'12 WA RB Keivarae Russell (Notre Dame Signed LOI)

[yankeeND]

It definetly makes you take a step back when you hear a true freshman that was recruited to play running back is going to be your opening day starter at Corner. I'm taking a different approach with this and just getting ready to watch this kid blossom into an NFL draft pick. That I know sounds more appalling than the latter but I have a lot of faith in this kid!

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

First frosh CB ever at ND to be a day 1 starter. And it wasn't even his primary position in HS. Regardless of how we try to spin it, this is more of a commentary on our woeful depth than anything else. Lord help us if anyone else in the secondary goes down.

Darrin Walls.

 

[Riddickulous]

Darrin Walls.

Walls didn't start immediately. He was behind Mike Richardson, Ambrose Wooden, and Terrail Lambert.

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

Darrin Walls.

Walls didn't start immediately. He was behind Mike Richardson, Ambrose Wooden, and Terrail Lambert.

But let's not let facts get in the way of a fun and unchecked post........Until you spoke up that is. Well played, sir. Love it.

 

[Emcee77]

What kind of concepts is the boundary corner asked to execute in this defense? With simplified concepts, Russell's athleticism could allow him to hold his own even with limited time in this (or any) defense. With the veteran presence at safety, maybe they can shift some of the more complex concepts in the scheme to the safeties?

I think this is an important question to ask. My amateurish understanding is that generally the boundary corner is just asked to lock up his guy in the passing game and make tackles on his side in the running game, generally without safety help. The position requires above all an aggressive, athletic defensive playmaker. So I guess if you are assessing a freshman's potential to succeed there, you say that it makes sense to play a frosh at boundary because his responsibilities are simple; they are more athletic than mental. But it doesn't make sense because he generally doesn't have safety help, so he has to be consistently good on every play. The staff had to balance those concerns, and apparently they decided that KeiVarae was good enough to get the starting job.

That the staff has that kind of confidence in KeiVarae says a lot about what he has done in camp. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does on Saturdays.

EDIT: Kelly did also say that KeiVarae won't exclusively play boundary. He said something to the effect that if Robert Woods lines up on the short side of the field, then Bennett Jackson will be the boundary corner. Not totally sure what to make of that; BJax is still our best pure cover guy, I think is what that means? I wonder if Bennett's greater range (he's as fast as they come) has something to do with him spending more time on the field side. Just speculating though.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Walls didn't start immediately. He was behind Mike Richardson, Ambrose Wooden, and Terrail Lambert.

I could have sworn he started against Georgia Tech. I know he started 2 games as a freshman.

 

[IrishLax]

Darrin Walls.

Nope.

 

[IrishLax]

Here's a good quote on Russel:

“There’s always a kid or two in a class, and this is my 25th year in college, there’s always a couple of kids, they have it. He’s just a great kid and confident in his ability. He is extremely athletic. He has picked it up so quickly. He still has a long way to go, don’t get me wrong. I’m not ready to put him in the Hall of Fame, but he is a kid who has picked it up quickly, and it was a comfortable transition for him. He’s a really smart kid. All of those things pointed in his favor to being able to pick up the position quickly.”

I don't understand what Kelly is saying about Robert Woods considering Marquis Lee is arguably even better. But maybe he is just talking in hypotheticals like "if a team has a dominant WR we're not going to throw Russel to the wolves, we'll have Bennett cover him."

 

[Pachuco]

Along with his athletic ability, his attitude must have solidified the decision with the coaches.

Keivarae seems to carry himself with a great deal of confidence, and if there is one position that requires a ton of it, we all know it's CB.

Very glad this young man chose ND.

 

[TheChosen1]

Here's a good quote on Russel:

“There’s always a kid or two in a class, and this is my 25th year in college, there’s always a couple of kids, they have it. He’s just a great kid and confident in his ability. He is extremely athletic. He has picked it up so quickly. He still has a long way to go, don’t get me wrong. I’m not ready to put him in the Hall of Fame, but he is a kid who has picked it up quickly, and it was a comfortable transition for him. He’s a really smart kid. All of those things pointed in his favor to being able to pick up the position quickly.”

