'24 OH S Taebron Bennie-Powell (Notre Dame Signee)

[Irishdrunk]

No spin required. Freeman is Notre Dame’s head coach, and not only approved the young man, but welcomed him on the team with a full scholarship. Congrats to him. If you and whoever else would like to b*#%€ about how unacceptable this is, there’s multiple other general program threads for that. Capiche?

“Nothing to see here people, move along.”

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

I mean there is no objective evidence to indicate any of that is true.

By the measures they got at camp, he is actually quite athletic and fast for a guy with his length, being nearly 6'2 and 190. He also, by many accounts, performed well at the recent camp. You're making assumptions based on what amounts to like 20 seconds of clips, when in reality, they worked him for a lot longer before coming to the decision.

The reality is that he is a project, but one with the upside due to his combination of length, speed and ability to make open field tackles.

Bolden has the track record of funneling high level D1 talent into programs, so he has the credibility to back up that claim.

I also highly doubt TBP has never played safety. He's seen playing a little bit of it in his junior film. We just need to see a lot more of it.

I'm concerned about how this safety class is reliant on athletic projects, rather than established good safety prospects, but it was with these longer, athletic projects that he build an elite secondary at Cincinnati with Sauce, Bryant, Wiggins and Forrest. So not only does Bolden have the credibility, but Freeman does as well, because he's coached up a lot of raw athletes into some of the best DB's in the country.

Fair points. Imagine the meltdown over the state of CB recruiting if Sauce had been offered and committed to ND at the time.

 

[NDFAN2008]

People bitching about his ranking he’s rated higher than Urlacher I’d rather have a hungry 3 star kid ready to prove himself then a 5 star kid expecting to start day 1.

 

[Katzenboyer]

And i hope posters don't take it like we're attacking him personally when we aren't excited with this commitment. Super happy for him and he's lucky to get a scholly to ND, but wish we were recruiting safety much better.

I hope he crushes it, i hope that for every recruit. Just don't expect it with some, this is one.

This is how I feel. I'll be rooting for this guy to kill it at ND, and hope that he does.

I also think it's perfectly fine to question why he needed to be an option in the first place.

 

[Katzenboyer]

People bitching about his ranking he’s rated higher than Urlacher I’d rather have a hungry 3 star kid ready to prove himself then a 5 star kid expecting to start day 1.

I would rather have a hungry 5 star kid ready to prove himself. And it's what ND needs if they ever want to take a step up to the next level.

 

[BeauBenken]

Fair points. Imagine the meltdown over the state of CB recruiting if Sauce had been offered and committed to ND at the time.

To put in perspective, Gardner had a 247 rating of .8044 when he committed to Cincinnati. That is over .05 points behind TBP.

 

[fightingirish26]

FWIW he played safety before transferring to Lakota west

 

[BeauBenken]

I am happy for TBP, and I am absolutely laughing at anybody who watched the ISD clip and thinks they have an ability to assess his capabilities.

Haven't seen enough on the kid to make a judgement for myself but I remember people acting like Jack Kiser couldn't hold a P5 jock strap because he played low level ball in Indiana. I saw the kid in person. He was different. In person evaluation from our coaches and other successful coaches I will take over the takes of message board warriors and reporters who never saw the kid in person.

If you have complaints it should be about what the hell is our safety board.

In the end though, we still have half a year until the early signing period.

 

[stpeteirish]

People bitching about his ranking he’s rated higher than Urlacher I’d rather have a hungry 3 star kid ready to prove himself then a 5 star kid expecting to start day 1.

Whose rating? 247 has TBP lower in both their rating and the composite. 84 vs 87 on their rating, that's not even close.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Somewhere between being a bust and being Sauce Gardner, there is being a two deep contributor on special teams and earning his degree. I think I'd be perfectly fine as a fan if he fell in the middle of that spectrum somewhere.

At a certain point, Freeman is going to be deep enough into his ND tenure as HC that Cincinnati will long be forgotten. If he can get a few dudes like this at ND to work out, he will have proven that much more to the general public.

