Anyone else here concerned about the DL recruiting?

[INLaw]

I think we are really gonna regret not landing that WMU transfer from Michigan City that went to FSU. When you now learn we pay bigly for grad transfers so it wasn’t money it is infuriating. We are like one man short inside even with Rubio now back.

 

[ThePiombino]

A TL;DR would have been nice, but ok...

 

[Terry Jillery]

i was hoping to see a little Vernon

 

[CANONIZEFATHERSORIN]

Great post. The depth at DL was a long term project under kelly and came to fruition in the Kelly Second Era. A full rotation is hard to maintain and it seems we’ve lost it. Front 7 definitely most concerning thing heading into Saturday

 

[SeekNDestroy]

I think we are really gonna regret not landing that WMU transfer from Michigan City that went to FSU. When you now learn we pay bigly for grad transfers so it wasn’t money it is infuriating. We are like one man short inside even with Rubio now back.

It seems we aren’t expecting our grad transfers to “play school” either. I would think that would be a bonus for guys that want to spend most of their time trying to reach their goal of playing in the NFL.

 

[Irishdrunk]

Is Justin Scott going to the game? Beat OSU, flip him and call it a night....

 

[INLaw]

It seems we aren’t expecting our grad transfers to “play school” either. I would think that would be a bonus for guys that want to spend most of their time trying to reach their goal of playing in the NFL.

No this is the one who all grew up a ND fan and just felt the love more from FSU. I don’t have an intelligent opinion on Washington but this was a L

 

[INLaw]

Is Justin Scott going to the game? Beat OSU, flip him and call it a night....

Heard he was pulling a double at the Starbucks making double mochiattas for soccer moms in the suburbs. At first this was a red flag for me. But then i reviewed the Justin Brent thread and did some xnxx.com deep dive research and now I think he may be on to something.

 

[T-Boone]

I am worried sick

 

[WilliamWallace]

Recruiting is a lot more fun when you don’t get bothered or feel concern over the misses. In the portal era I have zero concerns over it, especially with how good the transfers have looked thus far.

I’m in this boat, I’d still love for us to recruit, land, and develop the higher ceiling players. I think winning gives us the best chance. The coaching staff is top notch so players will have a hard time picking against us. But with the portal we can plug and play with needs. It’s been both good and bad for us. The coaching staff has so far had a good eye for underrated talent.

 

[stlnd01]

FWIW, I think Vernon and Traore are going to become the type of guys who make threads like this feel like a bunch of worrywarting.

 

[WildMan1]

It's my biggest concern as far as position groups go.. Mills and Cross were not impressive by any means against CMU & will struggle against elite OLs.. and they grab the vast majority of snaps in the middle. We're missing a real disruptor.

Does anyone really think this rotation can hold the Buckeyes run game in check without forcing too much help from the back end? Mills, Cross, Mensah and the one who looks the best, Baptiste.. is a Buckeye transfer lol.

Those are the main guys.. It's not good enough. Keanaaina has great size but hasn't developed.. Ford, Houstan? No immediate impact.. Maybe Rubio steps up this weekend..

But overall this position has a lot to be worried about and 3*s coming in..

 

[AllTimeIrish]

In the future please start posts of this length with “Once upon a time”

The post is good from the perspective of analyzing results over the last few years. That is how programs are built. I am sorry that you can't handle that type of analysis, but I won't apologize that I can.

 

[Giddyup]

Welcome to IE.

 

[AllTimeIrish]

Very interesting read, and well-researched (genuinely, not being a smartass). But I'm also not worried about recruiting, FWIW.

Thank you. I feel as though the responses are frustrated about the situation but not wanting to admit it. A few have had good points on how it may be on an uptrend (which I tend to agree), but the angry ones tell me I struck a nerve with the fanbase on this topic. E.g., I am over the target.

I meant the post as a legitimate discussion, but realize this is the Internet and many people can't have serious discussions online. Appreciate your response!

 

[AllTimeIrish]

Welcome to IE.

I have watched for a long time and am well aware of the culture, lol.

 

[AllTimeIrish]

Get a fuckin blog.

Lol

 

[IrishLax]

That's a good breakdown and yeah I think ND lacks some of the impact pass rushers of past years. Gobaira was allegedly on a good trajectory before he hurt his knee this offseason.

I think ND really needs to add 1-2 transfers a year on the DL but that's easier said than done because everyone in the country is looking for plug-and-play DL and ND isn't going to outbid/outdo most SEC teams on that front.

 

[indianamouse]

#1 pass efficiency defence. I think the dline is a big part of that. I think we are doing just fine.

 

[Katzenboyer]

Then you’ll be happy to know that they’re recruiting a Georgia commit that fits that description. His younger brother is visiting this weekend and it’s rumored that he is too.

