My Depth Chart for PSU

[Golden_Domer88]

Heres what I think Weis needs to have start against PSU.

QB:
1. Clausen
2. Sharpley
3. Jones

RB:
1. Aldridge
2. Allen
3. Hughes
4. Thomas

WR:
1. West
2. Kamara
3. Hord
4. Parris
5. Grimes

TE:
1. Carlson
2. Yeatman
3. Reuland

FB:
1. Shwapp
2. Schmit

Oline:
LT-Sam Young
C-Sully
rest of line whoever, just as long as they arent on the ground half of the time.

 

[johnnd05]

Come on - having Hughes ahead of Thomas and Grimes as the #5 (?!?!!!) wideout is just silly. You have NO sense of what Hughes will bring to the field, and Kamara makes a couple of garbage-time catches and now he's the #2?! And Grimes, who played great last year, doesn't get a catch from our inexperienced QBs and all of a sudden he heads to the bench? Sheesh ...

QB) 1a. Sharpley 1b. Clausen 3. Jones

WR) 1a. Grimes 1b. West 3. Hord 4. Parris 5. Kamara

RB) 1a. Aldridge 1b. Allen 3. Thomas 4. Hughes

The rest of what you say, I can take it.

 

[mlcspinner]

You don't think Allen should get the start. I woukld try to get him the ball any way you can

 

[notredomer23]

QB:
1. Clausen
2. Sharpley
3. Jones

RB:
1. Allen
2. Aldridge
3.Thomas
4. hughes

WR:
1. Grimes
2. West
3.Parris
4. Kamara
5. Hord

TE:
1. Carlson
2.Rueland
3.Yeatman


Its the year of the freshman

 

[johnnd05]

Spinner - I'm not sure Allen is ready to be a 20-carry guy. I'd still like to see Aldridge get a bit more of a chance.

ND23 - West at NUMBER FIVE?!?! Are you out of your mind? Plus, why move Reuland ahead of Yeatman? Will was #2 this week and he made a really nice catch ...

 

[notredomer23]

Spinner - I'm not sure Allen is ready to be a 20-carry guy. I'd still like to see Aldridge get a bit more of a chance.

ND23 - West at NUMBER FIVE?!?! Are you out of your mind? Plus, why move Reuland ahead of Yeatman? Will was #2 this week and he made a really nice catch ...

thanks i didnt even notice i had west at 5, i meant him at 3. Brain Fart. I know yeatman made a nice catch, but i think Reuland is better.

 

[GoshenGipper]

QB:
1. Clausen
2. Sharpley
3. Jones

RB:
1a. Aldridge
1b. Allen
3. Thomas
4. Hughes

WR:
1. Grimes
2. Parris
3a. Kamara
3b. West
5. Hord

 

[piyachi]

Big shock, everyone thinks that we should make it the all-frosh team....

Really the only thing that stands out to me is to make Parris the 3rd WR - he earned it with some big-time catches.

PSU has some hard-hitting LBs, I'd rather have Aldridge absorbing some of that than put Allen (my favorite of the backs) in. Yes the kid is talented and he may be the best back we have but he isn't built to take the punishment that he would receive in the first half of this season.

Same thing for Clausen. Kid is great, and to me is the definite future of our QB position. Why risk getting some sort of Powlus-like injury when he may not be ready to go? I imagine Weis will get him in there as much as he can but I don't think you're going to see him start for a while.

In terms of realistic changes? Give TT a shot but if he doesn't produce and others do.... less carries. If there is a change in starting QBs there may be a line shake-up... maybe Young to left tackle? (guess it all depends, I forget if Sharpley is a southpaw). You won't be seeing an entirely different team in terms of the numbers on their backs come next saturday. If that somehow happens... it would mean Charlie isn't being Charlie as well as the start of more really rough games.

 

[bostonirish1908]

QB
Jones
Sharpley
Clausen

RB
Thomas
Aldridge
Allen
Jabbie
Hughes

WR
Grimes
West
Parris
Hord
Kamara

TE
Carlson
Yeatman

This isn't what I think, but you have to be realistic and how much do you think the depth chart will change after the first game of the year

 

[Irishtat]

QB:
1. Clausen
2. Sharpley
3. Jones

RB:
1a. Aldridge
1b. Allen
3. Thomas
4. Hughes

WR:
1. Grimes
2. Parris
3a. Kamara
3b. West
5. Hord

I agree. Aldridge and Allen splitting carries with Thomas spelling Aldridge in short yardage etc. Parris looked to be pretty solid, nice hands. JC will run the prototypical CW offense best and Sharpley is the backup. DD is an athlete and needs to find the field, that is up to the coaches as to where, but something smells like he'd be more beneficial at a wideout spot a la Battle & Holiday (just my thought and probably premature). The young talent is pretty exciting and it was great to see most of them in on the action.

