'13 CA S Max Redfield (Notre Dame Signed LOI)

[Old Man Mike]

It might be intriguing to see [if Diaco could manage it] a platoon of Fox on first downs, then Carlo or Jaylon depending upon whether it's a likely passing or running down.

Jaylon "in space" is probably the best potential we have there, if the WILL position is truly in play, and Jaylon as surprise blitz is also probably the best potential.

Seems tough to manage under game conditions though, to me.

 

[TheChosen1]

Good problem to have.....

 

[GoIrish41]

He also said maybe Jaylon Smith plays RB, DOG, or ILB. His point was he has a lot of good athletes in the freshman class and they are going to push to get on the field whichever way possible

Tough to imagine Jaylon Smith putting on enough weight/strength to play ILB this year, but I'm glad they are looking at ways to get him on the field (on defense, not offense I hope)

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

Tough to imagin Jaylon Smith putting on enough weight/strength to play ILB this year, but I'm glad they are looking at ways to get him on the field (on defense, not offense I hope)

He's at 230 right now. Fox and Grace are listed at 240.

 

[FLDomer]

He's at 230 right now. Fox and Grace are listed at 240.

I am with you GITF, I think 230 is plenty. Telvin Smith for FSU is 6'3 218 and plays Will, and is a monster. Jaylon's speed would make for a nasty WLB. I just wanna see him play!

 

[NDdomer2]

It all goes back to Kelly wanting to win now. If that means taking an uber athletic frosh and putting out of his end position to win some games he is going to do it.

 

[TCramer]

I know I've said it before, but I was watching his highlight tape yesterday and Max is still my favorite signing out of this class

 

[Luckylucci]

I would think it would be easier to get Jaylon on the field in pass rushing situations where he can come off the edge with one goal and that is to make a play in the backfield.

 

[irishpat183]

Taylor Mays

Laron Landry when he was at LSU

Actually, given his offensive and defensive skill set...he reminds me a lot of the late, great Sean Taylor

Taylor was a stud RB coming outta high school and one of the most gifted S i've even seen

 

[IrishLion]

Tough to imagine Jaylon Smith putting on enough weight/strength to play ILB this year, but I'm glad they are looking at ways to get him on the field (on defense, not offense I hope)

Luke Keuchly at Boston College was a tremendous ILB, and he was only 225 as a senior.
I know it's a different player, different defense, and different levels of experience, but I truly believe Jaylon would excel as a MLB. That speed moving sideline-to-sideline every play, and locking down coverage in the middle of the field? I wouldn't be mad about it.

Of course, maybe Jaylon would have issues getting off of blocks in traffic on every running down, which would limit the use of his athleticism... Who knows.

EDIT: as for the thread topic haha, I think Max could pull off going both ways. Anyone remember Macho Harris at Virginia Tech? Lockdown corner that would go out at WR for 5 or 6 plays a game? That seemed to be effective for the Hokies.

 

[dublinirish]

Keuch was a WLB though in a 4-3 right? You can afford to carry less weight as a LB in that scheme..see LSU their LB regularly average between 210 and 220.

 

[IrishLion]

Keuch was a WLB though in a 4-3 right? You can afford to carry less weight as a LB in that scheme..see LSU their LB regularly average between 210 and 220.

My mistake, I thought BC ran a 3-4. Carry on.

 

[Luckylucci]

Luke Keuchly at Boston College was a tremendous ILB, and he was only 225 as a senior.
I know it's a different player, different defense, and different levels of experience, but I truly believe Jaylon would excel as a MLB. That speed moving sideline-to-sideline every play, and locking down coverage in the middle of the field? I wouldn't be mad about it.

Of course, maybe Jaylon would have issues getting off of blocks in traffic on every running down, which would limit the use of his athleticism... Who knows.

EDIT: as for the thread topic haha, I think Max could pull off going both ways. Anyone remember Macho Harris at Virginia Tech? Lockdown corner that would go out at WR for 5 or 6 plays a game? That seemed to be effective for the Hokies.

