'12 TX ATH Nick Baratti (Notre Dame Signed LOI)

[Whiskeyjack]

NickyBaratti Nicky Baratti
Great night with Coach Cooks!! #NOTREDAMEEE

Baratti's going to enroll early!?

 

[4irishnation]

?

 

[Riddickulous]

?

Sarcasm font. He bolded the two e's at the end of Notre Dame.

 

[jason_h537]

The next Zibby. Mark IT!!!!!!

 

[IrishLax]

The next Zibby. Mark IT!!!!!!

I agree 100%. Fluid, big, strong athlete who ran a laser timed 4.5 40. Absolutely the X Factor of this class as it stands right now.

 

[4irishnation]

Sarcasm font. He bolded the two e's at the end of Notre Dame.

Thanks missed it

 

[4irishnation]

The next Zibby. Mark IT!!!!!!

God I hope your right would love nothing more than to have that come back through South Bend!!!

 

[Ndaccountant]

I agree 100%. Fluid, big, strong athlete who ran a laser timed 4.5 40. Absolutely the X Factor of this class as it stands right now.

That's really fast for his size. I think the fastest that Zibby ran was a 4.40 and he was a good 3-4 inches shorter.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I wonder if he'll get a look at Dog OLB. The Dog is a hybrid S/ LB that spends most of his time in coverage.

Requires a rare combination of size and speed. Baratti has it.

I agree with previous posters who have said there's no way Baratti moves to ILB. But since we only have 2 true Dog OLBs on the roster currently, and Dog OLB being (arguably) our most pressing need atm, I could see it.

 

[IrishLax]

I wonder if he'll get a look at Dog OLB. The Dog is a hybrid S/ LB that spends most of his time in coverage.

Requires a rare combination of size and speed. Baratti has it.

I agree with previous posters who have said there's no way Baratti moves to ILB. But since we only have 2 true Dog OLBs on the roster currently, and Dog OLB being (arguably) our most pressing need atm, I could see it.

Really don't see that happening. Ben Councell. I think we all expect Prince Shembo to move over to CAT next year with Ishaq and have DOG be the Councell/Spond show... and even Fox could move over there. That's 2 deep whereas safety is arguably in much worse shape if Eilar Hardy doesn't recover. We have Slaughter, Motta (eww) and Collinsworth... and that's basically it.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Really don't see that happening. Ben Councell. I think we all expect Prince Shembo to move over to CAT next year with Ishaq and have DOG be the Councell/Spond show... and even Fox could move over there. That's 2 deep whereas safety is arguably in much worse shape if Eilar Hardy doesn't recover. We have Slaughter, Motta (eww) and Collinsworth... and that's basically it.

You may be right, but I don't see how numbers at the respective positions make that argument.

Take a look at our depth chart. Assuming all our current commits stick, we'll be 8 deep at S next year; 4 at SS and 4 at FS. We're only 2 deep at Dog, and neither of those options inspire confidence: Spond has seen very little action this season (I doubt he's fully recovered from his injury), and Councell has no experience.

The staff might think it's better to be 3-deep at both Dog OLB and SS than 4-deep at SS and only 2-deep at Dog OLB.

 

[NDPhilly]

I don't think Shembo moves back. He just spent a whole year learning the Dog.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I don't think Shembo moves back. He just spent a whole year learning the Dog.

He's solid with his hand on the ground, but a complete liability when he's in coverage. Diaco basically moved him to Cat as a situational pass rusher toward the end of the season; you rarely saw him in coverage, which wasn't an accident.

 

[NDPhilly]

He's solid with his hand on the ground, but a complete liability when he's in coverage. Diaco basically moved him to Cat as a situational pass rusher toward the end of the season; you rarely saw him in coverage, which wasn't an accident.

So you think they moved him to Dog just so he could get on the field?

 

[Buster Bluth]

So you think they moved him to Dog just so he could get on the field?

That was probably the case. He is a more natural CAT, in my opinion.

 

[NDPhilly]

Cooks went with him to his lil brothers BBall game and then went out to dinner.

 

[4irishnation]

Cooks went with him to his lil brothers BBall game and then went out to dinner.
__________________

NICE

 

[Old Man Mike]

Once again, but subtler this time, we're split on the board over the "is he big enough?" issue. I refuse to stay in the 20th century on this. Linebacker, especially true "drop" space-coverage and fast-to-the-ball linebacker, requires speed and want-to-hit-someone both. That's why Perkins would have been ideal as a 21st century linebacker. I see no obvious reason why Baratti can't attempt to be that sort of close-the-space-off type of player. Badger too might be tough and fast and pass-defend-savvy enough.