Just listened to the CW presser and its somewhat insightful. CW is firm with revealing the game plan on Tuesday...the QB will be no secret.

 

[Irishtat]

QB
Jones
Sharpley
Clausen

RB
Thomas
Aldridge
Allen
Jabbie
Hughes

WR
Grimes
West
Parris
Hord
Kamara

TE
Carlson
Yeatman

This isn't what I think, but you have to be realistic and how much do you think the depth chart will change after the first game of the year

I think there will be shifts across the board

 

[notredomer23]

boston you seriously think DJ should start again?

 

[bostonirish1908]

I dont want him to but wies has worked all summer on creating this new offense with DJ and I just don't see him giving up this easily. I would personally want Clausen or Sharpley they played a much better game. And Armando needs more touches, There is a reason Thomas was not the runningback in his first 4 years. And I think Duval needs to see alot more playing time. Thats what I really think. Is that what Weis is going to do probably not, he has seen these guys all summer and we saw them for one game he knows wat they can do.

 

[Irishtat]

I dont want him to but wies has worked all summer on creating this new offense with DJ and I just don't see him giving up this easily. I would personally want Clausen or Sharpley they played a much better game. And Armando needs more touches, There is a reason Thomas was not the runningback in his first 4 years. And I think Duval needs to see alot more playing time. Thats what I really think. Is that what Weis is going to do probably not, he has seen these guys all summer and we saw them for one game he knows wat they can do.

CW said after the game and again today, that the DD qb package was Georgia Tech specific. I will be shocked if DD is the starter against Penn State! I agree with Allen for sure and Kamara is a nice upside too! Anyone think Parris looked good?

 

[bostonirish1908]

I didnt know that the DD pacage was game specific, so my bad. Parris had areal nice game.

 

[IrishRamMan10]

i will make one of these soon... later tonight i am going to watch the game paly by paly with a pencil and pad and take notes on individual players on every play... this might take a while.. but i think it will help me at least understand this team better.. ill post my results too

 

[johnnd05]

i will make one of these soon... later tonight i am going to watch the game paly by paly with a pencil and pad and take notes on individual players on every play... this might take a while.. but i think it will help me at least understand this team better.. ill post my results too

Please do! That'll be a real service to everyone ...

 

[Irishtat]

i will make one of these soon... later tonight i am going to watch the game paly by paly with a pencil and pad and take notes on individual players on every play... this might take a while.. but i think it will help me at least understand this team better.. ill post my results too

break it down coach! looking forward to your analysis

 

[Akron Irish]

I didn't see Zibby doin too much yesterday. What happened to him?
I was proud to see him take a fair catch..didn't think he knew how to do that

 

[IrishRamMan10]

ima plan to watch it around 10 PM pacific time so wont be posted til about 1 or later im assumin lol... im hopin watchin individual performances will be better than watchin it live... at least i know wahts gonna happen

 

[IrishRamMan10]

Here is waht i would do if i were Charlie... granted i do not get to see these guys practice every day so i am basing my starters of what i saw when i rewatched the game last night.

Qb 1. Clausen- Stood strong in the pocket and got rid of the ball quick. His passes also seemed to have more zip on them than Evans. Clausens deep ball was long but on target. Also Clausen seems way to advanced to be a freshman. I liked it when no one was open and he rolled out to take the 1 yard loss rather than to rush a throw to make something happen.... Showed maturity on his part.

2. Demetrius- From the tape I have confidence that Clausen can do a good enough job as the starting qb and take 90 % or more of the snaps... Demetrius would simply come into the game as the change of pace QB int he Tim Tebow role last year... Looking at him in the early going he has quick cuts and is fast enough to go side to side and still out run defenders. Also id put only the first fumble as Jones fault on the second one he had both arms tightly wrapped around the ball, the LB jsut got his hand in the perfect position to rip the ball away.