 

[NDQuebec]

I am happy for TBP, and I am absolutely laughing at anybody who watched the ISD clip and thinks they have an ability to assess his capabilities.

Haven't seen enough on the kid to make a judgement for myself but I remember people acting like Jack Kiser couldn't hold a P5 jock strap because he played low level ball in Indiana. I saw the kid in person. He was different. In person evaluation from our coaches and other successful coaches I will take over the takes of message board warriors and reporters who never saw the kid in person.

If you have complaints it should be about what the hell is our safety board.

In the end though, we still have half a year until the early signing period.

I'm happy for TBP too. ISD clip or not, I don't have the competence to assess his capabilities either, and neither do 99% of people on this board. That's why I refer to the rankings and the offer lists.

As for Kiser, he was a consensus 4 star and ranked way higher than TBP. The comparison doesn't hold up.

I have no idea what you are talking about when you mention in person evaluation from ND coaches and other successful coaches. What other successful coaches evaluated TBP and thought highly of him? I don't see any when looking at his offer list. And how high was he on the ND board (which ND coaches established)?

And he is recruited to be a safety, so that's why people aren't enamoured with this offer, which is directly related to the safety board.

You can laugh at anyone you want, but in the end, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that his commitment is not what fans are looking for in recruiting at Notre Dame.

Good on you if you are satisfied with it.

 

[ColinKSU]

People bitching about his ranking he’s rated higher than Urlacher I’d rather have a hungry 3 star kid ready to prove himself then a 5 star kid expecting to start day 1.

I mean, a lot of folks aren’t sold on Urlacher either.

 

[PutuporShutup]

“Nothing to see here people, move along.”

lol ...... This is like our 5th coach in a row that never makes a mistake

 

[PutuporShutup]

To put in perspective, Gardner had a 247 rating of .8044 when he committed to Cincinnati. That is over .05 points behind TBP.

There are major projects that have elite traits/athleticism like gardner, this is not that. His recent camp video at ND was very very unathletic for this level of football at the safety position, as was his JR year highlights.

 

[PutuporShutup]

No one is saying that shit.

But we're not allowed to say we think he's making a mistake? Got it

 

[irishnd31]

You can laugh at anyone you want, but in the end, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that his commitment is not what fans are looking for in recruiting at Notre Dame.

Good on you if you are satisfied with it.

And then there is the flip side of that where who really gives a rat's fat ass what some fans are looking for in recruiting at Notre Dame. I guarantee that the coaches, whose necks are the ones on the line with every commitment and player brought in, don't share the same assessments or sentiments as those who are low on a kid because they watched and broke down a 20 second video of him.

 

[Rocketman84]

People bitching about his ranking he’s rated higher than Urlacher I’d rather have a hungry 3 star kid ready to prove himself then a 5 star kid expecting to start day 1.

That's absurd unless you want to stay in the middle of the pack,! You NEED 5* kids to compete against AND beat teams like UGA, Bama, tOSU because those teams are loaded with them.

 

[Rocketman84]

To put in perspective, Gardner had a 247 rating of .8044 when he committed to Cincinnati. That is over .05 points behind TBP.

Gardner had a rating of .8344 but he was also an All State DB in Michigan so people knew he could play and had outstanding length at 6'2. Problem with Gardner was he was slight (at 163lbs) and lacked straight line speed (4.73) but his cover skills and technique were never in question. TBP has very tight hips and looks sluggish opening up and getting vertical. He strengths are getting downhill tackling and blitzing (like a LB) but his weakness is coverage! Will be interesting how to use him at 6'1 182 with LB traits being your strong point and 4.6 speed.

 

[Rocketman84]

There are major projects that have elite traits/athleticism like gardner, this is not that. His recent camp video at ND was very very unathletic for this level of football at the safety position, as was his JR year highlights.

