Offensive Line Thread

[Free Manera]

Maybe not, but it also could be. It could be/likely is one or some of the following.

- He is either really bad in general, and that is a scouting/evaluating mistake (on Quinn).
- He is being asked to do things he has never done/can't do (Quinn).
- He is being poorly taught/prepared (Quinn).
- He is covering mistakes of the other lineman thus slacking on his responsibilities (Quinn).
- He is the best we have, and we did a bad job of recurting/evaluating (Quinn)
- He is fat/slow/lazy and doesn't work hard (Madden)

To add on, it's also possible he developed a technique flaw that isn't being seen or addressed. Or worse, his technique was fine and Quinn changed it, and now it's not fine.

 

[Dale]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/geoffschwartz/status/1445731193199083528?s=21[/TWEET]

Topical.

A shame to because Kyren embodies what Staley is talking about and can’t show it

 

[NDFAN420]

Explain his play vs Toledo. Comparable level of play to Marshall right?

Not a bad point at all. It reminded me that before HH got here, we were all up in arms (and rightly so) about how passive the o-line was, while blaming Kelly and his system. HH put a stop to that. We're back where we started with BK and his o-line.

I wasn't an o-lineman, CB and WR (throwing crack blocks back when they were legal, bye-bye brain cells), but if I saw a defender spending too much time on my QB or RB after the play was dead, I wouldn't just mill about like these guys.

 

[pumpdog20]

I have seen several posters write about the failures of Madden being on Quinn. Not sure if that is what you are saying here, but I really don't get that thought process. The guy played three years in another program and was an All-American. Do we really think that Quinn has somehow destroyed everything that he has learned and made him play poorly? Maybe Madden is just in over his head and he was very good for the level he was playing but didn't expect the jump up to big boy football to be as big as it has been.

That being said, it is time for Quinn to go. I just don't think you can blame him for Madden.

In over his head, very good for the level he was playing, big boy football... my dude, outside of Cincinnati the teams we have been playing are at the same level or not that much better than the level he came from where he was an All Amercian, not just All MAC. It's not unreasonable to expect maybe a bit of a downgrade from all american when he came here, but All American to down right bad ain't it. If it's not on Quinn, then it might be injury related. The fact that the entire line sucks, I'll go with Quinn.

 

[Rogue219]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/geoffschwartz/status/1445731193199083528?s=21[/TWEET]

Topical.

A shame to because Kyren embodies what Staley is talking about and can’t show it

I saw this earlier this morning. It's excellent. He's 38 years old and has coached 4 NFL games as an HC. He doesn't look like or sound your neanderthal meathead guy but he's smart and he's saying something that not only makes total sense but is something that so many of his counterparts making millions either don't know or seem to forget.

The job his defense did last year with the Rams was very impressive.

Started at QB for Dayton for two years and most of his coaching career has been on defense.

 

[dublinirish]

I saw this earlier this morning. It's excellent. He's 38 years old and has coached 4 NFL games as an HC. He doesn't look like or sound your neanderthal meathead guy but he's smart and he's saying something that not only makes total sense but is something that so many of his counterparts making millions either don't know or seem to forget.

The job his defense did last year with the Rams was very impressive.

Started at QB for Dayton for two years and most of his coaching career has been on defense.

There's a guy called Chris Vasseur aka Coach Vass who is popular on the podcast circuit and hes been a Staley guy since he was at John Carroll. Thinks he world of him as a coach and a person.

 

[Luckylucci]

At the bare minimum the Cain Madden saga is a failed evaluation. Miserable fail. And with so much film to watch, I don't get how they could get it so wrong. Seems very bizarre to me.

 

[Irish#1]

Read somewhere that Madden's lateral mobility is not what you expect from a guy playing on a top team. He's good when taking on the guy at the first level, but if he has to get to the second level he struggles to get there if his man isn't in front of him. TBH, I don't know how valid that is because I have spent time watching his play to validate or not. I think the level of play is a step up from the MAC for Madden, but I think this is more on Quinn and building confidence and better communication between the line.

 

[Dale]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/matt_fortuna/status/1446145890880741383?s=21[/TWEET]

 

[pumpdog20]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/matt_fortuna/status/1446145890880741383?s=21[/TWEET]

That's a pretty disingenuous recollection of what was actually said. BK made it seem like these were guys moving on to the NFL after the season and before the draft.

