'14 CA TE Tyler Luatua (Back in Blue)

[Irish Insanity]

Damn how did I miss this?

Step your fan game up

 

[ulukinatme]

I blame Booker. Never has a coach done so little with so much talent. He was lucky Eifert had a year under the previous regime.

 

[kmoose]

I blame Booker. Never has a coach done so little with so much talent. He was lucky Eifert had a year under the previous regime.

You do realize that Luatua was a three star guy, right? I mean, the disappearance of the TE certainly is valid reason to question what has happened, but people are acting like we are losing an All-American, when in reality we are losing a 3* guy with 0 catches in two years.

 

[Shamrock Theories]

I blame Booker. Never has a coach done so little with so much talent. He was lucky Eifert had a year under the previous regime.

Not to mention ND's stellar special teams performance in the Fiesta Bowl

C.J Sanders....5 kick returns for 60 yards.... 12.0 avg
ND: No punt returns

OSU...............3 kick returns for 88 yards.... 29.3 avg
OSU: .............4 punt returns for 73 yards.... 18.3 avg

Woof

 

[ulukinatme]

You do realize that Luatua was a three star guy, right? I mean, the disappearance of the TE certainly is valid reason to question what has happened, but people are acting like we are losing an All-American, when in reality we are losing a 3* guy with 0 catches in two years.

True, Tyler was never known to have soft hands, but there were also recruiting services that had him as a 4 star talent. Rivals wasn't one of them, but I think the others had him as 4 star. While he was no All American, he was our best blocking TE by a far margin. Also, we only made a few attempts to throw the ball his way in the last few years, when he didn't have concussion issues. It's difficult to say how productive Tyler could have been if he was healthy and we actually used our TE more. You can't really argue when it comes to TE production on a whole, we've under utilized the position in recent years, that's the point I was trying to get across.

Not to mention ND's stellar special teams performance in the Fiesta Bowl

C.J Sanders....5 kick returns for 60 yards.... 12.0 avg
ND: No punt returns

OSU...............3 kick returns for 88 yards.... 29.3 avg
OSU: .............4 punt returns for 73 yards.... 18.3 avg

Woof

I'm convinced that any success we did have on Special Teams last year had more to do with Yoon and Sanders being studs, and less to do with Booker coaching them. We did have some ugly numbers in the bowl.

 

[pkt77242]

You do realize that Luatua was a three star guy, right? I mean, the disappearance of the TE certainly is valid reason to question what has happened, but people are acting like we are losing an All-American, when in reality we are losing a 3* guy with 0 catches in two years.

He was a 4 composite on 247. Composite was 284 overall 4 #9 TE.

 

[BobbyMac]

He was a 4 composite on 247. Composite was 284 overall 4 #9 TE.

And during his junior year and heading into his senior year, at least 1 maybe more had him as #1 TE. He slid down the rankings significantly during his senior year.

 

[NDRock]

I blame Booker. Never has a coach done so little with so much talent. He was lucky Eifert had a year under the previous regime.

Agree, the TE production has trended down every year he's been here. Special teams aren't great either. I wouldn't have been upset to see him and/or BVG move on.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

I blame Booker. Never has a coach done so little with so much talent. He was lucky Eifert had a year under the previous regime.

Really? Booker?

I guess you could argue that, if you believed he wasn't developing the players.

But the problem is, the offense doesn't even attempt to utilize the TEs.

Kelly, and his QBs, have become fixed on WRs, especially Will Fuller as of late.

I feel like Kelly is spreading out more and more, and looking closer and closer at the boundaries.

Does anyone have stats on the slot production? Because I feel like that has gone down a lot too.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Is he in the cult?

 

[ulukinatme]

Really? Booker?

I guess you could argue that, if you believed he wasn't developing the players.

But the problem is, the offense doesn't even attempt to utilize the TEs.

Kelly, and his QBs, have become fixed on WRs, especially Will Fuller as of late.

I feel like Kelly is spreading out more and more, and looking closer and closer at the boundaries.

