Stepherson was quite talented, yes, and showed it in flashes, but it's hard to make "best ever" claims about a guy who played a season and a half before flaming out, over guys who played three or four, helped us win a lot of football games and went on to successful careers in the NFL. He's more a "what might have been" than a "best ever."'
Kareem had some flashes, I believe he had the game ball against SC in 2017. Pride and Kraemer played quite a bit as well
Vaughn flashed as a freshman for sure. I think we were pretty thin at corner that season and he got pressed into service as the most physically mature young guy we had. I remember thinking he was going to be a stud. But he never quite put it all together (maybe had some injuries too?), and the next year Love emerged.
Love led all freshman in games started & tackles.
Except I never said anything about him being the “best ever.”
No, but you said he was the best receiver Kelly had. You need production over a consistent time frame for that to be valid. A couple nice plays over 1 1/2 years and then transferring to become a nobody don't get you there.
I said he was the best receiver Kelly had AFTER Fuller. And frankly, none of his receivers were/have been any good after ND.
Sorry I misunderstood, but if some of those dudes are playing in the NFL currently, they were better. Results on the field matter for any "best" conversation. And flaming out of major college football isn't what the "best" do.
I don’t know what happened to him after ND. He went from blowing by Adoree Jackson to running a 4.68 at his pro day. But I do know he was better than Claypool, Boykin, St.Brown. etc. while at ND. All those guys suck in the NFL, too.
I believe Fuller has had a number of injuries since he turned pro, not surprising since he is a smaller receiver.
Although Fuller also smoked Jackson, I was speaking of Stepherson.
My memory is that Jackson bit on a double move, he never actually "blew" by him. Now Fuller on the other hand...
On the td in ‘16, yes, but he also blew by him and was not thrown to on another play.
Gotcha…..sorry about that. I live relatively close to Jax State where Stepherson transferred after ND and got to see him play once there. Not sure what happened but he just seemed to have lost his mojo after the issues he went through.
Better isn't the right term. More athletic? Sure, I'll give you that. More potential? Hell, why not? But not better. Because stats matter. Otherwise we wouldn't play football games and just decide everything on paper with potential.
He was a difference maker; the kind of player that helps teams win games. Period. If I’m picking teams coached by Kelly, he’s the second receiver off the board. I don’t care about stats, he was the best player in his class, and the 2nd best receiver of the Kelly era. Fight me.
Phenomenal but his body of work was smaller due to suspensions
Kid couldn’t stay healthy. When he was, he put up numbers. Lots of trouble w/ his hamstrings but also had a torn ACL & ended his career on IR w/ broken thumb. He was also suspended for violating the PED policy. I suspect he was taking something to help w/ recovery b/c he seemed to always battle soft tissue injuries.
I was just going to say the same thing...I have no interest in discussing past ND WRs in a DL recruits thread. I was trying to make a connection between the 2 but I fail to see it lol
Perhaps, but the more stuff like Rashada's situation comes to light, it's probably going to mitigate the NIL factor.