I hate to nitpick here but Keuchly was 237 according to his bio on BC's athletic site. He weighed in at 242 at the combine. So 225 is a bit of a stretch. With that said I get the point, you don't need to be 250 to be a very good ILB. IMO, Jaylon's best attributes are his speed and quickness which are far better used off the edge. Deon Jordan was probably a good enough athlete to play inside but his game off the edge makes him elite.

 

[t3hjc]

Actually, given his offensive and defensive skill set...he reminds me a lot of the late, great Sean Taylor

Taylor was a stud RB coming outta high school and one of the most gifted S i've even seen

Redfield's not like any of those guys. He probably most closely resembles Keenan Allen, who also turned to wide receiver after being recruited as a safety out of high school.

 

[IrishLion]

I hate to nitpick here but Keuchly was 237 according to his bio on BC's athletic site. He weighed in at 242 at the combine. So 225 is a bit of a stretch. With that said I get the point, you don't need to be 250 to be a very good ILB. IMO, Jaylon's best attributes are his speed and quickness which are far better used off the edge. Deon Jordan was probably a good enough athlete to play inside but his game off the edge makes him elite.

Nitpick away, as you said you understood my point haha.

Without a doubt Jaylon belongs outside first and foremost. His ability to act as basically a second CB on a given side of the field in coverage is crazy, as is his potential as an elite pass rusher. In a perfect world, we would have a Jaylon at each OLB spot and either spot could rush/cover on any given down. No more of this DOG/CAT nonsense.

 

[Cackalacky]

Antonio Cromartie (minus knee injury). /thread.

 

[Irish YJ]

Nitpick away, as you said you understood my point haha.

Without a doubt Jaylon belongs outside first and foremost. His ability to act as basically a second CB on a given side of the field in coverage is crazy, as is his potential as an elite pass rusher. In a perfect world, we would have a Jaylon at each OLB spot and either spot could rush/cover on any given down. No more of this DOG/CAT nonsense.

I love dreaming too

 

[GoldenToTheGrave]

Nitpick away, as you said you understood my point haha.

Without a doubt Jaylon belongs outside first and foremost. His ability to act as basically a second CB on a given side of the field in coverage is crazy, as is his potential as an elite pass rusher. In a perfect world, we would have a Jaylon at each OLB spot and either spot could rush/cover on any given down. No more of this DOG/CAT nonsense.

I'd say more the ideal would be Jaylon at DOG, Lorenzo Carter at CAT. Not that I would complain about having two Jayon's haha.

 

[BMT]

Max 2 inches shorter than "recruiting height" roster is up on und.com. Still no big deal for a safety still 6-1.

 

[NDinL.A.]

I drove by this sign every Sunday in Granger on the way to my weekend warrior games. First time I saw it last September, I knew he was going to be Irish lol. Took a picture of it last Sunday:



I'll readily admit that EV was the recruit I wanted to see most, but Redfield, because of the way he fell in love with ND when the whole world wanted him at USC, and how he never wavered in his love for the university, will always hold a special place for me. Kid's gonna do big things at ND...

 

[NDWorld247]

I'll readily admit that EV was the recruit I wanted to see most, but Redfield, because of the way he fell in love with ND when the whole world wanted him at USC, and how he never wavered in his love for the university, will always hold a special place for me. Kid's gonna do big things at ND...

I was definitely impressed with how Redfield made a very hard decision to attend ND when it would have been much easier for him to pick USC. The whole little brother situation and the pull of "friends" he had at USC had me worried up until he reported to ND though.

I actually have a pretty funny story about Redfield. It's definitely one of those 'you had to be there' stories to get how truly funny it was, but I'm going to tell it anyway. Actually, it may not even be that funny, but I sure as hell cracked myself up....

So last December I was at an event where I saw Derrick Henry (Alabama), Derrick Green (Michigan) and Su'a Cravens (USC). No one really knew who they were so when I walked by them they were standing there alone. I decided to say hello and chat with them a bit. They were definitely surprised I knew who they were (it wasn't a HS event so they went unrecognized). After a minute or so I told them I was a big ND fan and Green mentioned Greg Bryant's commitment, which had happened a day or two beforehand. We started talking about ND's recruiting class and at some point I was like, "And we're about to get a commitment from Max Redfield" then turned and smiled/grinned at Su'a because I knew him and Max were close. Su'a goes off and was like "No way man. He's all USC". At that point I wished them all the best of luck and walked away.

