'13 IN ATH Jaylon Smith (Notre Dame Man & Graduate)

[Sherm Sticky]

The Keystone of this class! Wooooooooooooooo!

 

[irishpat183]

Never in doubt. Kid has the skill, but more importantly, he has the attitude.


Fantastic kid that will lead us to great things!

 

[Ironman8]

BK just stated Jaylon will play DOG and compete immediately with Danny.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23NotreDame">#NotreDame</a> HC Brian Kelly on drop LB:: "If Danny Spond is in the best 11, he's playing. If Jaylon Smith is in the best 11, he's playing.</p>— Brian Hamilton (@ChiTribHamilton) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChiTribHamilton/status/299209451276234752">February 6, 2013</a></blockquote>
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[IrishLion]

Nice to hear that from BK himself. Now debate on the OLBs will be a bit more informed lol

 

[Luckylucci]

Que the debate.

 

[btown35]

the guy is simply to talented to not play! He brings elite SEC speed at linebacker something we were missing in the title game! He needs to be on the field from Day 1!

 

[arrowryan]

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[ab2cmiller]

Video from Jaylon signing on two of the Fort Wayne TV stations:

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[FightingIrishLover7]

"What are your hopes for your first season?"

"Right now, I'm focused on that first home game, Temple. I'm wanting to get my first career sack."


Welp, glad to see Jaylon is already dialed in.
Kid is gonna be a superstar.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

BK just stated Jaylon will play DOG and compete immediately with Danny.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23NotreDame">#NotreDame</a> HC Brian Kelly on drop LB:: "If Danny Spond is in the best 11, he's playing. If Jaylon Smith is in the best 11, he's playing.</p>— Brian Hamilton (@ChiTribHamilton) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChiTribHamilton/status/299209451276234752">February 6, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Kelly also stated that with a freshman and the roster as such that they may move him around for maximum benefit.

I hope that the do this, and work him in slowly. My guideline is four years ago Weis, Tenuta, and Brown just dropped Manti in. Kelly has stated three times that he saw Manti as being lost as a result, and that he was too rushed. I am telling you, I want nothing more that to see Jaylon play. We all do. But two things, the guys that think he is going to step on the field and be a god, are mistaken. And we want him to get up to speed, be able to protect himself, and be able to build on success.

I actually see him playing quite a bit this year. But I can also see about 30 guys getting defensive playing time too. Take a look.

 

[Luckylucci]

At the best of the midwest combine sampson caught up with Mike Ledo who runs AWP in Fort Wayne where jaylon trains. Long story short Jaylon is up to 228 lbs and is looking great. Now obviously Ledo is pro-jaylon but he thinks Jaylon will make it interesting this summer. Jaylon stepping foot on campus in the 230 range wll be big. This is not to add fuel to the debate just to give an update on a fan favorite.

 

[GoldenDomerDJ]

I think Spond will start at the beginning of the year. Jaylon is a special athlete, but I don't think he'll have the pass-rushing and covering skills to play D1 football right off the jump.

 

[STLDomer]

I think Spond will start at the beginning of the year. Jaylon is a special athlete, but I don't think he'll have the pass-rushing and covering skills to play D1 football right off the jump.

Jaylon is a better pass rusher than Spond, I don't recall Spond ever having much of impact as a rusher. Plus if your talking D1 not just ND, he would start at most schools right off the bat

 

[clashmore_mike]

I think Spond will start at the beginning of the year. Jaylon is a special athlete, but I don't think he'll have the pass-rushing and covering skills to play D1 football right off the jump.

He will have the skills you mentioned when he gets to campus. What could hold him back from seeing the field immediately would be his knowledge of the system or his size/strength. All depends on how he soaks up coaching in camp.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I don't know anything. See my sig. But Jaylon coming to campus in the low to mid 230's is great.

 

[GoldenDomerDJ]

I just feel like we're putting to much faith in an incoming freshman. Spond is a proven leader who played great for us last year and is an insanely good coverage Linebacker. I think Jaylon should be in the rotation, but not starting right off the bat over Spond. Look at a guy like Curtis Grant who was Rivals #2 overall player. I'm sure OSU fans thought he would come right in and be dominate, but he's about to go into his Junior year and we still haven't seen big things. Will Jaylon be different? I sure hope so, but I'm not ready to say he is better than Spond when he hasn't played a down of D1 football.

 

[OCIrish]

While Micheal Ledo may seem pro-Jaylon.....he isn't going to say anything that isn't true. Yes, he's been working with Jaylon for the past few years and are both from the same HS, but Ledo doesn't need to pump Jaylon to the media. Jaylon may not start, but with his talent, he's going to push for alot of playing time!!

 

[koonja]

I think he's already physically more talented than Spond. Once he knows enough of the position to start, he'll start.

