The Biggest Offensive Surprise during 2010?

[FightingIrishLover7]

Who do you guys think will be the biggest surprise offensively for ND during the 2010 season?

Right now I debating between... Shaq Evans, Cierre Wood, Tai-ler Jones, and maybe even Braxton Cave (their something about Braxton I really like)

My shot in the dark for now anyways is Cierre Wood. This season will begin to cement an amazing career for him.

Who do you guys think it'll be?

 

[nd1]

i think it will be tai-ier jones. i think with the offence we running and the double teams loyd is going to see he wil be big for nd this year.

 

[TDHeysus]

Ive heard good things about TJ Jones....I think BK's system is Tai-lor made for him.

/rimshot

 

[nd1]

Ive heard good things about TJ Jones....I think BK's system is Tai-lor made for him.

/rimshot

nice

 

[Rocket89]

I think we're expecting good things from Cierre Wood and TJ Jones, right?

Aren't we "hoping" Shaq Evans has a good season? I'd vote for him. I could see him holding down the No. 2 receiver spot eventually.

 

[jason_h537]

Deion Walker/ John Goodman. Neither have been talked about much but 1 will see alot of PT.

 

[military_irish]

the way i take "surprise" is that we don't expect it, so that cancels wood and jones for me and i would say kamara or hughes, maybe even walker

 

[Irish.Ca]

I think that it'll be Kamara getting back into shape and playing better than he did as a freshman.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

the way i take "surprise" is that we don't expect it, so that cancels wood and jones for me and i would say kamara or hughes, maybe even walker

True I guess we do have high expectations, but if they do better than our expectations then it's still a surprise.

Although, I have said before this will be by far Kamara's best season... And Allen might end up doing really well limiting Cierre's carries.

 

[Riddickulous]

Mike Ragone.

300 yards and 5 TDs this year. Bank it.

 

[alohagoirish]

There is only ONE correct answer to this question-----CIERRE WOOD----will not only be out top back--he will be a national name by januarys bowl game-----Cierre will break a TD on purdue and won't look back all year---as he likes to put it--" I'm Lethal "---and i think we all find out how lethal ,starting from the opening game!

 

[fightinirish68]

gotta be tj jones. as a freshman your expectations can only be ase as high as mike floyds fr year and this offense is made for receiving so i believe he will succeed floyds records

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

Tai'ler Jones begs to differ...Also, keep an eye on Robby Toma. He could flourish in this offense.

 

[Maz315]

Roby Toma. Probably won't get many TD's. But will be a great possesion reciever and get us first downs. Kind of like what Robby Parris had been doing for us in the Weis Era.

 

[Riddickulous]

Roby Toma. Probably won't get many TD's. But will be a great possesion reciever and get us first downs. Kind of like what Robby Parris had been doing for us in the Weis Era.

Outside of the USC game, Robby really didn't do much. Robby and Duval Kamara put up almost identical stats.

But the other Roby, yeah. He'll make some noise before he's done here.

 

[BGIF]

I think that it'll be Kamara getting back into shape and playing better than he did as a freshman.

New coach, no weight problem, no doghouse, no recovering from knee surgery, last shot at impressing NFL scouts, double coverage on Floyd and Rudolph, Kamara makes defense pay with a career year. Look to Floyd, or Rudolph, check to the open man. Kamara all day long.

Probably the best WR blocker on the team, Kelly uses Kamara's 6-4 height at the goal line effectively to seal off the corner on runs, on play action delays, fades, and end line crossing patterns.

 

[ACamp1900]

Funny that Goodman has hardly been mentioned... I'd take him or Wood

 

[Riddickulous]

New coach, no weight problem, no doghouse, no recovering from knee surgery, last shot at impressing NFL scouts, double coverage on Floyd and Rudolph, Kamara makes defense pay with a career year. Look to Floyd, or Rudolph, check to the open man. Kamara all day long.

Probably the best WR blocker on the team, Kelly uses Kamara's 6-4 height at the goal line effectively to seal off the corner on runs, on play action delays, fades, and end line crossing patterns.

I hope to God we don't see a lot of fades this year.

Funny that Goodman has hardly been mentioned... I'd take him or Wood

He had a weak showing in the spring game (no catches). With everyone getting excited about Floyd, Rudolph, Evans (69 yards in spring game), Jones (56 yards, TD), and Kamara, they tend to forget some of the others, and understandably so.

 

[IrishLax]

I personally HATE Kamara for all of his dropped passes. Great size, TERRIBLE hands. I hope he doesn't play a down this year... give some young guys a shot.

 

[KPENN]

I personally HATE Kamara for all of his dropped passes. Great size, TERRIBLE hands. I hope he doesn't play a down this year... give some young guys a shot.

I might be getting a little to nit picky here, but hate is a pretty dumb word when pertaining to a college kid. Now that we have an actual head football coach everyone is on a clean slate and I think Kamara will be much improved.

Now to the question I have 2 seperate answers to the non Notre Dame fans or followers Dayne Crist is gonna surprise people. I don't think a lot of people outside know how good of a quarterback we have. If the knee recovers like it sounds like it is I expect him to have a great year. I also think Shaq Evans and Cierre Wood are also gonna be the surprises.

 

[IrishLax]

Yes, hate is actually way too strong of a word for what I feel towards him. I should've said "am consistently disappointed and frustrated by." But I seriously think every home game of the past 3 years I saw him make an inexplicable mistake/drop. And a lot of times they were total game changers (i.e. slipping to the ground on 4th and goal against USC last year).

Luckily, I don't think Kelly will tolerate these kinds of errors when there is so much talent waiting in the wings. I'd love to see Shaq get those snaps and see what he can do. Oh, and my surprise for this year is Cierre Wood. At the Blue & Gold game he was really impressive with his breakaway speed.

