'10 CO ATH Danny Spond (Notre Dame Man)

[irishog77]

I gotta admit, I was a little skeptical that Danny would ever be a major contributor/difference maker on ND's defense. Dude has been great!

I think after seeing his play, along with Fox's, Zeke's, and TJ's, it may be safe to say we should never write a kid off under Kelly.








(Ok, except for maybe Heggie Bear)

 

[NDinFL]

I gotta admit, I was a little skeptical that Danny would ever be a major contributor/difference maker on ND's defense. Dude has been great!

I think after seeing his play, along with Fox's, Zeke's, and TJ's, it may be safe to say we should never write a kid off under Kelly.








(Ok, except for maybe Heggie Bear)

You bite your tongue

 

[DSully1995]

I dont gte the Heggie jokes? anybody fill me in?

 

[Emcee77]

What a game by Spond. Kid is phenominal. Did he redshirt his fr year? Not to many lb's are asked to cover wr's ina nickel. Wow

Seriously. For a guy who weighs nearly 250 his cover skills are phenomenal. He's that rare guy that has the ideal skill set for the DOG LB spot.

 

[dublinirish]

his demeanour is very Harrison Smith-like to me, just a quiet but focused player on the field and is always assignment sound. a future captain one day perhaps

 

[Old Man Mike]

We will BADLY need defensive leadership skills next year. Manti, KLM, and Zeke are all gone. HUGE hole in the leadership. I am hoping that both Dannys, Big Lou, and even Stephon step up. My way-too-premature concern there is: who's going to quarterback the D-Backfield?? Zeke has to "teach" everybody else every play this season. Matthias would be ideal, positionwise, but can he learn it all on-the-fly this season? Danny and Danny will be great for the linebackers. Big Lou and Stephon should feel that they "own" the D-line by then.

 

[irishog77]

We will BADLY need defensive leadership skills next year. Manti, KLM, and Zeke are all gone. HUGE hole in the leadership. I am hoping that both Dannys, Big Lou, and even Stephon step up. My way-too-premature concern there is: who's going to quarterback the D-Backfield?? Zeke has to "teach" everybody else every play this season. Matthias would be ideal, positionwise, but can he learn it all on-the-fly this season? Danny and Danny will be great for the linebackers. Big Lou and Stephon should feel that they "own" the D-line by then.

A legitimate concern.

And even without Slaughter the bulk of the season, he was around for a couple games and is still around the program.

Collinsworth? Farley? Jackson? Each being a "leader" presents certain challenges.

 

[arrowryan]

We will BADLY need defensive leadership skills next year. Manti, KLM, and Zeke are all gone. HUGE hole in the leadership. I am hoping that both Dannys, Big Lou, and even Stephon step up. My way-too-premature concern there is: who's going to quarterback the D-Backfield?? Zeke has to "teach" everybody else every play this season. Matthias would be ideal, positionwise, but can he learn it all on-the-fly this season? Danny and Danny will be great for the linebackers. Big Lou and Stephon should feel that they "own" the D-line by then.

Prince Shembo, Louis Nix, and Stephon Tuitt will be our leaders in my opinion

 

[mgriff]

Don't sleep on BJax

 

[NDdomer2]

Not so concerned about who the leader of the secondary will be. One will rise. It isn't like everyone here thought Motta would be that voice this year.

 

[arrowryan]

Don't sleep on BJax

I forgot about him. He shows a lot of emotion on the field, I like that!

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

I know this sounds ridiculous, but Keivare could end up being a legitimate leader by next year.

I know sophomores don't generally lead a team, but this kid has a personality like I've never seen before. He pushes himself to get better each week. I've never seen someone make so much progress.

I remember preseason when the coaches and players were telling the media Keivare was going to surprise people. I thought maybe it was just wishful thinking on their behalf, because they knew keivare was gonna have to play big minutes.

Man was I wrong... kid is gonna be great.

 

[Chamellion]

I dont gte the Heggie jokes? anybody fill me in?

People need to shut the **** up about Bruce. He's one of the nicest kids I know and a phenomenal worker. Didn't get much love from the recruiting services but he's seen the field this year, against Miami, and that's more than the vast majority of people here can say.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Agree completely with that.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Don't sleep on BJax

He is a corner though. He can't line people up in the correct positions like a safety on LB can.

 

[irishog77]

A legitimate concern.

And even without Slaughter the bulk of the season, he was around for a couple games and is still around the program.

Collinsworth? Farley? Jackson? Each being a "leader" presents certain challenges.

He is a corner though. He can't line people up in the correct positions like a safety on LB can.

Exactly, Sherm. That's what I was getting at in my post above. This would be the challenge faced if Jackson were looked to as the leader. He's mostly isolated over on one side of the field, unable to see what all else is out there...like a safety is able to see.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

People need to shut the **** up about Bruce. He's one of the nicest kids I know and a phenomenal worker. Didn't get much love from the recruiting services but he's seen the field this year, against Miami, and that's more than the vast majority of people here can say.

 

[dublinirish]

i dont think anybody has got any real beef with Heggie, hes a RKG!

 

[johnnykillz]

i dont anybody has got any real beef with Heggie, hes a RKG!

He'll steamroll you, you hoser eh.

 

[BeauBenken]

Exactly, Sherm. That's what I was getting at in my post above. This would be the challenge faced if Jackson were looked to as the leader. He's mostly isolated over on one side of the field, unable to see what all else is out there...like a safety is able to see.

This comment is a bit out of place in Danny's thread, but anybody else think we're going to go from a shaky backfield this year, too a SOLID one next? Collinsworth, Farley, Bennett, Russell and other studs. We've got a good thing going.

To be relative to the actual thread, Danny has been amazing so far. Can't wait to see what his draft stock looks like next year if he keeps it up.

 

[pkt77242]

I think that Danny is one of the unsung reasons that our defense is so great this year. Watching him blanket the slot wr last night was a thing of beauty.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

I think that Danny is one of the unsung reasons that our defense is so great this year. Watching him blanket the slot wr last night was a thing of beauty.

I re watched the game and his coverage skills, whether it be a TE, RB or WR, are fantastic.

 

[Zwidmanio]

I completely agree with the above. I can't even count how many times I've been pleasantly surprised this year when trying to figure out who had the coverage on a receiver and realizing it was one of our outside linebackers. He's done a great job and deserves a lot of credit for filling a role that has really helped to solidify the defense.

 

[arrowryan]

He is the most underrated player on this defense and man has he come up big for us in crucial situations. I'm glad he has 2 years left!

 

[Sherm Sticky]

He is the most underrated player on this defense and man has he come up big for us in crucial situations. I'm glad he has 2 years left!

One year left.

 

[arrowryan]

One year left.

He can't come back for a fifth?

 

[Emcee77]

No 5Y for Spond. He played his freshman year.

 

[arrowryan]

:banghead2

 

[Domina Nostra]

Crap! That will mean we'll have to get some unknown, like Jaylon Smith, ready in two years!

 

[Irish Houstonian]

Crap! That will mean we'll have to get some unknown, like Jaylon Smith, ready in two years!

Yeah, that sucks we don't have any good linebackers in this recruiting class...May have to convert Bivin to OLB.