 

[Luckylucci]

Everything Brian Kelly Said Thursday Ahead of Notre Dame-Virginia Tech (247sports.com)

"Regarding our former players, yeah, Harry obviously still lives in town and those guys needed somebody because they stayed locally. Harry, obviously with his his availability, trained those guys. We can't do it here. Our offensive line coach, Jeff Quinn's not available to train, nor is any offensive staff or defensive staff training guys that are moving on to the NFL. So, it was really fortunate that with these guys having apartments that are still under lease through the draft, that they were able to come back here. With Harry being in town, it worked out great that they were able to hook up with him and get some work with an experienced offensive line coach that coached in the NFL and here at Notre Dame to get some work. We're all for it. We're happy for them that they were able to get that kind of training, but it's not something that college coaches can do for guys that move on after they've graduated. We're doing recruiting and doing other things. It's just a good situation all around that he's still in town here and he was available to work with those guys."https://247sports.com/college/notre...an-Kelly-Said-Thursday-172561697/#172561697_7

https://247sports.com/college/notre...an-Kelly-Said-Thursday-172561697/#172561697_7

 

[Luckylucci]

I don't know if we'll actually see this but Kelly commented today that it's a 5 for 2 situation at OT. Carmody, Alt, Baker, Carroll, and Lugg. Of note, that's the first we're hearing of Carroll being involved or potentially getting on the field. I'd love to see them take Lugg off the field. I don't know if anyone is better but I think it's insane to think he should be playing every snap.

 

[Crazy Balki]

I don't know if we'll actually see this but Kelly commented today that it's a 5 for 2 situation at OT. Carmody, Alt, Baker, Carroll, and Lugg. Of note, that's the first we're hearing of Carroll being involved or potentially getting on the field. I'd love to see them take Lugg off the field. I don't know if anyone is better but I think it's insane to think he should be playing every snap.

It would be hard to do worse.

It's a situation where you just have to put someone out there and hope they improve, because as of now, there's no hope that Lugg is going to get any better than he is now. He's just not the same player he once was (and that player was just fairly solid).

 

[irishff1014]

At the bare minimum the Cain Madden saga is a failed evaluation. Miserable fail. And with so much film to watch, I don't get how they could get it so wrong. Seems very bizarre to me.

Well Marshall is not even close to the the talent ND plays.

 

[ulukinatme]

Is this 5th year transfer stuff really panning out for us? It worked alright with Ben last year at WR, but that was because the bar was really low for that position group. 5th year transfers can do alright at smaller schools because they're often going from a big school with a higher level of competition to a smaller G5. I'm not sure it works in reverse where a Sun Belt type guy is stepping up to a Top 25 team. It's not like we're getting Heisman hopefuls.

 

[T-Boone]

Is this 5th year transfer stuff really panning out for us? It worked alright with Ben last year at WR, but that was because the bar was really low for that position group. 5th year transfers can do alright at smaller schools because they're often going from a big school with a higher level of competition to a smaller G5. I'm not sure it works in reverse where a Sun Belt type guy is stepping up to a Top 25 team. It's not like we're getting Heisman hopefuls.

I don't think it has worked well at the receiver position which is where ND needs transfers for next season.
So they might need to work out how to recruit WRs that are good from smaller schools.
No doubt Bama will snap up the best of those but ND should be looking at the next best at least.

I bet they dump recruiting 5th year olinemen.

 

[Sea Turtle]

I don't think it has worked well at the receiver position which is where ND needs transfers for next season.
So they might need to work out how to recruit WRs that are good from smaller schools.
No doubt Bama will snap up the best of those but ND should be looking at the next best at least.

I bet they dump recruiting 5th year olinemen.

They to start getting some straight up dogs.

 

[GoIrish41]

They to start getting some straight up dogs.

CJ, Merriwether, Styles and Colzie are all studs. ND has to get young guns on the field before they transfer. It’s a brave new world with the transfer portal, and these young talented players are going to find new homes if they languish on the sidelines watching Austin and Lenzie drop passes and/or fail to get any separation.

 

[ulukinatme]

CJ, Merriwether, Styles and Colzie are all studs. ND has to get young guns on the field before they transfer. It’s a brave new world with the transfer portal, and these young talented players are going to find new homes if they languish on the sidelines watching Austin and Lenzie drop passes and/or fail to get any separation.

I agree. The current starters aren't a consistent threat at WR. Normally I wouldn't advocate getting younger guys reps when there's still something to lose, but in this case I'm not sure we're losing anything for the present season by swapping guys or at the very least getting them more reps. We can't go two years without at least one legit playmaker at WR.