 

[KPENN]

Yes, hate is actually way too strong of a word for what I feel towards him. I should've said "am consistently disappointed and frustrated by." But I seriously think every home game of the past 3 years I saw him make an inexplicable mistake/drop. And a lot of times they were total game changers (i.e. slipping to the ground on 4th and goal against USC last year).

Luckily, I don't think Kelly will tolerate these kinds of errors when there is so much talent waiting in the wings. I'd love to see Shaq get those snaps and see what he can do. Oh, and my surprise for this year is Cierre Wood. At the Blue & Gold game he was really impressive with his breakaway speed.

Not only will Kelly not tolerate it, but he'll actually be able to help him get better and not just stick him or anyone else at the end of the bench.

 

[Riddickulous]

I personally HATE Kamara for all of his dropped passes. Great size, TERRIBLE hands. I hope he doesn't play a down this year... give some young guys a shot.

Weis taught terrible technique. Notice Golden Tate, Michael Floyd, and Duval Kamara use their body to cradle the ball instead of catching the ball with their hands (the reason Tate dropped those balls against Michigan). Of course, they will use their hands when the ball is high or low, or if a body catch will be awkward, but they favor catching the ball against the body.

Kamara's bad hands (and almost all of his drops) are a result of body catches. SDSU, 2008. Clausen throws a ball to Kamara, Kamara catches the ball with his body, the ball hits his shoulder pads, NOT his hands, and thus bounces several yards into the air and into the hands of a defender.

 

[johnnykillz]

Weis taught terrible technique.

I think you're out of line here man. Weis knows technique. This wasn't embraced technique. I am also certain CW knew good technique. This is football fundamentals and is consistently taught throughout our football playing nation at the flag football elementary levels.

Bad habits though, those are hard to break.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

I personally HATE Kamara for all of his dropped passes. Great size, TERRIBLE hands. I hope he doesn't play a down this year... give some young guys a shot.

Just you watch.. Duval is going to put up good size numbers.

My (optimistic) prediction is Duval will finish 3rd on the team in Receiving TD's.

I believe Duval is going to come out with a much better attitude and a new found work ethic.

Besides, Duval is to great of a blocking WR to keep off the field. I could definitely see him putting on a huge block for a WR like Shaq Evans and with Duval's block and Shaq's speed it'll equal a huge gain.

Give Duval a chance I think you'll be in for a huge surprise.

 

[IrishLax]

Just you watch.. Duval is going to put up good size numbers.

My (optimistic) prediction is Duval will finish 3rd on the team in Receiving TD's.

I believe Duval is going to come out with a much better attitude and a new found work ethic.

Besides, Duval is to great of a blocking WR to keep off the field. I could definitely see him putting on a huge block for a WR like Shaq Evans and with Duval's block and Shaq's speed it'll equal a huge gain.

Give Duval a chance I think you'll be in for a huge surprise.

Well I hope you're right. All I know is I gave him a chance for three years and all he did was disappoint. Can a coach break bad habits in a couple months? Maybe... but I don't think you can teach focus... and I really think that is what he lacks. I really don't see him getting many reps when it is becoming pretty clear our outside WRs will be Floyd and TJ with a mix of Theo and all the possession receivers in the slot. Now there are certainly a number of 3/4 wide sets where either Shaq or Kamara could see the field... but I don't see him putting up a big year with only a handful of reps.

Cierre Wood, who has awesome speed and I bet will split carriers with Armando, I think is going to be the player who comes out of nowhere to really be an influential player.

 

[Riddickulous]

I think you're out of line here man. Weis knows technique. This wasn't embraced technique. I am also certain CW knew good technique. This is football fundamentals and is consistently taught throughout our football playing nation at the flag football elementary levels.

Bad habits though, those are hard to break.

Terrible was pushing it. But yeah, that could have been corrected.

Well I hope you're right. All I know is I gave him a chance for three years and all he did was disappoint. Can a coach break bad habits in a couple months? Maybe... but I don't think you can teach focus... and I really think that is what he lacks. I really don't see him getting many reps when it is becoming pretty clear our outside WRs will be Floyd and TJ with a mix of Theo and all the possession receivers in the slot. Now there are certainly a number of 3/4 wide sets where either Shaq or Kamara could see the field... but I don't see him putting up a big year with only a handful of reps.

Cierre Wood, who has awesome speed and I bet will split carriers with Armando, I think is going to be the player who comes out of nowhere to really be an influential player.

Floyd is in the slot. Jones is on the outside, along with Kamara, I would assume. Rotations all over, but that was what I was seeing in the spring game.

 

[IrishLax]

You really think Floyd will be in the slot? I mean I saw every down you saw and what I took from it was that Floyd doesn't work in the slot and is much more effective on the outside. I saw them run a plethora of people through that position including Theo who I think Kelly wants to turn into the new Gilyard. I dunno... I guess time will tell... I wish I was still on campus and I could just go ask someone how everything is shaping up.

 

[Riddickulous]

You really think Floyd will be in the slot? I mean I saw every down you saw and what I took from it was that Floyd doesn't work in the slot and is much more effective on the outside. I saw them run a plethora of people through that position including Theo who I think Kelly wants to turn into the new Gilyard. I dunno... I guess time will tell... I wish I was still on campus and I could just go ask someone how everything is shaping up.

BK likes the mismatch in the secondary putting Floyd in the slot. Think about it. Floyd is doubled with a corner and a safety. He runs a post to the middle of the field, taking the safety with him in coverage. This leaves Shaq or another fast receiver free to go deep down the sideline and try to beat his man on the deep ball. Of course, that's just one scenario. It opens up a lot of opportunities.

 

[johnnykillz]

But I thought you wanted to see less fade routes...