the quality of the players at skill positions

The Irish have GREAT depth and NEXT MAN IN ! And those players will be seriously rested when we make the playoffs !

 

[coolirish9]

he's been banged up all camp and being held together by duct tape.

go and watch his post game interview as he tells the reporters that he is fine. the way he talked it seemed like he just needed a break after that big catch and run

 

[mirer03]

Kyren is a 4 star guy. The third back only needs to handle 5-7 touches a game. No reason he cant step up. If he flashes its an opportunity to take over the spot. Just like smith.

 

[Zorich 88]

Notre Dame's depth chart on offense:

Rb: TJ Jones, Jahmir Smith, Williams
Wr: Claypool?, Finke, Keys, Lenzy, Wilkins?

this is basically the type of skill-position players you'd expect to see at some bottom-feeding power 5 team

Jahmir Smith: You saw this kid play one game and have what, 5 touches?

Keys: see my comments on Smith.

Claypool will be in the NFL next year at this time.

Jones is a solid back that can catch out of the backfield and give great pass protection. They also line him up at slot. Very versatile player.

Finke has some of the best hands in the country. One of the best rout runners of all WRs in the country.

The rest of the guys you named have barley seen the field. Jury is still out on them.

 

[stu4don]

I thought it was going to be a tough game vs Georgia with all of our guys... Without Jafar, I have a tough time seeing us beat them down there.

 

[stu4don]

Jafar was supposed to be our next breakaway guy -- like Dexter, Adams, Procise in previous years... not sure who we have to do that now.

 

[napy2121]

Simply put the issues Book had as pointed out by IIO as well as the Irish Illustrated podcast today (I’m sure this site will as well) are completely independent of what anyone else on the field is doing.

That said we will have a ceiling on the team with these injuries, I generally agree with this point. Sets BK up to look good if they win games.

 

[VTND]

Kyren is a 4 star guy. The third back only needs to handle 5-7 touches a game. No reason he cant step up. If he flashes its an opportunity to take over the spot. Just like smith.

Kyren needs more touches in my opinion.

 

[Get Nasty]

Notre Dame's depth chart on offense:

Rb: TJ Jones, Jahmir Smith, Williams
Wr: Claypool?, Finke, Keys, Lenzy, Wilkins?

this is basically the type of skill-position players you'd expect to see at some bottom-feeding power 5 team

I now have to agree.... luckily I think chase is top 5 wr in the country, we have crazy talent at oline, kmet hopefully back, is book gets his act together we’ll be solid, I was hoping for a great offense though

 

[chaseball]

Jahmir Smith: You saw this kid play one game and have what, 5 touches?

Keys: see my comments on Smith.

Claypool will be in the NFL next year at this time.

Jones is a solid back that can catch out of the backfield and give great pass protection. They also line him up at slot. Very versatile player.

Finke has some of the best hands in the country. One of the best rout runners of all WRs in the country.

The rest of the guys you named have barley seen the field. Jury is still out on them.

I don't want to belabor this point but take what Notre Dame has at running back and wide receiver right now and compare them to any top 10 type of program right now and it is ugly

Notre Dame has a really good offensive line with tons of upside they have a really solid quarterback who the jury is still out on what he's capable of this season outside of that the wide receiver and running back position with all of these losses is now a total dumpster fire

there is no sugarcoating it there is no spin of positivity on it it is really really really bad situation.

it was bad when several of these guys were healthy and Kmet went down it was tragic when Michael Young went down now it's a complete and total disastrous dumpster fire

If these guys don't come back and get healthy quick or if Clark Lea doesn't pull a miracle 85 Chicago bears defense out of his ass this team has no chance whatsoever.

I have Notre Dame down to seven or eight wins to finish the year after this latest loss at running back

 

[Get Nasty]

I don't want to belabor this point but take what Notre Dame has at running back and wide receiver right now and compare them to any top 10 type of program right now and it is ugly

Notre Dame has a really good offensive line with tons of upside they have a really solid quarterback who the jury is still out on what he's capable of this season outside of that the wide receiver and running back position with all of these losses is now a total dumpster fire

there is no sugarcoating it there is no spin of positivity on it it is really really really bad situation.

it was bad when several of these guys were healthy and Kmet went down it was tragic when Michael Young went down now it's a complete and total disastrous dumpster fire

If these guys don't come back and get healthy quick or if Clark Lea doesn't pull a miracle 85 Chicago bears defense out of his ass this team has no chance whatsoever.

