'11 OH LB Jarrett Grace (Signed Notre Dame LOI)

[Who'saWildManNow]

A miracle, if true. I remain skeptical, though. Will be amazing if Grace manages to produce at all next year.

Yea, I'm thinking the same. He had the surgery in October with approx 5 months recovery.. Does he really get into football shape and make an impact next year? I hope so but I'm skeptical.

 

[stlnd01]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Martini force his way into the starting line-up (assuming we play a 3rd LB enough to refer to him as a "starter"). Getting a strong "Danny Spond" vibe from him. Not going to blow anyone away with his athleticism, but a smart, hard-working LB who plays assignment-correct football could make the same sort of difference in 2015 that Spond did in 2012.

Yeah. I'm still not entirely clear what the third linebacker is supposed to do in our defense. But when he played, Martini played well. He could develop into a very solid player.

As for the middle, glad to have Grace back but hard to see how he'll jump both Schmidt and Morgan. Still, he could be a very solid contributor on the depth chart. And I learned a few years ago not to sweat the scholarship limit. It always works out in the end.

And with Onwualu, why don't we just move him to that Farley safety role and be done with it already? We need a guy there, and that seems a better fit than LB.

 

[irishog77]

The staff, i.e. Kelly, also said he was close to 100% this past August and would be full go in the season.

I put almost zero stock in these injury updates.

 

[Old Man Mike]

IF the "rumors" mean 100% of pre-injury abilities, then we DO know what that looks like and it's REALLY good. A 100% pre-injury Jarrett Grace would be impossible to keep off the field. In that scenario, he and Jaylon would take two LB spots and Joe and Nyles would fight for the other.

IF the rumors mean "Jarrett has fully recovered as a normal human being", then he spends time spelling Joe at middle linebacker and reserve signal caller, while both Joe and Nyles likely get the reps with Jaylon.

Neither one one these scenarios is a bad one to imagine. ... especially if Nyles keeps improving his instincts for reacting to the correct gaps, and maybe figures out his pass drops better.

Only if the rumors are mainly pollyanna-ish baloney do we not improve significantly as a team. Jarrett Grace is a football player.

 

[BobbyMac]

A miracle, if true. I remain skeptical, though. Will be amazing if Grace manages to produce at all next year.

Agreed and how sweet the sound if true.

.

 

[BobbyMac]

What a delicious mess spring ball will be this year trying to figure who will play at LB instead of who can play.

.

 

[kmoose]

Jaylon. Grace. Schmidt

Barajas. Morgan. J.O.

And yet another one sleeping on Greer Martini

 

[connor_in]

Yea, I'm thinking the same. He had the surgery in October with approx 5 months recovery.. Does he really get into football shape and make an impact next year? I hope so but I'm skeptical.

your avatar seems to agree with you in looking skeptical

 

[Irishman77]

And yet another one sleeping on Greer Martini

Yeah its really close.....but ...we will see.

Grace was my favorite player before injury.

 

[Wild Bill]

IF the "rumors" mean 100% of pre-injury abilities, then we DO know what that looks like and it's REALLY good. A 100% pre-injury Jarrett Grace would be impossible to keep off the field. In that scenario, he and Jaylon would take two LB spots and Joe and Nyles would fight for the other.

Do you think pre-injury Grace played better ball than Schmidt this past season? I think Schmidt outplayed him and it wasn't even close. Grace was playing better before he got hurt but he struggled quite a bit in the early part of the 2013 season. We fell apart on defense without Schmidt and he's the leader of the unit. I just don't see him riding the bench even if Grace is 100%.

 

[BobbyMac]

Do you think pre-injury Grace played better ball than Schmidt this past season? I think Schmidt outplayed him and it wasn't even close. Grace was playing better before he got hurt but he struggled quite a bit in the early part of the 2013 season. We fell apart on defense without Schmidt and he's the leader of the unit. I just don't see him riding the bench even if Grace is 100%.

Exactly. Who was the last ND LB to play better than Schmidt not named Te'o or Smith.

.

 

[Luckylucci]

Its also a different system. I think there will be spots for Grace to play. Pro Style/heavy run teams like Stanford I could see a 100% healthy Grace get the start. However, overall the system that BVG runs is much better suited for a Morgan or Schmidt at MLB. Keep in mind how much we play out of the nickel, very unlikely that Grace is one of the two LB's we put out there.