Su'a's reaction actually gave me more confidence that Max would commit to ND. I could just see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice that he didn't believe in his heart that Max was going to USC.

Edit: Henry looked like an absolute beast and definitely passed the eye test. Green, not so much. He looked shorter than advertised and wider than you'd expect. Cravens didn't look as athletic as I would have thought (I had the hardest time of the three figuring out who he was) but definitely had a solid frame to grow into.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I was definitely impressed with how Redfield made a very hard decision to attend ND when it would have been much easier for him to pick USC. The whole little brother situation and the pull of "friends" he had at USC had me worried up until he reported to ND though.

I actually have a pretty funny story about Redfield. It's definitely one of those 'you had to be there' stories to get how truly funny it was, but I'm going to tell it anyway. Actually, it may not even be that funny, but I sure as hell cracked myself up....

So last December I was at an event where I saw Derrick Henry (Alabama), Derrick Green (Michigan) and Su'a Cravens (USC). No one really knew who they were so when I walked by them they were standing there alone. I decided to say hello and chat with them a bit. They were definitely surprised I knew who they were (it wasn't a HS event so they went unrecognized). After a minute or so I told them I was a big ND fan and Green mentioned Greg Bryant's commitment, which had happened a day or two beforehand. We started talking about ND's recruiting class and at some point I was like, "And we're about to get a commitment from Max Redfield" then turned and smiled/grinned at Su'a because I knew him and Max were close. Su'a goes off and was like "No way man. He's all USC". At that point I wished them all the best of luck and walked away.

Su'a's reaction actually gave me more confidence that Max would commit to ND. I could just see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice that he didn't believe in his heart that Max was going to USC.

Edit: Henry looked like an absolute beast and definitely passed the eye test. Green, not so much. He looked shorter than advertised and wider than you'd expect. Cravens didn't look as athletic as I would have thought (I had the hardest time of the three figuring out who he was) but definitely had a solid frame to grow into.

Good "Maxless" Redfield story, bro! Took some balls, you cracked me up too! lol.

 

[EuropeanDomer]

"#NotreDame HC Brian Kelly: Five-star freshman Max Redfield not in safety rotation but will play on Saturday"

Eilar Hardy is now ahead of him on the rotation. I guess he will only play on special teams.

 

[STLDomer]

"#NotreDame HC Brian Kelly: Five-star freshman Max Redfield not in safety rotation but will play on Saturday"

Eilar Hardy is now ahead of him on the rotation. I guess he will only play on special teams.

The full quote alludes the thought that Redfield just needs to catch up mentally:

"You know, I think Max is in the mix there. I think he has made great progress," Kelly said. "He is not right now in that rotation. I think he is somebody that you need to keep an eye on that will be in that rotation, but he's not there yet. But he's going to play on Saturday. We obviously have high expectations for Max as we move through the season."

 

[Luckylucci]

If you guys can listen to Coach Elliot's interview at media day. It gives a lot of insight into how tough it is to learn the safety position in our defense. You have to have a lot of knowledge and then be able to communicate that to everybody else which isn't always easy for freshman.

 

[Emcee77]

Didn't Kelly also say something like, if a freshman is playing on special teams, it's because Kelly thinks he can crack the rotation at some point thisyear?

 

[Irish Houstonian]

Says a lot about Cole Luke being able to crack the 2nd team defensive backfield. It's not exactly easy when you're a rookie.

 

[Luckylucci]

Not to take anything away from luke because I think he's a stud but playing Nickle and playing safety in our system is two very different things. Shumate played nickel last year and is having trouble with breaking through at safety, there's just more to the position.

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

If you guys can listen to Coach Elliot's interview at media day. It gives a lot of insight into how tough it is to learn the safety position in our defense. You have to have a lot of knowledge and then be able to communicate that to everybody else which isn't always easy for freshman.

Or a sophomore in Shumate's case.

 

[Luckylucci]

Or a sophomore in Shumate's case.

Yep, I think thats what he's struggling with the most. Speaking up and telling others what to do isn't always natural for some players.