Yep, that's the type of guy that I think the DL classes under Freeman have been missing. Need to take this type of guy every class.

 

[IAIrish]

FWIW, I think Vernon and Traore are going to become the type of guys who make threads like this feel like a bunch of worrywarting.

Highly encouraging that when Jamie U from ISD made his annual trip to south bend for fall camp, the freshman that caught his eye was Traore.

 

[WildMan1]

Let’s see how they hold up Saturday.. This is the litmus test for the year so far.

I think we’ll know exactly where we stand.

 

[AllTimeIrish]

#1 pass efficiency defence. I think the dline is a big part of that. I think we are doing just fine.

This one is a bit hard for me based on who we played, similar to most teams. Need to get further into the season to see what trends are going to hold against better competition. Hoping you are correct!

 

[Luckylucci]

We’ll see if he’s around long enough for it to play out but there is no reason we shouldn’t be getting Tillery, Okwara, Kareem, HaYes, Ade, Foskey like results from Ford, Burnham, Gobaira, Traore, Vernon, etc.

Elston had most of those guys ready as Sophomores. Washington needs to be doing the same with his group.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Recruiting is a lot more fun when you don’t get bothered or feel concern over the misses. In the portal era I have zero concerns over it, especially with how good the transfers have looked thus far.

This was the number one lesson taught to me as a grad assistant.

Celebrate the LOI you received and don't stress about any of the guys you didn't get. You pound the pavement and work hard to try and get the best players you want, assess what you get come February and then go from there.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

The current Dline talent is lacking. Probably the weakest position group, whereas before was always a strength. So I get the OPs point.

 

[Old Man Mike]

It is a really shallow impression that I have, but watching college (and pro) football from all over it seems that having destructive D Tackles has become as important (albeit subtler) than even D Ends. Coach Kelly said immediately upon wading into the SEC season last year that the biggest difference that he saw between typical "Northern" and SEC line-ups was the constant parade of monster D Tackles on essentially every opponent, and it really messed up offensive planning.

When I look at pro and college pro-quality D Tackles, I see mainly Afro-American lineage behemoths from the South, and Polynesian lineage Blocks-of-Iron from the West and the Pacific. Sure there are many exceptions, but these two areas seem overly rich in this type of player --- Marcus Spears (one of this sort of size and power athlete, and smart, and Louisiana native and LSU forever) immediately said that Coach Kelly would have FAR better chances of recruiting "that type of player" now that he was at LSU.

Marcus Freeman and the staff must know all about this. My guess is that they try their butts off to find the War Daddy monsters who flow freely into the SEC. ... and the Polynesian Ironmen. But how do they do it? And what percentage of that class of athlete qualifies for Notre Dame? And who of them are taking second languages in HS?

When we got Te'o, I hoped that we'd establish a VERY strong presence in Hawaii/Samoa/West Coast in these strong football-playing Polynesian areas --- and we have (ultimately) done pretty well. But everyone else is waking up to this too, and it seems harder. So how do we get into the South? Regularly. Every year. ... Notre Dame recruiting staffs have a BIG problem here. I give them some slack when I evaluate their performance from my slack-ass comfortable TV chair.

 

[CANONIZEFATHERSORIN]

It is a really shallow impression that I have, but watching college (and pro) football from all over it seems that having destructive D Tackles has become as important (albeit subtler) than even D Ends. Coach Kelly said immediately upon wading into the SEC season last year that the biggest difference that he saw between

…

So how do we get into the South? Regularly. Every year. ... Notre Dame recruiting staffs have a BIG problem here. I give them some slack when I evaluate their performance from my slack-ass comfortable TV chair.

Great post. I think this is yet another reason we should join the SEC

 

[Domina Nostra]

I agree with Old Man Mike. I'd like to see one stud DT a year. This year is lacking.

 

[Luckylucci]

The current Dline talent is lacking. Probably the weakest position group, whereas before was always a strength. So I get the OPs point.

The recruited "talent" shouldn't be lacking. If we say that the top 10 DL, at the present, are Mills, Botelho, Cross, JJB, Nana, Rubio, Onye, Burnham, Hinish, and JR.

That's 8 of 10 players being former blue chip prospects out of HS. Furthermore, it's 6 former top 200 prospects.

It's no different than what's going on with Jaylen Sneed right now. He was the composite 34th best player in his entire class. ND's highest rated LB since Jaylon Smith. As a Sophomore, we are getting nowhere close to the requisite production one would expect from that type of talent.

When we signed the 2022 class that included the 34th, 109th, 120th, 159th, and 170th best prospects in the entire country. As a group we should be getting more out of those guys as Sophomores.

The talent, or lack thereof, is not the problem.