2026 ND Portal Targets

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2013Irish

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tirishman505 said:
I mean, we wouldn’t be in a frenzy if we hadn’t whiffed in recruiting several years running.
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They had the number two class in the country. Shocking that there might be some trade-off for attracting elite high-school talent.

Not to sound like a boomer, but the portal has really taken away the fun of a team compensating for its weaknesses and developing unproven guys over the course of a season.
 
PolishDomer

PolishDomer

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RudyVerse said:
PSU DT has arrived on campus now, per ISD.

Everyone act normal.
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parks-and-rec-dont-be-suspicious.gif
 
IRISHDODGER

IRISHDODGER

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Rocketman84 said:
Given those options of Pyne right NOW vs a FR I'd take the FR. Pyne was below average at ND and has gotten considerably worse as a player and turnover prone, at least the FR has upside and can grow from his mistakes which seems like something Pyne has been unable to do.
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No one disagrees that Pyne isn’t good. But he was able to be a game manager when he had great talent around him like his two years at ND. Look at what they were able to do in 2022 w/ him & Buchner. It showed how talented ND was at everywhere EXCEPT QB b/c he’s clearly been bad elsewhere when surrounding talent was below avg. That’s all I’m saying. You say you’d take a FR right now but when the bullets are flying and he gets strip sacked & throws a pick six, you’ll be wishing you had a solid FCS kid who could at least manage the offense for a few series or games.
 
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tirishman505

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2013Irish said:
They had the number two class in the country. Shocking that there might be some trade-off for attracting elite high-school talent.

Not to sound like a boomer, but the portal has really taken away the fun of a team compensating for its weaknesses and developing unproven guys over the course of a season.
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DT has been the weakness of this defense for at least the last 2 years. The fact that we killed it in the secondary in this year's recruiting class doesn't make up for that. Even the DL guys we got, while quite promising, are not projected as run stuffing DTs. Because of those interior recruiting shortcomings, we've literally been running the "developing unproven guys" playbook, to only limited success. Harold Cross comes to mind, as someone who played well despite his physical shortcomings. Now even our unproven guys are not up to snuff. Hence needing to reach in the portal.

In many ways, the portal is a blessing for us. 10 years ago we'd have no hope to recover, but now we have the option to pay, even overpay, to correct a mistake.
 
Rocketman84

Rocketman84

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NumbersGuy0520 said:
Re: Cam Williams, from what I remember, Merc basically described the situation as a player with incredible talent and intangibles who had absolutely terrible coaching in HS. And even with basic stuff — like how to run routes. The staff knew that he would need some coaching up and that his time would eventually come — ideally this upcoming year (Merc did say he wouldn’t be ready this past year going into the season).

Surprised that something like this would take 2 full years, so I’m now bearish on Cam as well, but technically this is still going according to plan (at least with what the staff envisioned)? Or maybe that’s cope.
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I think this year he will have a solid year
 
Rocketman84

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IRISHDODGER said:
No one disagrees that Pyne isn’t good. But he was able to be a game manager when he had great talent around him like his two years at ND. Look at what they were able to do in 2022 w/ him & Buchner. It showed how talented ND was at everywhere EXCEPT QB b/c he’s clearly been bad elsewhere when surrounding talent was below avg. That’s all I’m saying. You say you’d take a FR right now but when the bullets are flying and he gets strip sacked & throws a pick six, you’ll be wishing you had a solid FCS kid who could at least manage the offense for a few series or games.
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I'm saying again I would take a FR getting experience and throwing a pick 6 over a 6th year Pyne throwing pick 6s and getting strip sacked with no upside at all. Your now comparing him to Atkinson who's an average talent who had a productive year at Mercer? It's a significant difference in competition and talent, against his two best/notable opponents he went 38/72 for 356yds 1 TD 6 INT! So yes, I would rather develop the "in house" FR talent instead of bringing in a lesser talented RS FR.
 
IrishLax

IrishLax

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NumbersGuy0520 said:
Re: Cam Williams, from what I remember, Merc basically described the situation as a player with incredible talent and intangibles who had absolutely terrible coaching in HS. And even with basic stuff — like how to run routes. The staff knew that he would need some coaching up and that his time would eventually come — ideally this upcoming year (Merc did say he wouldn’t be ready this past year going into the season).

Surprised that something like this would take 2 full years, so I’m now bearish on Cam as well, but technically this is still going according to plan (at least with what the staff envisioned)? Or maybe that’s cope.
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I think he falls into the same trap as a lot of 5-star WRs that bust which is that his rating comes from displaying elite athletic traits rather than other skills. Yes, having some combination of size/speed/agility or whatever is great. But the biggest thing is if you can run route to separate AND/OR if you have great hands and good catch radius. The ones that do both at an elite level usually end up being the pro bowlers and HoF type guys in the NFL. It's not always easy to evaluate who has that kind of ability which is why you see guys like John Ross get drafted a lot higher than a Puka Nacua or Cooper Kupp. With Williams, I could definitely see some sort of role where he a deep ball guy, but it remains unknown whether he's ever going to display the kind of ball skills or route running you need to be a versatile impact player at the position.

I'm personally more bullish on Burress ... who allegedly has really good hands ... and Gilbert who has shown flashes. And then you've got all of the freshmen coming in... at least 2 of those 5 guys probably has some juice.
 
IRISHDODGER

IRISHDODGER

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IrishLax said:
I think he falls into the same trap as a lot of 5-star WRs that bust which is that his rating comes from displaying elite athletic traits rather than other skills. Yes, having some combination of size/speed/agility or whatever is great. But the biggest thing is if you can run route to separate AND/OR if you have great hands and good catch radius. The ones that do both at an elite level usually end up being the pro bowlers and HoF type guys in the NFL. It's not always easy to evaluate who has that kind of ability which is why you see guys like John Ross get drafted a lot higher than a Puka Nacua or Cooper Kupp. With Williams, I could definitely see some sort of role where he a deep ball guy, but it remains unknown whether he's ever going to display the kind of ball skills or route running you need to be a versatile impact player at the position.

I'm personally more bullish on Burress ... who allegedly has really good hands ... and Gilbert who has shown flashes. And then you've got all of the freshmen coming in... at least 2 of those 5 guys probably has some juice.
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Agreed. I think, like QB’s who bust; they are a product of the 7on7 circuit along with putting up big numbers at camps like Irish Invasion.

Not related to the thread, but forgot that Puka Nacua faced ND when the Irish squared off vs BYU in Vegas. He was non-factor for the most part which is why I forgot he was on that team.
 
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sfk324

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He's been mentioned in the general thread, but wanted to throw Francis Brewu in over here as well. He has history with Partridge, who recruited him at Pitt. Not the "big ugly" type people are hoping for, but he seems to fit the Donovan Hinish mold of doing well with what he has.
 
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