Who is Likely Next (2013)

[connor_in]

I would be shocked at Cierre leaving too. This is his stat line halfway through the season.

ATT YDS AVG LNG TD REC YDS AVG LNG TD
47 279 5.9 37 2 2 9 4.5 9 0

Unless he is fine with being drafted in rounds 4-6, then he should consider coming back for a big senior season.

Devil's advocate question...
Cierre was suspended for a couple of games...he has spent a decent amount of time in BK's doghouse...with what we have for running backs, does BK offer the 5th year?

[Do NOT take this as Cierre hating. I like abilities he brings to the team. I also know the ever ongoing debate between a 5th yr guys versus 5 star guys. I am just curious that if you placed yourself in Coach's shoes and you have the shot at someone of need do you pull the trigger or not? I think a lot of us thought it would not even be an option and Cierre would have a great year and be gone on his own, but it has not quite happened as well for Cierre as we all thought.]

 

[Sherm Sticky]

You should be able to find 5-10 kids who are pretty good at kicking/punting and want an elite education. Then you find the 2-3 that can afford it as walk-ons and sign them up. There is absolutely no reason to use a scholarship on a backup K/P in our current situation... you tell them they can earn a scholarship a la Ruffer if they play well.

Yep

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

This kid is only a junior and is a walk-on so we would have a back up.

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Didn't know we had this guy. Reps to both of you.

 

[woolybug25]

Hey jude, don't let me down.

You have found her, now go and get her.

Remember to let her into your heart,

Then you can start to make it better.

 

[Emcee77]

Assuming, as some have said, that A. Muhammad is already factored in... do you think the staff takes Folston? That'd leave only ~1 spot for another DB.

Also, the way things are going right now, I wouldn't be totally shocked to see Wood come back for another year... which most people aren't counting on right now.

The more I think about it the more I think that this is a great question. I know Kelly is a little worried about slot depth, as opposed to RB depth. Next year the only guys who he really likes at slot will be Neal and Hunter and neither has much experience. But it seems to me that other needs are more pressing, and we have guys that can fill in/emerge at slot, like Cam McDaniel.

I know this isn't the popular answer, but I think we should. I know Tausch got hurt this year, but Brindza is a big, strong kid and kickers don't battle a lot of injuries. If he got hurt, there is someone on the team could finish out a game for us. Then after that, scout the soccer team for a replacement.

Kickers, man...

I agree. In fact, I remember reading that one of our current commits has filled in as a kicker, but I cannot for the life of me remember who ... anyway we'd find someone if it came to that. I'm ok with just Brindza.

 

[Irishman77]

Left footed too! Love it. Will thanks u guys we can put this issue to bed .

 

[IrishLax]

Is anyone else finding this scholarship crunch maddening? We're not nearly cashing in on our success to the level we should be... and it's 100% because we have very very few spots left and took early commitments that we will honor even if they don't. It's completely a one-way street against us with early commits.

 

[PANDFAN]

Is anyone else finding this scholarship crunch maddening? We're not nearly cashing in on our success to the level we should be... and it's 100% because we have very very few spots left and took early commitments that we will honor even if they don't. It's completely a one-way street against us with early commits.

truth...sometimes being the "good guy" isn't always the best thing...but this is what makes the run even better

 

[Irish8248]

Were a top 5 class with limited spots left ... How much more would you like to cash in on?

 

[Emcee77]

We'll cash in next year. Had to take the guys who wanted to commit before the season; no way to know we were going to go 6-0 to start the season and play dominant defense. Assuming we finish the season strong, next spring those early commits will be Top 100 caliber players instead of three-stars.

It's also comforting to me that the kids we took all seem to be great kids who have formed a cohesive group already. I wouldn't trade the IrishMob13 for a group of prima donna stars who won't be good teammates. These kids like each other and will play hard for each other. Does a part of me wish some of them hadn't committed so fast? Yes. But I can't say I want any of them to decommit. Love this group.

 

[PANDFAN]

Were a top 5 class with limited spots left ... How much more would you like to cash in on?