Does anyone have stats on the slot production? Because I feel like that has gone down a lot too.

It's tough to say if we're avoiding the TE because of a change in offensive principle, or if it's due to a lack of production/effort of the position. It could be both. I wouldn't say we've really shined at the position since Eifert departed. Every year since Anthony Fasano we've had a TE step out and take over the position. Nearly 10 years of dominating players. The talent level kept getting better, but we've been using the position less and less since Parmalee left with the old regime. Eifert had good years, but he also had a year to work with Parmalee while the others didn't. Eifert was good right out of the gate as a result, and we're still waiting for Booker to develop one of his own. Jones has the best shot at being a star (Mostly because he looks to be a "can't miss" type of guy), but it's amazing we haven't done a better job developing and utilizing the other guys we've had.

Maybe Tyler realized he would never reach his potential under Booker and this offense.

 

[DONTH8]

Is he in the cult?

If you're referring to the Mormon Church, then the answer is yes.

 

[T Town Tommy]

And during his junior year and heading into his senior year, at least 1 maybe more had him as #1 TE. He slid down the rankings significantly during his senior year.

A couple off things with that iirc. Wasn't he hurt some his senior year and didn't he shy away from the summer camps as well? Also, his hands were always a big question mark and was really projected to more of a blocking TE anyway. Wish him well at BYU.

 

[BeauBenken]

A couple off things with that iirc. Wasn't he hurt some his senior year and didn't he shy away from the summer camps as well? Also, his hands were always a big question mark and was really projected to more of a blocking TE anyway. Wish him well at BYU.

Rankings slid because he showed little effort to play receiver or other positions at camps. (He knew he was an in-line guy and had zero desire to do otherwise...for good or worse.)

 

[West Coast Domer]

Is he in the cult?

lol..as a non member of the LDS church Provo is weird.

 

[DONTH8]

lol..as a non member of the LDS church Provo is weird.

As a member of the LDS church, yes, Provo is weird.

 

[dublinirish]

Tyler is due to take a mission now right during his sit out year

 

[johnnycando]

As a member of the LDS church, yes, Provo is weird.

I liked Provo.

Not gonna lie, lots of pretty girls. I lived in Utah 2001-2004.

 

[ulukinatme]

Whenever I hear Provo and Mormons, I can't help but think of this.

Thanks, Trey Parker.

 

[Big23Head]

Per Anna, he is staying at ND. Realized he made a msitake

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Breaking: TE Tyler Luatua will not transfer from Notre Dame ($) <a href="https://t.co/WjVs6mS9tR">https://t.co/WjVs6mS9tR</a> <a href="https://t.co/jLy0Q3NMUu">pic.twitter.com/jLy0Q3NMUu</a></p>— Anna Hickey (@AnnaHScout) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnnaHScout/status/730832593516535809">May 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[IrishLion]

Per Anna, he is staying at ND. Realized he made a msitake

Oh snap!

Keep that blocking specialist!

 

[Domina Nostra]

now he needs to get some of that mean-streak back.

 

[dad4aa]

Looks like Tyler is staying at Notre Dame!!

edit: Guess I was a couple minutes late with the "breaking news"

 

[IrishLax]

Ironman had this scooped from an on campus source by two full weeks. Come take a bow.

 

[GrangerIrish24]

Yeah!!!! Good news for once!!!!

 

[IrishFanJMercy]

I think this opens up a lot for the team next year. Now you can play Alize Jones at TE, outside, or in the slot to cause match up problems.

 

[NDohio]

Ironman had this scooped from an on campus source by two full weeks. Come take a bow.

Too bad he is no Loy.

 

[ThePiombino]

Awesome news.

 

[greyhammer90]

Interesting.

 

[Ironman8]

Ironman had this scooped from an on campus source by two full weeks. Come take a bow.

Really pumped he's coming back. Helps our run game a ton. Just happened to have a friend who knows him and thankfully it all worked out for Tyler and he's back.