'25 NC S JaDon Blair (Notre Dame Signee)

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DomeFieldAdvantage

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ColoradoIrish said:
Sucks to lose long rangy athletes, but Ethan Long looked better in the limited action they both saw.
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And apparently looked better even as early as the second bye week if you read between the lines of Eric Hansen's midseason freshmen check in. There were questions about Blair's temperament and physicality, with a quote about him maybe moving to receiver. Meanwhile, Long was described as recently surging and really coming into his own. And that was before his late season game action.
 
Dale

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In 2027, you would be looking at:

Ben Minich (maybe), Tae Johnson (maybe), Brandon Logan (maybe), Ethan Long, Nick Reddish, and Joey O’Brien

Safety isn’t that deep. But that excludes a move from Golden, Pouncey or someone else.
 
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brewdog_14527

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Dale said:
In 2027, you would be looking at:

Ben Minich (maybe), Tae Johnson (maybe), Brandon Logan (maybe), Ethan Long, Nick Reddish, and Joey O’Brien

Safety isn’t that deep. But that excludes a move from Golden, Pouncey or someone else.
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But that doesn't mean you can hold onto Blair til 2027. Current state of college football means if you are short, you can go to the portal. And maybe you get another top safety in the next recruiting class.
 
Dale

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CanadalovesND said:
And the ‘27 recruiting class.
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Clearly but you wouldn’t bank on that for playable depth. If Tae pops, which he probably does, you’re likely looking at needing all 4 of Long - JOB to hit without a position change. To me Golden is more Nickel/Safety than Nickel/Corner in the future.
 
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PutuporShutup

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Dale said:
Clearly but you wouldn’t bank on that for playable depth. If Tae pops, which he probably does, you’re likely looking at needing all 4 of Long - JOB to hit without a position change. To me Golden is more Nickel/Safety than Nickel/Corner in the future.
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Of course we'd like to have 4 really good safeties, but the reality is we had 2 this year (tae and adon), stroman provided depth from the portal, talich really found his niche in dime packages (who would have thought talich would be better in coverage than bowen?).

From week 4 on Adon and Tae took almost all meaningful reps until Tae got injured.

Again, agree we need/want 4 good ones, but you really need 2 studs, and I think Pouncey moves to safety.

JOB, Ethan Long, Pouncey.... 2 of those 3 need to be studs. You think reddish plays safety and not nickel? He's physical, just doesn't have the length ND likes.
 
SDIrishFan

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I'm not sure anyone knows, but I'm wondering if the phrasing of these "pay cuts" is more in semantics, or even part of the original deal. The reason I ask is I've also heard a lot of Freshman deals are "front loaded" or they get large "signing bonuses".

So, I guess my question is, are they truly taking "pay cuts" in year 2, or was the expectation or the agreement in the deal such that, they got say $300k upfront, and then say $50k per year assuming they weren't a front line player?

I know it doesn't matter, but I just find the terminology odd with the term "pay cut", it's definitely a negative term.
 
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allenm5333

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SDIrishFan said:
I'm not sure anyone knows, but I'm wondering if the phrasing of these "pay cuts" is more in semantics, or even part of the original deal. The reason I ask is I've also heard a lot of Freshman deals are "front loaded" or they get large "signing bonuses".

So, I guess my question is, are they truly taking "pay cuts" in year 2, or was the expectation or the agreement in the deal such that, they got say $300k upfront, and then say $50k per year assuming they weren't a front line player?

I know it doesn't matter, but I just find the terminology odd with the term "pay cut", it's definitely a negative term.
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Wouldn’t be surprised if year 1 is like a signing bonus. Then each following year has a baseline number that can be re-negotiated based on performance
 
stlnd01

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allenm5333 said:
Wouldn’t be surprised if year 1 is like a signing bonus. Then each following year has a baseline number that can be re-negotiated based on performance
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Not so long ago we were all very concerned about ND’s unwillingness/inability to pay high school recruits upfront like some other places were.
Well, this is what it looks like when you do that and they don’t pan out. Is all.
 
Rocketman84

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Cpnd1 said:
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Hope this doesn't come back to bite them in the a$$, just don't see Ethan Long being a better player based on watching both since Prepsters. Long looked much improved since HS in limited action but Blair was a difference maker on both sides of the ball.
 