4 more spots:countdown

 

[irishff1014]

A lot of season to go. Still think we have one or two decommit but i don't think we will have a problem filling their spots. we have a lot of positives to be happy about. Go irish.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Whiskey, as usual, voices my continual concern about having the Bigs --- AND NOT JUST A MINIMUM of them --- to found the whole team. It is my opinion that the main 1,2,3,4,...etc reasons for Alabama kicking the crap out of everybody else [even with Model-T Ford offenses] is that their Bigs are Bigger and more numerous than you. A championship team needs to be LOADED with Bigs. Yeh, you can win "10" without quite being that way, but you're not going to be "Champ" unless you have a college level superman [Tebow et al]. Saban knows that you never can count on getting Superman, so he controls his destiny by getting a couple dozen almost-Supermen and just knocks your block off. I'm chewing on Whiskey's analysis and doubtless will feel required to post something about our D-Line situation going forward.... fair warning... trivia ahead.

 

[koonja]

So I've been considering our roster in light of the scholarship crunch and the remaining "big fish" we've got a good shot at closing with, and there seems to be a disconnect between those kids and our positions of need.

QB: 5/4.
RB/ Z WR: Assuming Wood goes pro, 8/8.
X/W WR: 8/8, though Robinson could end up at TE.
TE: 4/4, though one could argue we need more than 4 TEs with Kelly's new-found love of 12 and 13 personnel.
OL: 13-15, depending on Watt and Z. Martin.
DL: 9/12.
ILB: 6-7, depending on Carlo & Fox; Rabasa likely moves back inside.
OLB: 8-9, though Rabasa and Mattingly could get moved.
CB: 8/8, though Shumate could move back to SS.
S: 7/8, though Shumate could fill it out.

The only real position of need for us is on the DL, particularly at DT. But most of the big names left on our board are DBs, RBs, and an OLB. Do we simply not have a shot with any other elite DL this year, or am I missing something with our DL numbers? And what if Matuska ends up at TE for some reason?

That DT (name is slipping me, there's a profile on him) who I believe is from IN just decommitted from WI. I'd like to see the staff give him a visit.

 

[ab2cmiller]

That DT (name is slipping me, there's a profile on him) who I believe is from IN just decommitted from WI. I'd like to see the staff give him a visit.

Darius Latham

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

That DT (name is slipping me, there's a profile on him) who I believe is from IN just decommitted from WI. I'd like to see the staff give him a visit.

He is about 99% IU at this point.

 

[Emcee77]

So I've been considering our roster in light of the scholarship crunch and the remaining "big fish" we've got a good shot at closing with, and there seems to be a disconnect between those kids and our positions of need.

QB: 5/4.
RB/ Z WR: Assuming Wood goes pro, 8/8.
X/W WR: 8/8, though Robinson could end up at TE.
TE: 4/4, though one could argue we need more than 4 TEs with Kelly's new-found love of 12 and 13 personnel.
OL: 13-15, depending on Watt and Z. Martin.
DL: 9/12.
ILB: 6-7, depending on Carlo & Fox; Rabasa likely moves back inside.
OLB: 8-9, though Rabasa and Mattingly could get moved.
CB: 8/8, though Shumate could move back to SS.
S: 7/8, though Shumate could fill it out.

The only real position of need for us is on the DL, particularly at DT. But most of the big names left on our board are DBs, RBs, and an OLB. Do we simply not have a shot with any other elite DL this year, or am I missing something with our DL numbers? And what if Matuska ends up at TE for some reason?

I'm still thinking about this. I counted 10 DL for next year (don't forget, Utupo is listed at DE this year) but still we seem light at that position group.

We seem to be hitting 2014 DL hard already. It's clearly a focus. Maybe we just didn't draw a lot of interest from top DL in 2013, or we didn't find enough who seemed like the right fit, so we figured we'd focus on 2014?

One reason we might do that is that we have a lot of youth on the DL. The staff may not have wanted the DL clustered together too closely eligibility wise. No one but Kona exhausts his eligibility next season (although we have to be prepared for both Tuitt and Nix to go pro). Day, Springmann and Hounshell all have three years left. Jarron Jones will have four, as will Rochell and Matuska if they play (both, especially Matuska, have to put on weight though). (Even Utupo has two, although I'm not sure he's really a factor ... he may even move back to ILB, who knows. He doesn't really have the build for DL in our system.)

One other (perhaps fanciful) theory: the UND.com roster shows a 6-7, 325lb. walk on DL, Kevin Carr. Anyone know anything about him? Maybe the staff thinks of him as an insurance guy who can rotate in if we have injury problems. I doubt it, as I've heard nothing, but who knows.