His strengths are playing like a LB at the moment and NOT like a Safety, go figure but he really stuggled in coverage because his hips are tight and he struggles opening up and getting vertical. He excels with everything staying in front of him on the attack.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Gardner had a rating of .8344 but he was also an All State DB in Michigan so people knew he could play and had outstanding length at 6'2. Problem with Gardner was he was slight (at 163lbs) and lacked straight line speed (4.73) but his cover skills and technique were never in question. TBP has very tight hips and looks sluggish opening up and getting vertical. He strengths are getting downhill tackling and blitzing (like a LB) but his weakness is coverage! Will be interesting how to use him at 6'1 182 with LB traits being your strong point and 4.6 speed.

His profile lists him as 6'1" 180 lbs. but the Sampson article in The Athletic said he was 6'3" 190 lbs.

 

[Rocketman84]

His profile lists him as 6'1" 180 lbs. but the Sampson article in The Athletic said he was 6'3" 190 lbs.

They had him at 6'1 182lbs running 4.58 at Camp a few weeks ago so I'd side with that 100%...He's definitely not as tall as Gardner is now and he's 6'3 195lbs but he's a bit thicker up top

 

[laughingirish90]

i don't know a thing about this kid other some of you like him and some don't. does this mean we aren't going after the kid from NC anymore that just visited.

 

[MacIrish75]

i don't know a thing about this kid other some of you like him and some don't. does this mean we aren't going after the kid from NC anymore that just visited.

 

[PutuporShutup]

i don't know a thing about this kid other some of you like him and some don't. does this mean we aren't going after the kid from NC anymore that just visited.

Only freeman and maybe oleary and may golden have a clue what is going on with safety recruiting.

We talk about speed and athleticism and we're getting bigger and slower safeties. Honestly it's like we're recruiting undersized lbs to try and play safety (at least so far in this class).

 

[Giddyup]

Some cb recruits could probably shift to safety. Not too worried about it.

 

[irishnd31]

Some cb recruits could probably shift to safety. Not too worried about it.

 

[NDPhilly]

Agree that both Hobbs + Moore could easily transition to safety. You'd think you'd be on another swing CB / Safety if that was the plan though...kinda like Zigler if he really can play CB.

 

[BeauBenken]

I'm happy for TBP too. ISD clip or not, I don't have the competence to assess his capabilities either, and neither do 99% of people on this board. That's why I refer to the rankings and the offer lists.

As for Kiser, he was a consensus 4 star and ranked way higher than TBP. The comparison doesn't hold up.

I have no idea what you are talking about when you mention in person evaluation from ND coaches and other successful coaches. What other successful coaches evaluated TBP and thought highly of him? I don't see any when looking at his offer list. And how high was he on the ND board (which ND coaches established)?

And he is recruited to be a safety, so that's why people aren't enamoured with this offer, which is directly related to the safety board.

You can laugh at anyone you want, but in the end, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that his commitment is not what fans are looking for in recruiting at Notre Dame.

Good on you if you are satisfied with it.

Kiser was not a 4 star on any site when he was offered by ND at camp. Hell even after committing he didn't get a great film room eval from our own reporters. My point is that some people thought he couldn't play at the level required and then were proved wrong. In person evaluations from college and even high school coaches means something.

Quotes about Kiser so you don't have to look them up on here:

His offer list and high school competition would suggest a career path closer to Brandon Tiassum than Drue Tranquill. I sincerely hope Kiser proves the naysayers wrong though.

I have to say I’m with Tim and I just don’t get it with this kid.

What if Prister is right and we took a guy mid summer who's not starter caliber at ND? You can look at it both ways.

And I'm with Prister on this one.

You guys like him. I wouldn't have taken him.

We'll see how he does, I won't forget 4 years from now.

Look what you made me do. You made me quote Koon.

And to your final points, like I said, you can be concerned with "how did we get to this point on our safety board?" but the kid has gotten a thumbs up from our staff and from heralded high school coaches. I will take their evaluations on his abilities over anyone on this board.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Was this at the same time that Koon was saying he could take a P5 linebacker in the Oklahoma drill?


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[BeauBenken]

Was this at the same time that Koon was saying he could take a P5 linebacker in the Oklahoma drill?


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Look, he used to be an alright high school swimmer. I'm sure it'd be easy.

So long as he could stop staring at their abs.