'14 IN OLB/S Drue Tranquill (Notre Dame Man)

[Luckylucci]

I hope to God he's faster than Zeke.

If he becomes the player that Zeke was (same speed and all) I will be super excited.

 

[koonja]

If he becomes the player that Zeke was (same speed and all) I will be super excited.

Really? In that case, I'd hope they hold off for bigger fish. He looks to be faster than Zeke, though, and probably takes better angles.

 

[Booslum31]

Really? In that case, I'd hope they hold off for bigger fish. He looks to be faster than Zeke, though, and probably takes better angles.

Loved Zeke's motor, passion, and hitting. With speed like his...it was hard for him sometimes to pick the right angle.

 

[pumpdog20]

I loved Zeke. If Drue plays like he did last year, sign me up.

 

[Rack Em]

I agree with what's been mentioned above about Drue being a 'defensive athlete'. Worst case scenario, a guy with his height, build, and speed could be a major factor on special teams.

 

[dublinirish]

I agree with what's been mentioned above about Drue being a 'defensive athlete'. Worst case scenario, a guy with his height, build, and speed could be a major factor on special teams.

aka the next B-Jax, Collinsworth, Salvi or Baratti. If he was anything like these guys he is worth a scholly

 

[IrishLax]

I really think he is almost a Baratti clone. Go look at their HS highlights and then compare their builds/speed. Very similar. I also get the Motta comparisons (although I think Drue is appreciably faster). And I would take that 10 out of 10 times.

 

[Luckylucci]

Really? In that case, I'd hope they hold off for bigger fish. He looks to be faster than Zeke, though, and probably takes better angles.

Zeke may not be the fastest guy on the field but I bet Diaco and ND's staff would laugh if you made those negative comments about him to them. He was the rock on a very inexperienced secondary last year that held up extremely well. I was very hard on Zeke for his performance in the NCG but outside of that he played very very well last year. Are there better safeties out there, or course, but keep in mind there are a lot worse.

 

[koonja]

Zeke may not be the fastest guy on the field but I bet Diaco and ND's staff would laugh if you made those negative comments about him to them. He was the rock on a very inexperienced secondary last year that held up extremely well. I was very hard on Zeke for his performance in the NCG but outside of that he played very very well last year. Are there better safeties out there, or course, but keep in mind there are a lot worse.

It's not negative. I said hold off for bigger fish.

I don't think they staff is in a hurry to lock up safeties that won't start until their senior year and will be below average speed (back to my original point of hoping he's faster than Zeke).

It is what it is.

If we're in dire need of safeties, sure you can reach for that player like that, but we're good at safety for now, especially with Baratti about to take a RS. ND is simply in the game for better recruits than they were at the time Zeke came to ND.

 

[CanadalovesND]

To follow up on what kuehnja, we really don't even need to take a safety this year. Sure, it may help with eligibility management down the road, but we have a ridiculous amount of safeties on the roster on scholarship right now, I say that with good intentions.

2/3 of our depth at safeties, comes from underclassmen. That's six players. Also, players like Kinlaw or Butler could move to safety in the future. We don't need to add a safety just for the sake of it unless it's like the top fish in the pond, otherwise that extra scholarship can be used in more deserving and/or needed areas.

 

[STLDomer]

We are not recruiting him as the next Zeke Motta though. The comparison is Tranquill out of HS to Motta out of HS. The staff still sees him as a possible LB.

 

[Irish#1]

Really? In that case, I'd hope they hold off for bigger fish. He looks to be faster than Zeke, though, and probably takes better angles.

Better angles are set up by your speed. Many bad angles were simply because a guy couldn't get there fast enough.

 

[Emcee77]

I really think he is almost a Baratti clone. Go look at their HS highlights and then compare their builds/speed. Very similar. I also get the Motta comparisons (although I think Drue is appreciably faster). And I would take that 10 out of 10 times.

Had a chance to go back and look at Baratti's HS tape, and I have to agree with you. I was surprised at how alike the two players looked on film.

Interesting that the buzz is that the staff wants to bulk Tranquill up into a LB, when Baratti is such a similar athlete who is a great fit at safety. Makes me wonder if putting Tranquill at LB is a depth-chart driven decision.

