Theo Riddick's role should get even bigger

[Riddickulous]

Rudolph's out.

Floyd will face double and triple coverage.

So Theo Riddick's already potent role in this offense should increase exponentially. He already catches 6-7 passes per game. With Rudolph out and Floyd going to be BLANKETED, Riddick should be seeing an enormous amount of passes unless Crist begins to make reads and feeds the ball to Eifert and Jones.

This is similar to Golden Tate's situation last season. As soon as Floyd went down, Tate's development accelerated rapidly. Hopefully Riddick, who is still extremely raw, comes into his own down the stretch.

 

[lookingdeadred]

As I said in another thread

As I said in another thread

It is Ragone's chance to shine. Hopefully BK and Crist do not ignore the TE just because Rudolph is out. Good opportunity to see what he (and Eifert) can do.

Rudolph's out.

Floyd will face double and triple coverage.

So Theo Riddick's already potent role in this offense should increase exponentially. He already catches 6-7 passes per game. With Rudolph out and Floyd going to be BLANKETED, Riddick should be seeing an enormous amount of passes unless Crist begins to make reads and feeds the ball to Eifert and Jones.

This is similar to Golden Tate's situation last season. As soon as Floyd went down, Tate's development accelerated rapidly. Hopefully Riddick, who is still extremely raw, comes into his own down the stretch.

 

[Irish Man3]

Rudolph is the best TE in the country so there will be a drop off with whoever steps in, but I don't expect Notre Dame to ignore the TE position as a whole. Theo Riddick and T.J Jones will certainly have to step up. I like Ragone and Eifert and I expect both of them to step up and fill at least a portion of the void left by Rudolph.

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

You have to wonder if Shaq Evans is kicking himself now? Even if he did underperform in the summer, you'd have to think he'd get a chance for some playing time out of this...

 

[Irish Man3]

You have to wonder if Shaq Evans is kicking himself now? Even if he did underperform in the summer, you'd have to think he'd get a chance for some playing time out of this...

Why would Shaq Evans get more playing time out of our starting TE going down?

 

[kmoose]

Why would Shaq Evans get more playing time out of our starting TE going down?

Kelly often lined Rudolph up in the slot. Evans could certainly have stepped into that spot. It might not have been a significant increase in PT, but Evans certainly could have picked up some reps.

 

[IrishinSyria]

So is it now Toma's time to shine?

 

[BeatSC]

While Rudolp is a very good tight end I think more of it has to do with his ability to block well. I think Eifert and Ragone should pose bigger mismatches based on their speed. We can throw the ball more to AA and TJ and maybe Crist can take off and run a little more often.

 

[Irish Man3]

You think that Shaq would be next in line with Rudolphs injury? Not Goodman, Kamara, or Toma? Shaq did not block well up field. Kamara certainly does and Goodman does a better job then Shaq did.

 

[TDHeysus]

Rudolph's out.

Floyd will face double and triple coverage.

So Theo Riddick's already potent role in this offense should increase exponentially.

Rudy gone means opponents wont have to double the TE - which means an xtra defender for someone like riddick. I think Riddicks job, as well as Dayne's for that matter, just got alot harder.

 

[TDHeysus]

While Rudolp is a very good tight end I think more of it has to do with his ability to block well. I think Eifert and Ragone should pose bigger mismatches based on their speed. We can throw the ball more to AA and TJ and maybe Crist can take off and run a little more often.

I think this is Eifert's and Ragones time, this is their chance, its now - the team needs them to step it up. but bigger mismatches? I dont think there more of a mismatch in college football than an LB trying to cover Rudy.

 

[jason_h537]

While Rudolp is a very good tight end I think more of it has to do with his ability to block well. I think Eifert and Ragone should pose bigger mismatches based on their speed. We can throw the ball more to AA and TJ and maybe Crist can take off and run a little more often.

To build on this. Teams looked to take away Rudolph and game planned around him. They wont against Eifert or Ragone which could allow them to be more effective

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Rudolph is the best TE in the country so there will be a drop off with whoever steps in, but I don't expect Notre Dame to ignore the TE position as a whole. Theo Riddick and T.J Jones will certainly have to step up. I like Ragone and Eifert and I expect both of them to step up and fill at least a portion of the void left by Rudolph.

Nobody is a bigger Rudolph fan than I am. Let me put forth a hypothesis. It has been floating around for a while -

Though Rudolph is a better tight end at 75 % than almost anyone in the nation is. He hasn't been at his dangerous best since Michigan or Michigan State. I think those mismatch situations disappeared, especially considering how good the linebackers we have faced over the last four weeks have been. Also, it is incredibly hard to block, particularly in the open field with a bad hamstring; you can never get lower than the opponent. Also you are slower.

Kyle has been Dyane’s safety blanket. I wonder if Kyle out, especially with a couple of weaker teams coming up, might not actually help the overall progress of the offense. Relying on a player that began struggling more and more, may have negated one of the previously strongest facets of the team. What do you think?

 

[kmoose]

Nobody is a bigger Rudolph fan than I am. Let me put forth a hypothesis. It has been floating around for a while -

Though Rudolph is a better tight end at 75 % than almost anyone in the nation is. He hasn't been at his dangerous best since Michigan or Michigan State. I think those mismatch situations disappeared, especially considering how good the linebackers we have faced over the last four weeks have been. Also, it is incredibly hard to block, particularly in the open field with a bad hamstring; you can never get lower than the opponent. Also you are slower.