I have Notre Dame down to seven or eight wins to finish the year after this latest loss at running back

Luckily lines win games skill wins championships.... we can win every game but Georgia is becoming impossible .... need running defense to step up and let DEs feast

 

[Bumpdaddy]

Kmet is scheduled to get a CAT scan on Thursday. If it comes back clean he is expected to start practicing right away and has a good chance to play vs. New Mexico.

 

[mirer03]

I don't want to belabor this point but take what Notre Dame has at running back and wide receiver right now and compare them to any top 10 type of program right now and it is ugly

Notre Dame has a really good offensive line with tons of upside they have a really solid quarterback who the jury is still out on what he's capable of this season outside of that the wide receiver and running back position with all of these losses is now a total dumpster fire

there is no sugarcoating it there is no spin of positivity on it it is really really really bad situation.

it was bad when several of these guys were healthy and Kmet went down it was tragic when Michael Young went down now it's a complete and total disastrous dumpster fire

If these guys don't come back and get healthy quick or if Clark Lea doesn't pull a miracle 85 Chicago bears defense out of his ass this team has no chance whatsoever.

I have Notre Dame down to seven or eight wins to finish the year after this latest loss at running back

Too late.

 

[stu4don]

I don't want to belabor this point but take what Notre Dame has at running back and wide receiver right now and compare them to any top 10 type of program right now and it is ugly

Notre Dame has a really good offensive line with tons of upside they have a really solid quarterback who the jury is still out on what he's capable of this season outside of that the wide receiver and running back position with all of these losses is now a total dumpster fire

there is no sugarcoating it there is no spin of positivity on it it is really really really bad situation.

it was bad when several of these guys were healthy and Kmet went down it was tragic when Michael Young went down now it's a complete and total disastrous dumpster fire

If these guys don't come back and get healthy quick or if Clark Lea doesn't pull a miracle 85 Chicago bears defense out of his ass this team has no chance whatsoever.

I have Notre Dame down to seven or eight wins to finish the year after this latest loss at running back

Maybe we should move the university to Miami or Los Angeles? That might help. We are a Catholic institution that requires player scholarship and is located in.... South Bend. Show me a program with better recruiting numbers that has those kinds of limitations.

 

[Kcndmis97]

I don't want to belabor this point but take what Notre Dame has at running back and wide receiver right now and compare them to any top 10 type of program right now and it is ugly

Notre Dame has a really good offensive line with tons of upside they have a really solid quarterback who the jury is still out on what he's capable of this season outside of that the wide receiver and running back position with all of these losses is now a total dumpster fire

there is no sugarcoating it there is no spin of positivity on it it is really really really bad situation.

it was bad when several of these guys were healthy and Kmet went down it was tragic when Michael Young went down now it's a complete and total disastrous dumpster fire

If these guys don't come back and get healthy quick or if Clark Lea doesn't pull a miracle 85 Chicago bears defense out of his ass this team has no chance whatsoever.

I have Notre Dame down to seven or eight wins to finish the year after this latest loss at running back

I do agree with this. I was not high on our skill position players other than Claypool. Even if Young and Kmet were healthy, I still say our guys are a bit underwhelming. The issue is recruiting misses in 2016 and 217. 2016 is an example where star ratings don’t always work out. McKinley was a top 100 recruit but never panned out. Stepherson was a 3-star recruit that had serious speed and skills. We would be a whole lot better off if we just had Stepherson. In 2017 we landed Young and Armstrong, who are nice WRs if they were the 3rd or 4th WR. Oh yeah, Boykin coming back would have helped too. That is an example of player retention being key at ND. We need 4 yr players and sometimes 5 yr players, like Boykin.

 

[SIhoosier26]

Jahmir Smith: You saw this kid play one game and have what, 5 touches?

Keys: see my comments on Smith.

Claypool will be in the NFL next year at this time.

Jones is a solid back that can catch out of the backfield and give great pass protection. They also line him up at slot. Very versatile player.