IAIrish

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Rocketman84 said:
Hope this doesn't come back to bite them in the a$$, just don't see Ethan Long being a better player based on watching both since Prepsters. Long looked much improved since HS in limited action but Blair was a difference maker on both sides of the ball.
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I know it was only Syracuse, but Long flashed big time in theat game. I don't recall seeing Blair.
I'd prefer the better player now since these now seem to be year-to-year contracts.
 
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Rocketman84

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IAIrish said:
I know it was only Syracuse, but Long flashed big time in theat game. I don't recall seeing Blair.
I'd prefer the better player now since these now seem to be year-to-year contracts.
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Yea, I just can't much stock into how a guy looked in the secondary in a blowout against Syracuse. He's a long and physically developed player but not the most twitchy or athletic guy. Seems the staff is banking on Pouncey and JOB to be immediate help.
 
GoIrish41

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Rocketman84 said:
Yea, I just can't much stock into how a guy looked in the secondary in a blowout against Syracuse. He's a long and physically developed player but not the most twitchy or athletic guy. Seems the staff is banking on Pouncey and JOB to be immediate help.
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You don’t know shit.
 
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CanadalovesND said:
Driskell is implying that there is more to it than just having to take a paycut and playing time.

Typically Driskell fashion though, he refuses to elaborate further.
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He had issues with the housing situation and the fact he had essentially no PT this season and unless with the guys currently ahead of him are still here and with super stud Joey O'Brien coming in the quality PT probably wasn't going to be there until '27.

It sucks. I would've loved for him to stay because his athletic profile is special but it was going to take quite some time because as good as his size, speed, quickness and overall athleticism is, his instincts aren't currently anywhere near where they need to be to jump ahead of what we think they will have back next season and bringing O'Brien who has similar traits but with elite instincts didn't help his situation.
 
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Sometimes guys just don't end up working out. Sometimes it's a culture fit. Sometimes it's an entitlement issue. Sometimes it's a depth / path to playing time issue. Sometimes it's a missed evaluation. Increasingly there are financial implications... Most of the time it's a combination of reasons that make it in the best interest of the player and the lockeroom that a player move on. Assume the functional safety depth chart looks something like the following in 2026...

S: Adon Shuler
2. Luke Talich
3. Ethan Long
4. Brandon Logan

S: Tae Johnson
2. Joey O'Brien
3. Ayden Pouncey
4. Nick Reddish

That's incredibly deep. A lot of inexperience, but that's the reality of modern college football. If you can also "trim the fat" from your DB room and move on from the likes of Ben Minich, Karson Hobbs, Taebron Bennie-Powell (already in the portal) and Chance Tucker (already in the portal), you could create more reps for the insanely talented young guys. I think that moving forward ND will basically look at their secondary something like the following:

BC: Leonard Moore
2. Khary Adams
3. Chaston Smith

S: Adon Shuler
2. Luke Talich
3. Ethan Long
4. Brandon Logan

S: Tae Johnson
2. Joey O'Brien
3. Ayden Pouncey
4. Nick Reddish

FC: Christian Gray
2. Mark Zackery
3. Cree Thomas

NB: Dallas Golden
2. Potential Portal Addition

That's about as deep as it gets in college football gents. Each of those positions will be AT LEAST 2 deep with the type of talent that is foundational to a top 10-15 defense nationally.
 
FWIrish4

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Rocketman84 said:
Yea, I just can't much stock into how a guy looked in the secondary in a blowout against Syracuse. He's a long and physically developed player but not the most twitchy or athletic guy. Seems the staff is banking on Pouncey and JOB to be immediate help.
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Brandon Logan was having a great fall camp before he got injured.

Someone in the class had to be the odd man out at some point and if you’re the one unwilling to take the pay cut, then it is what it is.
 
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jprue24

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IrishInOntario said:
Sometimes guys just don't end up working out. Sometimes it's a culture fit. Sometimes it's an entitlement issue. Sometimes it's a depth / path to playing time issue. Sometimes it's a missed evaluation. Increasingly there are financial implications... Most of the time it's a combination of reasons that make it in the best interest of the player and the lockeroom that a player move on.
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Well stated.
 
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