3. Evan- Even though he probably will be 1 or 2 id put him here because i liked what i saw from Clausen compared to Evan. Sometimes Evan seemed to be Flat Footed in the pocket and when those GT defenders came coming he had no chance.. He also seemed to take way too much time to make his reads and get rid of the football. (main reason i liked clausen). One of sharply's deep balls was on target but long like Jimmy's however the other one with the pass interferance was not only too long if reciever kept on going but it was also a couple of yards too far in the middle of the field when it should have been more down the sideline. Also, Sharply tried go get rid of the ball when the defense was coming and lose the fumble instead of just wrapping up the ball and taking the sack.

Rb 1. Armando- Armando Allen was with out a doubt the best RB Dame had on the field on Saturday. Although we never got to see how he is blocking he was 100% the best and most elusive runner ND had on the field.

2. Aldridge- Aldridge also appeared to play solid.. On most of his runs he did not go down on first contact....He also shows good side to side movements. They did show him in blocking but he was not as good as TT or jabbie. Got thrown to the ground by one of the blizting GT linebackers

3. Travis Thomas- Whenever he got the ball he had no where to go and was not fast enough to escape the pressure. I dont even know he if had a run for longer than 1 yard.. He and Jabbie were the best at pass blocking but neither stood out.

Other notes: Jabbie was about equal to thomas in pass blocking and i do not think he ever got the ball.. Demetrius first pass was to Robert Hughes who dropped the ball.. the pass was a little low but appeared top be catchable.

Wr 1. Robby Parris should be at Z, (where samardzija played last year). I could not really see how fast he was but he is obviously fast enough to get open. He also has excellent hands... If you look back at 2 of this catched they where not easy, especially he second one where he appeared to do a half dive and catch the ball with his arms fully extended... He may be the surprise reciever this season.

2. Duval/ West- I like what i saw from both of these guys both could get open easily it appeared. George would get open with his quick cuts and Duval more with his body... Either one of these guys would do well as the X reciever ( rhema last year).

3. Grimes- Grimes is here because even though he was # 1 in the depth chart, when ND wanted to pass the ball they normally had 4 recievers and when ND had 3 recievers on the field Grimes was almost always in the slot... He seems to be more of a natural slot reciever.

4. Duval/ west- Read above.

5. Hord- Hord played very well at the end of the game as well. He got open frequently.

Note: When ND had 3 TE's on the field even early in the game Hord seemed to always be the one WR that would be on the field.. I do not know why but its something i picked up on.. My guess is that he is the best combination of size and speed that ND has at reciever.
2. When ND had their first drive in the redzone Duval Kamara was on the field... its appearant Charlie likes him and Parris in the redzone.
3. OF all the recievers George West seems to do the best in space.

TE 1. Carlson- Easy pick here... SHowed us late in the game that he is still a huge weapon for ND... he was the best blockin TE on the field and also THROW HIM THE BALL.

2. Yeatman- He was very good at blocking. He looks like a monster out their and can still get open in the field... He also had a very nice catch on waht appeared to be an out route. Also when ND thought they had pressure coming on one side Yeatman would be the man to motion over to that side and help in protection.

3. Ragone- Lets get him and his speed on the field becuase i did not see konrad do anything really productive.

O-line- Keep it the same i guess.. So much stuff went bad taht i could not tell what was going on... partly because I obviously do not know the players assignments. I do not believe that we will see another Blitzing D taht GT's again this year so i am not too worried about another game like that...

ON TO DEFENSE

 

[IrishRamMan10]

I am doing defensive and player by palyer notes rather than a depth chart

I am doing defensive and player by palyer notes rather than a depth chart

DLINE

Kuntz- Kuntz stopped the inside running game very well. When ever GT wanted to run the ball up the middle kuntz was there to at the very least make choice change directions... he got backed up by the center and guards quite a bit but what is expected by a NT in the 3-4. Kuntz also gets his hands up to try and disrupt the passes

Laws, Brown- Both wher good on the edges.. Neither really had any flashy palys but were solid enough to hold their ground. Laws shows good pursuit in the open field... he made a couple of tackles a long way form the D-line.

Stephenson- Stephenson came in to replace Brown after he was ejected...Played solid but got pushes around more than Brown did.... Also when it was a passing situation for Gt like 3 & 10 even before Brown got ejected Stephenson would be on the fielf instead. I guess he is a better pash rusher.

Williams- Didnt get to see him much.... didnt appear to be a detrementral dropofff from kuntz

LB

Mo Crum- He was all over the field chaing the defenders... But what I liked about him the most was that he was never out of position, he always seemed to be at the right place at the right time...Played best of all the LB's in stuffing the run, but was somethimes handled by a guard as expected.