Finke has some of the best hands in the country. One of the best rout runners of all WRs in the country.

The rest of the guys you named have barley seen the field. Jury is still out on them.

There's so much sunshine in this post I had to put on sunglasses.

 

[IrishInOntario]

Notre Dame's depth chart on offense:

Rb: TJ Jones, Jahmir Smith, Williams
Wr: Claypool?, Finke, Keys, Lenzy, Wilkins?

this is basically the type of skill-position players you'd expect to see at some bottom-feeding power 5 team

This must be a hyperbolic overstatement, right?

Chase Claypool was a top 150, consensus 4 star wide receiver, who developed into a soon-to-be, early 2nd day NFL Draft Pick.

Brock Wright was a top 100 player and the #2 TE in his class. He was open all night on Monday and just never had the ball thrown his way.

Javon McKinley was a top 150 player who was a consensus 4 star receiver. Would start at a TON of the low end Power 5 schools you're talking about.

Tommy Tremble was hurt his entire senior season (broke his ankle in the first game of the year) or he would have been a consensus 4 star player... Going to be a stud. TEs don't often a high 4.5.

Lawrence Keys and Braden Lenzy were both 4 star players with good, to great offer lists.

Does ND boast Alabama or Clemson talent at the skill positions? Not even close. But "bottom of the power 5?"

You mean like... Rutgers, Kansas, Illinois, Kansas State, Georgia Tech, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Texas Tech, Indiana, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Baylor, Arizona, Colorado, UCLA, Oregon State, Washington State, Ole Miss, Miss State, Kentucky, etc, etc...

Those are 25'ish power 5 teams off the top of my head, whose coaches would drag their body across hot coals to trade their skill position players for ND's healthy group, in a heartbeat. There is no doubt that ND is suffering right now, and being down 4 of their top 7 skilled guys is certainly limiting their explosiveness, but with a couple weeks to prepare for New Mexico (and it doesn't matter who plays in that game) some of the younger players will develop better timing with Book, and with any luck one of Kmet or Young, will be ready to go for Georgia.

 

[d1042]

I think people overlook the impact that the 5th year by McGlinchy, paired with Nelson’s return for 4 had on the overall program. It was huge from a depth building perspective and the impact on OL recruiting.
And we all know you build a team 1st with the OL!

That is how ND has climbed the ladder.

 

[hvillebill]

Notre Dame's depth chart on offense:

Rb: TJ Jones, Jahmir Smith, Williams
Wr: Claypool?, Finke, Keys, Lenzy, Wilkins?

this is basically the type of skill-position players you'd expect to see at some bottom-feeding power 5 team

So, what's your prediction on the season now? 3-9?

 

[TDIrish27]

I don't want to belabor this point but take what Notre Dame has at running back and wide receiver right now and compare them to any top 10 type of program right now and it is ugly

Notre Dame has a really good offensive line with tons of upside they have a really solid quarterback who the jury is still out on what he's capable of this season outside of that the wide receiver and running back position with all of these losses is now a total dumpster fire

there is no sugarcoating it there is no spin of positivity on it it is really really really bad situation.

it was bad when several of these guys were healthy and Kmet went down it was tragic when Michael Young went down now it's a complete and total disastrous dumpster fire

If these guys don't come back and get healthy quick or if Clark Lea doesn't pull a miracle 85 Chicago bears defense out of his ass this team has no chance whatsoever.

I have Notre Dame down to seven or eight wins to finish the year after this latest loss at running back

Tell me about the great Georgia WR Corp .

Great stable of RB's but their WR's are completely unproven

Ditto Michigan------and their RB's

DPJ and Claypool a wash-----none of their RB's is a proven commodity as of yet------WR Group is good----but hasn't done much.

 

[echowaker]

See, different strokes! I am very impressed by Book.

THE LAST 3 GAMES ?

 

[d1042]

THE LAST 3 GAMES ?

he may not make every play, but he makes enough plays.

 

[echowaker]

he may not make every play, but he makes enough plays.

really ? he's been well below average the last three games and was awful for nearly 3 quarters monday night.

 

[d1042]

Ok... I can see that opinion, but I see a kid that fights off bad plays and comes back at you.

 

[South Bender]

Tell me about the great Georgia WR Corp .