 

[ulukinatme]

Jarrett checked in at 252 last year, only 8 pounds lighter than Romeo, and was 1 lbs heavier than Trumbetti. I wonder if Grace couldn't work out as a DE? We certainly don't need our LBs to be as beefy as Grace is in a 4-3, Grace was better suited for 3-4 in the middle.

 

[Riddickulous]

He should drop 40 pounds and play safety.

 

[arahop]

Color me a skeptic.... Who knows, maybe we get Schmidted and are in for a pot of gold at the linebacker position in the fall?!

 

[Luckylucci]

Color me a skeptic.... Who knows, maybe we get Schmidted and are in for a pot of gold at the linebacker position in the fall?!

I'm not sure I follow? Are you saying you don't like our LB corp next year?

 

[koonja]

I'm probably the only one on this site that doesn't think Grace is good. He can be a situational run stuffer IMO, and he's really good at that. If it's a RB dive, he's very strong. If he has to move at all, he gets burned. Kind of the prototypical Diaco LB recruit. Big, tough, slow. JMO.

 

[ulukinatme]

I'm probably the only one on this site that doesn't think Grace is good. He can be a situational run stuffer IMO, and he's really good at that. If it's a RB dive, he's very strong. If he has to move at all, he gets burned. Kind of the prototypical Diaco LB recruit. Big, tough, slow. JMO.

I feel like I'm being sucked into a Longo discussion from 2013.

 

[arrowryan]

I'm probably the only one on this site that doesn't think Grace is good. He can be a situational run stuffer IMO, and he's really good at that. If it's a RB dive, he's very strong. If he has to move at all, he gets burned. Kind of the prototypical Diaco LB recruit. Big, tough, slow. JMO.

I don't completely disagree with you. I really like the linebacker group of Morgan-Schmidt-Smith. I think Grace is decent and would be one hell of a backup

 

[GoIrish41]

I'm probably the only one on this site that doesn't think Grace is good. He can be a situational run stuffer IMO, and he's really good at that. If it's a RB dive, he's very strong. If he has to move at all, he gets burned. Kind of the prototypical Diaco LB recruit. Big, tough, slow. JMO.

Do not think hr is bad but never thougt he was anything to write home about. The injury could make him even less athletic. We have better options in 15.

 

[Irishman77]

I am just ecstatic after hearing Kelly confirm Grace is full go. Jarrett makes our team SSSOOO much better in terms of leadership and flexibility.

The Werewolf has been one of my favorite players since he stepped on campus and I can't wait til he takes the field once again this fall!!!! WEREOLF

 

[ulukinatme]

I agree, I like what Grace brings to the table, especially in run stopping situations.

 

[Irish#1]

I agree, I like what Grace brings to the table, especially in run stopping situations.

I'm just happy that he's healthy enough to contribute.

 

[ThePiombino]

Yeah this is really big news. Grace is a net-positive for the linebacker corps, whether he starts or not.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Certainly agreed!

 

[tko]

I'm truly shocked he's playing right now given the severity of the injury and the many breaks within the leg. He's the type of kid that will go as hard as he can for as long as he can. I hope he remains strong and contributes in a huge way. Having him out there is a great thing.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

I'm truly shocked he's playing right now given the severity of the injury and the many breaks within the leg. He's the type of kid that will go as hard as he can for as long as he can. I hope he remains strong and contributes in a huge way. Having him out there is a great thing.

It'd be great if he were good enough to lockdown the starting spot, which means he'd beat out an incumbent starter and young stud with promise. Grace certainly hits the sled hard! You notice a different pop when Grace and Jaylon hit the sled vs. the others. Their hit was an explosive pop where the others hit and then press upward.

I'll just be happy for Grace to finish his career in the rotation and hopefully healthy.

 

[ResLife Hero]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash">#NotreDame</a> ND A-to-Z: Jarrett Grace - Fifth-year senior linebacker Jarrett Grace has fought his way back fr... <a href="http://t.co/f4vgjmd6yf">http://t.co/f4vgjmd6yf</a></p>— Notre Dame on Scout (@NDonScout) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDonScout/status/600648295384494080">May 19, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Is it believed on the inside that Jarrett is back or that he's made solid gains but still missing something? I don't know how to read his situation since last year the coaches made it sound like he'd be back.

 

[PANDFAN]

Jarrett said he is def coming back for his 5th year and is playing football for ND...per me from him