Official Football Roster - UND.COM - University of Notre Dame Official Athletic Site

I'm definitely concerned about it, but I assume the staff knows what it's doing, and as long as we crush it in 2014 we should be fine.

 

[NDhoosier]

Enoch Smith should be a pretty big priority for the next class

DE as well as KAP is gone.

ya, but plenty of experience behind him. Day is seeing plenty of action, shouldnt be a huge drop off. We kind of know what we are getting with KLM's replacement.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Defensive Line, Thy Name Is Champion.

Our current line goes KLM/ Nix/ Tuitt when we show our 3-man front. There is probably no better for those sorts of "first down" ready to run-stop plays. As the game goes on, Bobby-the-D has the luxury of bringing in a real thumper in Day and a very good sub in Schwenke. He was counting on Hounshell, but Springmann has proved serviceable and sometimes quite good. Because Tuitt can play so much [being a supranormal athlete], we get away with being two-deep for these situations, can still rest folks, can keep Jarron Jones in redshirt, and pray daily for no serious injuries.

Our situation is also mitigated by the fact that Diaco lines up 4-man front a lot. That might seem counterintuitive at casual thought, but when we go 4-man it is more often than not with AT LEAST one CAT-crasher and sometimes two. Because of this, both Shembo and Williams can count as partially D-Linemen. My view of Shembo is that he is properly a D-Lineman anyway. And also this says that Bobby-the-D could consider Okwara as a factor in this story as well as Rabasa.

This leaves us with a mix of very different talents, which are pretty darned frightening FOR THIS YEAR.

Next year KLM goes. Everyone should be on their knees hoping that he is the only one, and that there are no injuries. Why? KLM is one of our small number of run-stuffers. We have no one like him in the recruiting class, let alone like Big Lou or Stephon. THIS IS WHERE WE ARE RISKING A LOT.

Next year it will be Tuiit/ Nix/ Day, hopefully, and we will be kicking hind ends again. Hounshell and Rochell on the ends [possibly Matuska], and Schwenke and Springmann in the middle still make us formidable even in substitution. Jarron Jones is the wildcard. Will he muscle up to be a KLM or even a Tuitt type. If so, Day could do a Big Lou imitation. People who wish for him [Jones] to slide over to the O-Line should be deported in my opinion. I am also hoping for Okwara to join the Big Boy Club by then.

This is the view of those who [glibly] say we don't really need a true DT anytime soon. But the following year all the really great Bigs we count on will probably be gone except for Day [who will be an AA by then]. If Jones and Rochell flank him, who else? Counting on Romeo and no injuries and all game play? Bad strategy methinks.

We MUST stock and slightly overstock the lines. Anything else is stupid bordering on suicidal. Why do we think that LSU recruits DTs every year? When you look at our roster coming into this year, you will see that there were serious holes in the past two years recruiting. Kelly went right out and "got his" [O-Line, plus nice even scatter of playmakers] in this class. Diaco needed linebackers [an essential whiff the previous year] and corners --- got the linebackers in spades, and seems to be placed well for the corners --- but DID NOT GET THE BIG D-Line player [at least one] that we need for 2015 season and beyond, and for sub-work in 2014. People who say, oh well that's a long way away, we'll just pick up a few next time, are playing a dangerous game. The SEC powers aren't wondering where their DTs are coming from for 2014-2015. They have them in the pipeline.

That's my rant. I take great optimism for our team this year and next, particularly if there are no injuries and no following year defections to the pros. Roster management [which Coach is REAL good at] demands thought beyond just that.

 

[Rack Em]

^ OMM, keep in mind that sometimes Nix gets a rest when Diaco moves Shembo to the 5 technique on 3rd and long. Tuitt slides in, Kap/another DE on the other side, and Ishaq moves to CAT.

So there's another DL combination we see on occasion.

 

[rtrn2glory]

lou prolly gets more tired in those situations running off the field and then running back on if they get a first down than if he stays out there and plays...just saying

 

[Irishman77]

Great post omm. I agree but you can only do so much each year. Lb and ol were fixed with this class and there are elite kids in the 14 class high on nd. I think we fix dt and de next year and with winning we can start to pick and choose going forward.

 

[ThePiombino]

I think we fix dt and de next year and with winning we can start to pick and choose going forward.

Yup. If you think Junior Day was popping this year...

 

[IrishLax]

Were a top 5 class with limited spots left ... How much more would you like to cash in on?

Specifically...