To the comment about Shembo: who knows what all the things were that went into that decision. My theory, for what it's worth: 1). Diaco was desperate to get ANYBODY on the field who could replace Neal. He hoped that Spond was smart enough and "flexible" enough [that is the physical buzz-word for being able to shift your hips and get rapidly moving in a different direction] to cover and close. Who knows if injuries were the entire problem --- we can only hope that this is all that's holding Danny back.

2). But he had to have two at least. Filer was a bust when it came to using what seemed on the surface to be near-perfect athleticism. DOG was too complex for his instincts [which is why he played some CAT but unable to do so at DOG]. Looking around for a great athlete without an obvious place on the field, there stood Shembo. Asking him to do something completely unmatched with his previous experience was a gigantic leap of faith that Prince's superior gifts and "Want-To" could overcome and moderately do that job. As we saw, despite great and applaudable efforts, he couldn't do certain parts of it. Thus the Slaughter Solution.

3). Spond was frequently injured, and the staff really didn't want to burn Councell's year halfway through the season, when it became obvious that we were in trouble against several types of offenses there. Moore could have been tried, but Diaco apparently doesn't trust his "fits" yet [I suppose that most know what that is, but just in case:....]. A proper "fit" is not only the awareness of one's general "area" responsibility at the snap but also one's continuing proper altering of area responsibility as the unpredictability of the play actually takes shape. We are pretty good at this in the deep backfield, and mostly good at this in the D-line [Lynch's enthusiasm" gets him going in the wrong direction sometimes, as, surprisingly, does Fleming's --- mostly you hear commentators referring to this as "getting nosy"]. We are embarrassingly terrible at this at linebacker against the pass. { A good reason to put some converted big safeties at some of the LB positions --- in the 21st century }.

4). Therefore, Prince did all he could, playing, in my opinion, out of position. This is another case of the staff asking a somewhat mismatched player to do all he can for the team, and the player doing it. We have several players on this year's team who fit that description, and some board members consistently and often viciously attack their play. [Our punt returner/catcher and our quarterback come to mind].

If Baratti can use his cultivated pass-defense instincts, his speed, and his toughness to fit into a 21st century coverage-in-space linebacking role, I'd be a lot more relieved that I am now about our outside LB depth. But I am a total radical on this, so doubtless don't know what I'm talking about. My fogged vision would be guys like Councell/Baratti, Shembo/middle Will, and Niklas stretched across the field, with Te'o slobberknocking in the Mike-Middle, and turned loose to crash downhill, which is what he's great at. Unpredictable blitzing could come from Te'o, Shembo, Niklas, or cornerbacks. The bottomline would be "athletes" not rhinos. Baratti's an athlete.

 

[Riddickulous]

Cooks stopped by again today.

 

[BeauBenken]

Cooks stopped by again today.

At first glance, I thought that said "*****". I was like, wait, who are we making fun of now?

Edit: Apparently it is impossible for it to be *****.

 

[Ironman8]

NickyBaratti Nicky Baratti

Will officially be #4 next year! #excited #NDimcominn

 

[BeauBenken]

NickyBaratti Nicky Baratti

I'm excited he's excited.

 

[NYMIKE6]

Old man Mike i understand exactly what your saying. We ran a 3-4 years ago and our drop backer which we called a "joker" was a hybrid between safety and linebacker a kid that can cover the slot and also blitz or take on lead blocker. I remember playing bigger schools one in particular they were bigger and had a nasty run game and we stayed in our base 3-4 well our "joker" that day had a huge game running down players from the back side, big hits in the backfield. Head coach from the other team said it was there objective to run at him he found out really quick it was better to run away also said pound for pound for his size meanest player he's faced.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Is it wrong to want him at Dog OLB more than SS?

 

[BeauBenken]

Is it wrong to want him at Dog OLB more than SS?

Not necessarily.

 

[PANDFAN]

Is it wrong to want him at Dog OLB more than SS?

im w/ you...reminds me of sponds measurables..but quicker

 

[IrishLax]

You guys are crazy. He has incredible potential at safety with his size and speed. He is not nearly big enough to play DOG against non-service academies.

 

[PANDFAN]

You guys are crazy. He has incredible potential at safety with his size and speed. He is not nearly big enough to play DOG against non-service academies.

right now! but w/ him eating and training better i could see it

 

[rtrn2glory]

seems like the Dog position is slowly turning into an extra DB regardless of putting guys there against the triple option. becoming more and more important to defend the pass and prince was non-existent in the pass rush game this year, which to me shows that the position is turning into its true nature as a Drop LB needing more to stop the pass than the run.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

You guys are crazy. He has incredible potential at safety with his size and speed. He is not nearly big enough to play DOG against non-service academies.

seems like the Dog position is slowly turning into an extra DB regardless of putting guys there against the triple option. becoming more and more important to defend the pass and prince was non-existent in the pass rush game this year, which to me shows that the position is turning into its true nature as a Drop LB needing more to stop the pass than the run.

That's what I was getting at.