 

[GoIrish41]

I agree. The current starters aren't a consistent threat at WR. Normally I wouldn't advocate getting younger guys reps when there's still something to lose, but in this case I'm not sure we're losing anything for the present season by swapping guys or at the very least getting them more reps. We can't go two years without at least one legit playmaker at WR.

And the same goes for Buchner at QB!

 

[Sea Turtle]

CJ, Merriwether, Styles and Colzie are all studs. ND has to get young guns on the field before they transfer. It’s a brave new world with the transfer portal, and these young talented players are going to find new homes if they languish on the sidelines watching Austin and Lenzie drop passes and/or fail to get any separation.

It's definitely a good start. We need to recruit studs at every position. We need studs at every coaching position.

We are trying to win a championship here.

 

[ulukinatme]

Certainly one of the better performances for the OL of the season as we got the running game going finally. Protection was still pretty bad at times, but mostly when Coan was in. Guess the guys were really happy that Buckner and Kyren had good nights.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Certainly one of the better performances for the OL of the season as we got the running game going finally. Protection was still pretty bad at times, but mostly when Coan was in. Guess the guys were really happy that Buckner and Kyren had good nights.

Not one of the better, it was absolutely the best of the season so far, by far.

Honestly, I felt the coverage was good almost all game, minus the time Alt got worked early on. Most of the pressure Coan got was self-inflicted. That dude just could not sense pressure to save his life.

But getting Correll out and replacing him with Kristofic was a huge boon for the OL.

It wasn't great, but it was passable.

 

[BilboBaggins]

The narrative will change if they continue to develop and the offense puts up numbers against the lackluster defenses that Notre Dame will see through the rest of the season. They could be a lot of "after the bye week, Kelly and Co really put up some points!" when the reality is that ND was developing a new bunch of guys against some pretty solid defenses. Most teams don't see that in the front of the season.

I'm back to being optimistic for this OL.

 

[SBirishlawyer]

I hope you are right and think it is a real possibility if we do not lose anymore OL to injury.

 

[Riddickulous]

Probably seeing Alt and Kristofic earn starting jobs here.

Assuming Fisher and Alt are the starting tackles next season, I wonder what the interior looks like. Correll back at center? Maybe Kristofic at center with Carmody shifting to guard? Will be interesting to see.

 

[Dale]

Anyone watch enough Michigan St to hear an explanation for their OL? They’ve obviously been pretty good and was just looking through stuff and from LT - RG they shuffle in a 2nd group for like a third of the snaps every week. Very interesting.

 

[Irish#1]

Anyone watch enough Michigan St to hear an explanation for their OL? They’ve obviously been pretty good and was just looking through stuff and from LT - RG they shuffle in a 2nd group for like a third of the snaps every week. Very interesting.

What's good for the defensive line is good for the offensive line?

IMO the line looked much better Saturday night. I think we'll know how big of a step they took after the USC game.

 

[StPaul_Irish]

Probably seeing Alt and Kristofic earn starting jobs here.

Assuming Fisher and Alt are the starting tackles next season, I wonder what the interior looks like. Correll back at center? Maybe Kristofic at center with Carmody shifting to guard? Will be interesting to see.

Maybe? I was thinking about this, as I obviously want Spindler to be a beast and anchor the LG spot. I also want Carmody in there as well, then I remembered that Carmody was seen taking some reps at Center. If JP goes to the league, I thought running this group out there might be fun.

LT: Fisher
LG: Spindler
C: Carmody/Kristofic
RG: Kristofic/Carmody
RT: Alt

However I would like to figure out how to get Baker in there as well, he is improving and is a monster. Only problem for me, he seems like a pure tackle.

 

[Irish#1]

Maybe? I was thinking about this, as I obviously want Spindler to be a beast and anchor the LG spot. I also want Carmody in there as well, then I remembered that Carmody was seen taking some reps at Center. If JP goes to the league, I thought running this group out there might be fun.

LT: Fisher
LG: Spindler
C: Carmody/Kristofic
RG: Kristofic/Carmody
RT: Alt

However I would like to figure out how to get Baker in there as well, he is improving and is a monster. Only problem for me, he seems like a pure tackle.

Given the circumstances, I've been a little surprised that Spindler hasn't seen any playing time yet. Maybe he's not developing as quickly as we thought?