Kyle has been Dyane’s safety blanket. I wonder if Kyle out, especially with a couple of weaker teams coming up, might not actually help the overall progress of the offense. Relying on a player that began struggling more and more, may have negated one of the previously strongest facets of the team. What do you think?

Ask me again in 3 weeks!

Seriously, it's a possibility.

 

[mgriff]

Rudy hasn't looked great the last few weeks. I think Eifert will step it up, and benefit from reduced coverage.

 

[WaveDomer]

There will be a dropoff, but there's already been a dropoff because of Rudolph playing injured. An injury is never a "good" thing, but the timing is the best it can be, as far as a key injury during the season, and there are plenty of weapons that are established and ones that need reps to grow. This injury doesn't worry me that much, as far as how it will "hurt" the team. It worries me in terms of how Rudolph will recover, but I think the team will be okay.

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

Nobody is a bigger Rudolph fan than I am. Let me put forth a hypothesis. It has been floating around for a while -

Though Rudolph is a better tight end at 75 % than almost anyone in the nation is. He hasn't been at his dangerous best since Michigan or Michigan State. I think those mismatch situations disappeared, especially considering how good the linebackers we have faced over the last four weeks have been. Also, it is incredibly hard to block, particularly in the open field with a bad hamstring; you can never get lower than the opponent. Also you are slower.

Kyle has been Dyane’s safety blanket. I wonder if Kyle out, especially with a couple of weaker teams coming up, might not actually help the overall progress of the offense. Relying on a player that began struggling more and more, may have negated one of the previously strongest facets of the team. What do you think?

I think you nailed it. I have been using the term "tight end" rather loosely this year because Rudolph played so often in the slot (although I didn't watch him every play).

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Which begs, will the offense now start using a true, two tight end set? It is a way to get numbers (blockers with bigger bodies) on the edge to help the running game, change tendencies to mess with teams prep, and can be used for quick release, or bubble screen type plays to spread the field and help counter blitzes, etc.,

 

[Old Man Mike]

Anyone else playing for a healthy Kyle Rudolph is a drop-off. That however over the last few games has been theoretical. Ragone or Eifert playing for an injured Kyle Rudolph is not a drop-off unless one thinks that the opposing D-coordinators haven't noticed that the big man can't run fluidly---what are the chances of them not noticing that three plays into the game?? Despite the big guy running hurt, our offense continued to improve each game, even with Floyd getting the constant double-teams---note, Floyd gets the double-teams, not Riddick. I see no drop-off in Riddick's production unless they begin shifting coverage towards him FROM FLOYD. [Or unless we become completely ineffective at running the ball].----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ragone/Eifert for an injured Rudolph is not a step back for the offense as long as they know the plays. Because an intelligent enemy coordinator might now have to think that the ND tight end might run a fly pattern to the end zone again, the substitutions could actually improve our "systemic advantage" in the real, not the theoretical, world. No one wants to lose a healthy Kyle Rudolph from the line-up. That's not the player we're losing. I believe that if Ragone knows the offense, and Eifert will catch the ball, Crist's continued evolution in read sequencing will manifest in a continuing more powerful offensive machine. Will it be as good as it would be with a healthy Kyle Rudolph? Of course not. Will it be as good as it would be with an injured Kyle Rudolph? Given the quality of our back-ups, better. And that better will be very good. .... and, finally on thread, Theo Riddick's role will be the same: an evolving star benefitting from the double-teaming of Michael Floyd, and to whom we're not going to force anything just because Rudolph's out.

 

[lookingdeadred]

good point

good point

Practically impossible to replace a talent like Rudolph, so what needs to happen is all the rest of the offense needs to step it up some so they can collectively make up for the loss. If Ragone can play like the talent the coaches assumed he would be when they recruited him, it would go a long way to filling the void.

Rudolph is the best TE in the country so there will be a drop off with whoever steps in, but I don't expect Notre Dame to ignore the TE position as a whole. Theo Riddick and T.J Jones will certainly have to step up. I like Ragone and Eifert and I expect both of them to step up and fill at least a portion of the void left by Rudolph.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bogtrotter07
Nobody is a bigger Rudolph fan than I am. Let me put forth a hypothesis. It has been floating around for a while -

Though Rudolph is a better tight end at 75 % than almost anyone in the nation is. He hasn't been at his dangerous best since Michigan or Michigan State. I think those mismatch situations disappeared, especially considering how good the linebackers we have faced over the last four weeks have been. Also, it is incredibly hard to block, particularly in the open field with a bad hamstring; you can never get lower than the opponent. Also you are slower.

Kyle has been Dyane’s safety blanket. I wonder if Kyle out, especially with a couple of weaker teams coming up, might not actually help the overall progress of the offense. Relying on a player that began struggling more and more, may have negated one of the previously strongest facets of the team. What do you think?
Ask me again in 3 weeks!

Seriously, it's a possibility.

“Part of that progress has been the development of quarterback Dayne Crist in seeing the entire field. Crist and offensive coordinator Charley Molnar said that the loss of tight end Kyle Rudolph could accelerate the quarterback’s progression in that area. Kelly agreed that Rudolph had been a security blanket for Crist, but didn’t necessarily agree.”

ISD: ND, BK Ready To Go Written by Christian McCollum Thursday, 14 October 2010 17:57

Just what we were talking about! The similarities are astounding. Maybe we will know sooner!