I still see a little of this though:

 

[dublinirish]

anyone seeing any danny spond in him?

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Zeke looked lost early on in his career, but was worth his weight in gold last year. Chalk that up to his drive and the coaching staff developing him properly.

 

[BGIF]

Zeke looked lost early on in his career, but was worth his weight in gold last year. Chalk that up to his drive and the coaching staff developing him properly.

Thank you! Hearing all this revisionist praise for a young man that was reviled almost as severely as Rees had me thinking maybe all those GameDay Threads I monitored where Motta got trashed 2, 3, and 4 years ago was on some other board.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Zeke looked lost early on in his career, but was worth his weight in gold last year. Chalk that up to his drive and the coaching staff developing him properly.

I wouldn't say that, but Motta definitely had his best year and was solid. The fact is, Motta wasn't very good in coverage, in addition, he was slow. He's pretty much a linebacker in a safety's body.

 

[OCIrish]

I appreciate the comparisons of Drue to Zeke and Nicky.......however, they both played much better competition than what Drue plays on a weekly basis......as hard as that is for me to say. Indiana football, while getting much better, still doesn't produce the quality in the same quantity as both Florida and Texas!! Its hard for me to compare him to those two, as they faced better kids week in and week out. I'm hoping he does come to ND, because I think he will be a player in a few years, but right now, he reminds me of Zeke and Nicky, but I think they were much more polished coming out of high school than what Drue is at this point..... just my two cents......

 

[EddytoNow]

Zeke looked lost early on in his career, but was worth his weight in gold last year. Chalk that up to his drive and the coaching staff developing him properly.

I agree. Zeke didn't really shine until last fall when he became the leader of the secondary. However, there was a coaching change during his five years, and he did have to adjust to a new defensive coordinator and a new system. He was a prime example of the ability of the current coaching staff to develop players. The same can be said of Harrison Smith and Tyler Eifert, both of whom blossomed under our current staff. As the staff continues to recruit well, we can begin to reload with players who have been in the system for a couple of years and rely less upon first year players.

 

[dwshade]

According to tj they at this time see him as a hybrid S/LB. Kind of a situational type player and special teams player. Similar to what Slaughter and Shumate did when they dropped down to essentially a LB against running teams.

 

[woolybug25]

I appreciate the comparisons of Drue to Zeke and Nicky.......however, they both played much better competition than what Drue plays on a weekly basis......as hard as that is for me to say. Indiana football, while getting much better, still doesn't produce the quality in the same quantity as both Florida and Texas!! Its hard for me to compare him to those two, as they faced better kids week in and week out. I'm hoping he does come to ND, because I think he will be a player in a few years, but right now, he reminds me of Zeke and Nicky, but I think they were much more polished coming out of high school than what Drue is at this point..... just my two cents......

I agree. Seems like everybody digs on this kid, so I wont be too big of a Debbie-Downer, but i'm not sold.

Aside from the ugly offer list, ranking and competition... I don't see this great athleticism that all of you guys seem to be seeing when I watch his tape. By no means do I think that I know more than our coaches at evaluating talent, but I just wouldn't be that excited about a commitment from him unless it was a last minute addition type of situation. Some lower ranked guys you can see a raw athleticism that just needs to be coached up (ie Blankenship, Deeb, etc). Drue doesn't do that for me.

If he ends up Irish, i'll root my butt off for him, and happily devour some crow if/when he proves me wrong.

 

[stlnd01]

I agree. Seems like everybody digs on this kid, so I wont be too big of a Debbie-Downer, but i'm not sold.

Aside from the ugly offer list, ranking and competition... I don't see this great athleticism that all of you guys seem to be seeing when I watch his tape. By no means do I think that I know more than our coaches at evaluating talent, but I just wouldn't be that excited about a commitment from him unless it was a last minute addition type of situation. Some lower ranked guys you can see a raw athleticism that just needs to be coached up (ie Blankenship, Deeb, etc). Drue doesn't do that for me.

If he ends up Irish, i'll root my butt off for him, and happily devour some crow if/when he proves me wrong.

Yep. This. It just seems like we could do better, and that, at this point in the program's evolution, we ought to be upgrading the talent level, not just taking kids who might - might - have a ceiling comparable to Zeke Motta. (not to beat up on Zeke, but until his senior year he was far from the rock of our defense). Especially with all the depth at safety in the freshman/sophomore classes.