Great stable of RB's but their WR's are completely unproven

Ditto Michigan------and their RB's

DPJ and Claypool a wash-----none of their RB's is a proven commodity as of yet------WR Group is good----but hasn't done much.

Stars, stars, stars. Georgia's group doesn't have to prove anything. They were all highly rated out of high school!!!

On paper - UGA has the advantage and that's all that matters.

 

[echowaker]

Ok... I can see that opinion, but I see a kid that fights off bad plays and comes back at you.

guess my point is that ND is going nowhere without significant improvement from him. sure they can beat the lessers on the schedule but he has to be better to beat the quality opponents. he's the leader, it starts with him.

 

[echowaker]

Stars, stars, stars. Georgia's group doesn't have to prove anything. They were all highly rated out of high school!!!

On paper - UGA has the advantage and that's all that matters.

cancel the game !

 

[Get Nasty]

Stars, stars, stars. Georgia's group doesn't have to prove anything. They were all highly rated out of high school!!!

On paper - UGA has the advantage and that's all that matters.

UGA has an advantage because they have a really really good big oline and good/great rbs. We have a middle of our D figuring it out, slightly undersized, and we're playing one of the worst MLBs on a power 5 team. Louisville ran the ball 47 times and our MLB had 3.5 tackles. I don't even remember the 3 solos Box score is giving him. PFF says he played assignment correct, BGI, driskel, and many others are blasting him saying he was not physical, had no instincts, was hesitant to make a play, etc. That is what I saw, hope the coaches saw it as well. Can't play him against georgia and hope to slow down the run.

I think our oline can handle Georgia Dline ok, but is book ready to make the throws needed, vs louisville, not even close.

 

[88ND]

See, different strokes! I am very impressed by Book.

Impressed by what?

His ball security prowess?

Bailing on the play too early in the pocket?

His deep passing?

The way he looks off two defenders before passing?
.
Going through all of his reads pre throiw

 

[d1042]

nice hair

 

[echowaker]

UGA has an advantage because they have a really really good big oline and good/great rbs. We have a middle of our D figuring it out, slightly undersized, and we're playing one of the worst MLBs on a power 5 team. Louisville ran the ball 47 times and our MLB had 3.5 tackles. I don't even remember the 3 solos Box score is giving him. PFF says he played assignment correct, BGI, driskel, and many others are blasting him saying he was not physical, had no instincts, was hesitant to make a play, etc. That is what I saw, hope the coaches saw it as well. Can't play him against georgia and hope to slow down the run.

I think our oline can handle Georgia Dline ok, but is book ready to make the throws needed, vs louisville, not even close.

looks like they've lost a receiver and their starting right tackle for 4 weeks or so. injuries everywhere.

 

[nptb]

I don't want to belabor this point but take what Notre Dame has at running back and wide receiver right now and compare them to any top 10 type of program right now and it is ugly

Notre Dame has a really good offensive line with tons of upside they have a really solid quarterback who the jury is still out on what he's capable of this season outside of that the wide receiver and running back position with all of these losses is now a total dumpster fire

there is no sugarcoating it there is no spin of positivity on it it is really really really bad situation.

it was bad when several of these guys were healthy and Kmet went down it was tragic when Michael Young went down now it's a complete and total disastrous dumpster fire

If these guys don't come back and get healthy quick or if Clark Lea doesn't pull a miracle 85 Chicago bears defense out of his ass this team has no chance whatsoever.

I have Notre Dame down to seven or eight wins to finish the year after this latest loss at running back

Did you see the Alabama running backs against Duke? Outside of Etienne, Clemson is not shown much at the rb spot. Georgia is ridiculously loaded at running back and is the only school in the top 10 that doesn't have a drop off from 1 to 4 in rb depth chart.

 

[NDIRISH53]

he may not make every play, but he makes enough plays.

It was Louisville. Play like that against Georgia and that’s a 35 point game.

 

[NDIRISH53]

Did you see the Alabama running backs against Duke? Outside of Etienne, Clemson is not shown much at the rb spot. Georgia is ridiculously loaded at running back and is the only school in the top 10 that doesn't have a drop off from 1 to 4 in rb depth chart.

“Outside of Etienne” uhh... it doesn’t work that way