There were at least 2 WRs we had great shots at that were rated significantly higher than 3 of the guys we currently have committed.

There are 2 RBs who are objectively much better overall prospects than the one we have committed.

We had a very legitimate (and/or slam dunk depending who you talk to) shot at Dorian Johnson but filled up on OLs early.

We've held off on recruiting many DL in this cycle to due to limited scholarship numbers and other pressing needs... a move that could come back to haunt us.

Neither of the two CBs we have recruited is remotely close to a sure thing or stud. And now we're left with crunch that is going to make us potentially pass on an elite DB or an elite player at another position (RB, WR, etc.) because of the crunch.

In a class of 21 kids, we only have about 1 super stud level recruit and 6 stud level recruits... 1-5 super sucky Auburn has 3 5 guys and a pretty comparable overall class.

 

[DomeLover3]

Specifically...

There were at least 2 WRs we had great shots at that were rated significantly higher than 3 of the guys we currently have committed.

There are 2 RBs who are objectively much better overall prospects than the one we have committed.

We had a very legitimate (and/or slam dunk depending who you talk to) shot at Dorian Johnson but filled up on OLs early.

We've held off on recruiting many DL in this cycle to due to limited scholarship numbers and other pressing needs... a move that could come back to haunt us.

Neither of the two CBs we have recruited is remotely close to a sure thing or stud. And now we're left with crunch that is going to make us potentially pass on an elite DB or an elite player at another position (RB, WR, etc.) because of the crunch.

In a class of 21 kids, we only have about 1 super stud level recruit and 6 stud level recruits... 1-5 super sucky Auburn has 3 5 guys and a pretty comparable overall class.

+1 would rep but I have to spread it around.

Our class could have been a lot better if we didn't fill so fast. Like you said Lax its really frustrating because our class is good but it could be elite. But ND will not drop commits

 

[Emcee77]

Great post omm. I agree but you can only do so much each year. Lb and ol were fixed with this class and there are elite kids in the 14 class high on nd. I think we fix dt and de next year and with winning we can start to pick and choose going forward.

But I think part of OMM's point is that it's too late to fix DT in 2014. Who will play DT in 2014? Kona will be gone. Nix and Tuitt will be eligible in 2014 but probably playing on Sundays.

So the candidates are Day, Springmann, Hounshell, J. Jones, Rochell or an incoming frosh (unlikely that we'd find a true frosh who can step into this role).

None of those guys is a Lou Nix-type immovable force in the middle. All exciting, potentially great players, don't get me wrong, but none reminds me of Lou. They are all leaner and quicker and strike me more as DEs. I suppose any of them could bulk up and play DT, particularly Jones, a mammoth human being, or Springmann, but I have been surprised that the staff didn't seem to try harder to pull in a real 340 lb. space-eater like Lou in 2013. Just don't get it.

 

[woolybug25]

*cough*

Tommy Schutt

*cough*

 

[Luckylucci]

Emcee, tho I agree that its not ideal. If your assessment you left out matuska, who I think ends up like springmann, not elite but definitely serviceable. Also, that give us six DT prospects. Thats a lot. Now maybe none are NG worthy and thats a problem but six gives you two deep on a three man front and then throw in Ishaq, Okwara, and maybe AQM. I am gonna be cautiously optimistic on this considering it seems the staff knows what they're doing.

 

[Irishman77]

But I think part of OMM's point is that it's too late to fix DT in 2014. Who will play DT in 2014? Kona will be gone. Nix and Tuitt will be eligible in 2014 but probably playing on Sundays.

So the candidates are Day, Springmann, Hounshell, J. Jones, Rochell or an incoming frosh (unlikely that we'd find a true frosh who can step into this role).

None of those guys is a Lou Nix-type immovable force in the middle. All exciting, potentially great players, don't get me wrong, but none reminds me of Lou. They are all leaner and quicker and strike me more as DEs. I suppose any of them could bulk up and play DT, particularly Jones, a mammoth human being, or Springmann, but I have been surprised that the staff didn't seem to try harder to pull in a real 340 lb. space-eater like Lou in 2013. Just don't get it.

I know everyone will think i am off my rocker, but i feel nix will stay for four and tuitt possible. It tuitt goes then we roll with day,nix,jones,hounshell,springman,roshell, as the 2 deep. Also i agree with omm on okwara eventually to dl.

 

[GBdomer]

I see tuitt staying but no way nix stays for four years