Hardly knew you? Not sure on this one as I think he has lots of talent but leaving now he is playing for contract #2 in my opinion unless his combine numbers are great. Best of luck.
KeiVarae Russell goes Pro
- Thread starter 1Redrum
- Start date
We're losing two all-americans (Day and Smith), a three year starter and captain (Schmidt), a four year starter and captain (Fairly) and a three year starter and probably mid-level draft pick with Russell. If this defense struggled under BVG's system, what is going to happen next year?
MSU, Stanford and USC will be the major challenges.
The downside is if ND does get by 1-2 of these teams and wins against the lesser teams on the schedule it will likely get into another mismatch in a bowl. At that point the defense would be exposed.
So good news is the offense is good enough to get you into a situation where your offense won't be enough.
catch-22
The downside is if ND does get by 1-2 of these teams and wins against the lesser teams on the schedule it will likely get into another mismatch in a bowl. At that point the defense would be exposed.
So good news is the offense is good enough to get you into a situation where your offense won't be enough.
catch-22
Unless things change big time....
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Come on... let's be real. Russell never attained elite status here. His underachieving at ND was a huge disappointment. Procise was injured and ably replaced. Fuller was great, but invisible at times. We have a unique mindset of "next man in" and it works. ND will get it figured out, and we won't skip a beat... and be rewarded with a 10 -3 record next year. Pretty darn good.
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What do all of these guys leaving do to our recruiting numbers for this year?
Russell's career was gravy -- kid did a great job as a running back coming in as a Frosh and forced to start at CB! We missed him at the end of this season.
Hope it works out for these guys!
How many draft picks for ND (or former ND players this year?) Smith, Day, Stanley and Fuller (1st two rounds, Martin, CJ, Romeo, Shumate, Brown, Golson (final four rounds?)
Could be as many as 10!
Russell's career was gravy -- kid did a great job as a running back coming in as a Frosh and forced to start at CB! We missed him at the end of this season.
Hope it works out for these guys!
How many draft picks for ND (or former ND players this year?) Smith, Day, Stanley and Fuller (1st two rounds, Martin, CJ, Romeo, Shumate, Brown, Golson (final four rounds?)
Could be as many as 10!
Sparty is losing a ton of talent. I think they will be an easier game than USC.
It looks like McKinley and Alloway are coming to ND. I really think if we land another outstanding linebacker that this class can be amazing. If we can't get one of the top 3, I am hoping there might be a local line backer with upside that would love to play for the Irish.
Perse
All lose QB's----Stanford loses some great guys on the OL and both WR's-----defense loses about half the starters.
Mich St loses the QB and will have a mediocre OL if Conklin leaves
SC is SC------ they have talent but no QB and jury out on Helton.
All lose QB's----Stanford loses some great guys on the OL and both WR's-----defense loses about half the starters.
Mich St loses the QB and will have a mediocre OL if Conklin leaves
SC is SC------ they have talent but no QB and jury out on Helton.
KR was a freshman all-American in 2012. Had an even better year in 2013. Struggled a bit in the first half of 2015 in a defense that was new to him but then picked up his play and made stellar plays to close out the USC game and another to close out the Temple game. When he went down against BC he was the team's 2nd leading tackler. It would have been nice to see what would have happened if he had been on the field against Stanford with 30 seconds left to play. He might have made a difference.
I understand many of us were hoping for an all-American performance this year but, just because he didn't play that way, it doesn't mean he had a bad year either. And overall he had a great career at ND. I wish him the very best.
I understand many of us were hoping for an all-American performance this year but, just because he didn't play that way, it doesn't mean he had a bad year either. And overall he had a great career at ND. I wish him the very best.
Was just gonna say KR was good prior to Diaco leaving. Since, he's regressed. All DBs have under BVG.
KR was not necessarily "better" under Diaco. He was protected and not exposed as Diaco's scheme does not ask the DBs to play much man. If you have ever played or coached the DB position, you will know that playing zone is a million times easier than playing man. In zone you focus on an area and play the man in your zone and if he leaves, you pass him off to the other defender. This requires less movement, relying on instincts, and less change in direction.
When you're locked in man to man, there is a lot more unpredictability, forcing you to rely on instincts and reading body language more. There is also a lot more change in direction as you're chasing your WR. With that said, Russell was in a sense exposed. However, I don't think Russell was as bad as people on this board say he is. In this day and age of spread offenses and 6'3" WRs running 4.5s and better, it's pretty much impossible to ask a corner to be a shut down man to man corner.
It is a lot harder to play DB in BVG's system, then Diaco's. As pointed out in other threads, Diaco's scheme was too vanilla/simple and BVG's is too complicated. There needs to be a balance between the two that confuses the offense, but also puts the players in the best and comfortable position to make a play.
When you're locked in man to man, there is a lot more unpredictability, forcing you to rely on instincts and reading body language more. There is also a lot more change in direction as you're chasing your WR. With that said, Russell was in a sense exposed. However, I don't think Russell was as bad as people on this board say he is. In this day and age of spread offenses and 6'3" WRs running 4.5s and better, it's pretty much impossible to ask a corner to be a shut down man to man corner.
It is a lot harder to play DB in BVG's system, then Diaco's. As pointed out in other threads, Diaco's scheme was too vanilla/simple and BVG's is too complicated. There needs to be a balance between the two that confuses the offense, but also puts the players in the best and comfortable position to make a play.
Well I never coached but when I watch a CB engaged on a WR on my 50" Samsung, I can say whether they've gotten better or worse. But you're right. On an island is a tough task.