 

[CHIDomer9]

Is there any concern about his frame carrying 230+? He seems pretty cut already. I would hate to see his best asset, speed, possibly negated in an effort to fit a particular position within 7 months from now.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Spond is a proven leader who played great for us last year and is an insanely good coverage Linebacker.

This strikes me as a bit of an overstatement. Spond is the first functional DOLB Diaco has produced, so it's easy to appreciate the impact he had on the defense in 2012. But for the same reason, it's also easy to overstate his importance.

As others have mentioned, Spond isn't much of a pass-rusher, so it's fair to assume that Jaylon will see some early reps on obvious passing downs. Whether he's able to push Spond beyond that will depend on Jaylon's ability to learn the system, cover a zone, and set the edge against the run.

 

[Luckylucci]

This strikes me as a bit of an overstatement. Spond is the first functional DOLB Diaco has produced, so it's easy to appreciate the impact he had on the defense in 2012. But for the same reason, it's also easy to overstate his importance.

As others have mentioned, Spond isn't much of a pass-rusher, so it's fair to assume that Jaylon will see some early reps on obvious passing downs. Whether he's able to push Spond beyond that will depend on Jaylon's ability to learn the system, cover a zone, and set the edge against the run.

Agreed, especially the part about Jaylon's playing time. He's not going to start. He'll most likely have trouble setting the edge against the run in practice and therefore wont be doing it in games. They will get him position to get after the QB. The staff will put him in a position to succeed just like they have with a majority of the 5 star players they brought in (excluding Ishaq but from what I've read more his fault).

 

[GoldenDomerDJ]

This strikes me as a bit of an overstatement. Spond is the first functional DOLB Diaco has produced, so it's easy to appreciate the impact he had on the defense in 2012. But for the same reason, it's also easy to overstate his importance.

As others have mentioned, Spond isn't much of a pass-rusher, so it's fair to assume that Jaylon will see some early reps on obvious passing downs. Whether he's able to push Spond beyond that will depend on Jaylon's ability to learn the system, cover a zone, and set the edge against the run.

Alright I can agree that I may have taken it a bit to far, but I liked what I saw from Spond last year. He's pass-rushing skills need work, but he is a good tackler and you can't deny his coverage skills. If Jaylon comes right in and dominates I will be just as happy as you guys. I'm just skeptical. Being a Cleveland Browns fan will do that to you.

 

[koonja]

Confused, isn't DOG the drop backer? AKA, always in coverage while the CAT LB is the blitzing type?

 

[rocket66]

Jaylon is better than Spond right now. If he picks up the schemes he'll get the majority of snaps, IMO.

 

[STLDomer]

Confused, isn't DOG the drop backer? AKA, always in coverage while the CAT LB is the blitzing type?

yes but in a perfect world both OLBs would excel at both

 

[koonja]

yes but in a perfect world both OLBs would excel at both

Do we blitz both?

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Confused, isn't DOG the drop backer? AKA, always in coverage while the CAT LB is the blitzing type?

Do we blitz both?

Ideally, yes. That's one of the strengths of the 3-4; the ability to disguise blitzes and bring pressure from either edge.

We haven't had the personnel to present that sort of mirrored threat to opposing offenses yet, so your current understanding isn't wrong, per se; it's just a compromise solution. In a perfect world, we'd have a Jaylon Smith at both ROLB and DOLB.

 

[Buster Bluth]

Jaylon is better than Spond right now. If he picks up the schemes he'll get the majority of snaps, IMO.

That's a bold statement. Spond was very good in 2012. He was much better than Fox of Calabrese.

 

[Rocket89]

This strikes me as a bit of an overstatement. Spond is the first functional DOLB Diaco has produced, so it's easy to appreciate the impact he had on the defense in 2012. But for the same reason, it's also easy to overstate his importance.

As others have mentioned, Spond isn't much of a pass-rusher, so it's fair to assume that Jaylon will see some early reps on obvious passing downs. Whether he's able to push Spond beyond that will depend on Jaylon's ability to learn the system, cover a zone, and set the edge against the run.

Agreed. Spond is a solid to very solid player. But we're still talking about a player that averaged 3 tackles a game with no interceptions. He's good in pass coverage---good enough to draw praise from Kelly---but he's nowhere near insanely good at it. He still gets picked on from time to time and offers little in the way of negative plays (sacks, tackles for loss, etc.)

He does tackle well (unless it's Eddie Lacy) and he sets the edge well. The coaches for obvious reasons love this. But the Dog position could offer a lot more production in this system. For the amount of snaps that Spond played (staying on the field most of the time instead of adding a nickel back) we should see 70 tackles, a few interceptions, and generally more disruptiveness from his position.

2013 will probably be a study in staying conservative with Spond or going with a more explosive and dynamic option in Jaylon. As long as we're not playing Stanford or Michigan State I think Jaylon could see a lot of minutes.

 

[rocket66]

That's a bold statement. Spond was very good in 2012. He was much better than Fox of Calabrese.

That's not really saying much. I'll stand by Smith being on another level.