 

[anarin]

Yep. This. It just seems like we could do better, and that, at this point in the program's evolution, we ought to be upgrading the talent level, not just taking kids who might - might - have a ceiling comparable to Zeke Motta. (not to beat up on Zeke, but until his senior year he was far from the rock of our defense). Especially with all the depth at safety in the freshman/sophomore classes.

Every team takes players with a high ceiling. It's about tapping that potential.

 

[irishog77]

Yep. This. It just seems like we could do better, and that, at this point in the program's evolution, we ought to be upgrading the talent level, not just taking kids who might - might - have a ceiling comparable to Zeke Motta. (not to beat up on Zeke, but until his senior year he was far from the rock of our defense). Especially with all the depth at safety in the freshman/sophomore classes.

Yep. Or guys to be hopeful that they'll turn into good special teams players.

I'm on Team Wooly here. If the staff gets him on signing day, then I'd probably be excited. Getting him in August? No excitement.

 

[stlnd01]

Every team takes players with a high ceiling. It's about tapping that potential.

Of course. I think the concern in this case is that the ceiling doesn't appear to be all that high. Especially this early in the recruiting cycle and with relatively few slots remaining, especially at a position of low need.
As others have said, I'll trust the staff, but it's hard to get excited about a guy whose next best offers are Purdue and Minnesota.

 

[koonja]

I'm all for passing on safety prospects with a ceiling comparable to Zekes.

But gun to my head, I'd bet this guy is much more athletic than zeke based on film. I guess that just shows how bad I am at evaluating film lol.

 

[anarin]

Of course. I think the concern in this case is that the ceiling doesn't appear to be all that high. Especially this early in the recruiting cycle and with relatively few slots remaining, especially at a position of low need.
As others have said, I'll trust the staff, but it's hard to get excited about a guy whose next best offers are Purdue and Minnesota.

Quick stat, since 2009 there were 19 2-star and 33 3-star athletes drafted in the 1st round of the NFL Draft.

Basically, you never know what you're gonna get. You can only shoot for someone you feel has a high ceiling. Ishaq was a 5 star can't miss player that 99% of this board got a hard on for. What has he done so far?

Like you said, trust the staff.

 

[Irishman77]

Looks like Collinsworths hs tape to me. Kid does everything.

 

[stlnd01]

Quick stat, since 2009 there were 19 2-star and 33 3-star athletes drafted in the 1st round of the NFL Draft.

Basically, you never know what you're gonna get. You can only shoot for someone you feel has a high ceiling. Ishaq was a 5 star can't miss player that 99% of this board got a hard on for. What has he done so far?

Like you said, trust the staff.

Sure. And how many 4 and 5 star athletes have been taken in the first round? More than that.
I get what you're saying, and I sincerely hope if we take the kid that he turns into the next Tom Zbikowski. And we all know the five-star flameouts (though it's a bit quick to toss Ishaq on the scrap heap, I think).
But recruiting's not a total crapshoot where "you never know what you're gonna get." On average the better talent does rise to the top. Look at Manti Te'o. Jimmy Clausen. Stephon Tuitt. And unlike, say, Dickerson the DT, this kid isn't a low-star guy with elite offers. We appear to be the only top-tier program that sees the diamond here.
And we've got time. It's just August. With, what, maybe seven slots left in this class, I don't know why we can't wait to see who else might emerge before spending one on a project. I'm sure the staff knows what they're doing. Maybe he's a high-character "glue" guy. Maybe he's better than he looks on paper. I don't know. But it's a bit of a head-scratcher is all.

 

[irishog77]

Quick stat, since 2009 there were 19 2-star and 33 3-star athletes drafted in the 1st round of the NFL Draft.

Basically, you never know what you're gonna get. You can only shoot for someone you feel has a high ceiling. Ishaq was a 5 star can't miss player that 99% of this board got a hard on for. What has he done so far?

Like you said, trust the staff.

I think some of the reluctance of excitement comes from wondering how high the ceiling really is. He's a recent offer. What happened for the staff to change their minds? A couple weeks ago, the staff seemingly didn't think he had that high of a ceiling either.