Toryan/ Brockington- I tried but failed at exactly determining when one of them would be on the field and when of them would be off. Toryan was more on the running downs and Brockington more on the passing downs but those were not always the case... brockington seems to be much of an upgrade in coverage.

Vernaglia and Ryan- They sometimes seemed to be out of position by my standards (if taht means anything) but they played fairly solid... they both seem very fast as well.. Ryan can move for a guy his size... Vernaglia impressed me with his speed and pursuit... Another thing that i like about Vernaglia is that he almost always tries to strip the ball. Almost every time i saw him in on a tackle or near the ball he was going for it... i hope to see some forced fumbles from him.

Notes: 1. this LB core is a much more sure tackling group... shouldnt be as many broken tackles like last year.
2. Mo richardson seemed to come in as a LB on passing downs

Zibby- Seemed to be more like 05 zibby than 06, but is still not as much of a presense as id like him to be. Shows great speed however, on one paly he almost went from sideline to sideline to make a tackle... hope to see big things from him.

Bruton- Seems to be a ball hawking safety... Where ever the ball was going Bruton hurriefd over to get there... He is a great example of how ND's D swarms to the ball more this year. Also had that outstanding special teams play as the gunner on prices only good punt of the night.

Walls- Was the #2 corner on the depth chart but seemed to be on the strong side more and watched up with James Johnson ( tech # 1 reciever ) more often than lambert.. Id put his got beat count at 1 maybe 2.. Thankfully Bennett missed.. Perhaps needs to disguise whether its zone coverage, man to man or bump and run better, seemed to be early on showing waht ND was running.
Walls note: on tashards Direct snap td run aftert the Brown penalty, Walls was running around the field everywhere presnap.. it seems liked he did not know where he was supposed to be to me at least.

Lambert- same as Walls really but if put his got beat count at about 3.... he needs to jump and go for the picks rather than jsut put his hands up..

Defensive notes

1. In running situations ND played what appreared to be the 5-2 varient of the 3-4 about 90% of the time... Obviously better for stopping the run..

2. I could have missed one or two but i only counted ONE run of 10 or more yards for GT inside the tackles... All of the 10 + yard runs came from outside the tackles... Good to see we are plugging the middle.

3. Appeared that in a pile Tommy Z stepped on a dude on purpose.... I like it but he better watch out for those.

4. Biggest thing i probably caought was in several 3 and longs Tommy Z would play as a Linebacker and either blitz the QB or drop into a zone coverage. when he would be doing this Bruton would be at SS and play a deep coverage and Kyle Mcarthy would play FS and drop into coverage.... Interesting formation to see.... Kind of lookes like a nickle varient... Crum would be the other LB...

Hope you enjoy these... they took forever LOL

 

[kjones]

Great works, reps on your way.

 

[IrishRamMan10]

thanks guys appreciate taht you guys read them... I know they are rather lengthy

 

[johnnd05]

Great works, reps on your way.

Indeed. Anyone who doesn't rep the manrammer after that is a tool.

 

[IrishRamMan10]

Indeed. Anyone who doesn't rep the manrammer after that is a tool.

haha... take my opinions for waht they are worth... Im no expert.. Just posted waht i saw... prolly not always right.... I enjoyed watchin it again i dont really know why.. I guess its jsut becuase i can see the potential now.

Hopefully im Charlie in Training HAHA... I run my madden offense based on a "what would charlie do basis...... I guess thats why i am 7-0 in my madden league... haha

 

[johnnd05]

Thought this was worth passing along, from Ben Ford:

Aldridge gaining ground
Posted: September 04, 2007 10:26 PM

It's not often that a six-carry, 19-yard game improves your standing on the depth chart, but James Aldridge is inching closer to Travis Thomas for the starting running back spot following Thomas' horrific seven-carry, minus-7-yard effort last Saturday against Georgia Tech.

"I don't even know if he's (No.) 2," Irish coach Charlie Weis said Tuesday. "He's almost slash-one. He just doesn't go in first. I think that James and Travis are very close. They are both very strong, physical running backs. Hopefully we'll give him a little more opportunity for success this week than we did last week."

Aldridge, a sophomore from Crown Point, Ind., doesn't know where he fits on the running back carousel, but is ready to play his part.

"Whatever Coach calls, if I'm in the game and I get the carry, then so be it," Aldridge said.

Aldridge did admit that not knowing when his number would be called made it hard to get into a rhythm.

"It's kind of hard, but once the game gets going, it's not a problem. Once you're in the game once, you know what the game tempo is," Aldridge said.