I don't understand what Kelly is saying about Robert Woods considering Marquis Lee is arguably even better. But maybe he is just talking in hypotheticals like "if a team has a dominant WR we're not going to throw Russel to the wolves, we'll have Bennett cover him."

Kinda what happened to Lo last year. People say he still thinks about it.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Here's a good quote on Russel:

“There’s always a kid or two in a class, and this is my 25th year in college, there’s always a couple of kids, they have it. He’s just a great kid and confident in his ability. He is extremely athletic. He has picked it up so quickly. He still has a long way to go, don’t get me wrong. I’m not ready to put him in the Hall of Fame, but he is a kid who has picked it up quickly, and it was a comfortable transition for him. He’s a really smart kid. All of those things pointed in his favor to being able to pick up the position quickly.”

I don't understand what Kelly is saying about Robert Woods considering Marquis Lee is arguably even better. But maybe he is just talking in hypotheticals like "if a team has a dominant WR we're not going to throw Russel to the wolves, we'll have Bennett cover him."

EXACTLY!

LAX, you are a smart guy and can keep things straight in your head. Think about all the "misrenouncements" Kelly makes. He is a really quite brilliant, and his mind goes a mile a minute. Yesterday, at one point he called Brown and Daniels starters at wide receiver. What I believe this meant is that they would play a lot, instead of being first on the field for Navy, and every game subsequently thereafter. He does this all the time. Is that him not looking at starters etched in granite, you know the 1a, 1b? Or is it him noting the rise of these young guys?

Who knows? Hansen and Arnold have identified it. Interpretation of coach speak, and translation of what Coach Kelly says.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

1) Congrats to the kid. He earned it.

2) I hope he can tackle. Our secondary needs to be tough and physical against Navy, and MUST be able to tackle.

3) Purdue will throw 50 times. He'll get his fair share.

4) Gotta trust in Diaco, Cooks, and Elliot to have the kid ready.

 

[Domina Nostra]

EXACTLY!

LAX, you are a smart guy and can keep things straight in your head. Think about all the "misrenouncements" Kelly makes. He is a really quite brilliant, and his mind goes a mile a minute. Yesterday, at one point he called Brown and Daniels starters at wide receiver. What I believe this meant is that they would play a lot, instead of being first on the field for Navy, and every game subsequently thereafter. He does this all the time. Is that him not looking at starters etched in granite, you know the 1a, 1b? Or is it him noting the rise of these young guys?

Who knows? Hansen and Arnold have identified it. Interpretation of coach speak, and translation of what Coach Kelly says.

That's how I took it, as well:

"You're starting DaVaris Daniels and Chris Brown, two guys that are gonna play a lot for us on the perimeter that are first-time starters, and then George Atkinson didn't play very much at running back. You're gonna see a lot of him," Kelly said. "Troy Niklas. I could go on and on. So Everett Golson, there's four or five guys right there that are gonna be impactful in the games. So yeah, certainly there's gonna be some learning there. But one thing we don't have a lot of time on is that curve. We gotta come out running and doing our thing right away."

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Exactly! Good get, that is the heart of it. With Kelly don't hang on one word; look at the body of work! Sound familiar! DN, you are the man!

 

[Fbolt]

I wonder if this is a situation where JA and JB are hesitant in their play-too afraid to make a mistake while KR is "just playing".

Regardless, they all need to be ready to play.

Wonder if JA is down, watching his bro get minutes. Chin up-you're chances are coming!

 

[Irish Fam]

I wonder if this is a situation where JA and JB are hesitant in their play-too afraid to make a mistake while KR is "just playing".

Regardless, they all need to be ready to play.

Wonder if JA is down, watching his bro get minutes. Chin up-you're chances are coming!

This is something I had in mind too. J. Atkinson almost looks like it when he is out there.

 

[RDU Irish]

I'm liking the schedule for breaking in the CB position. Navy won't work them too hard but focus on tackling well. Purdue will throw it all day but should make plenty of mistakes and build confidence. Michigan State should be more inexperienced passing than the past few years, tougher challenge but managable. Then Michigan comes with a serious sack check, but poor passer in Duck Robinson. After four games, freshman aren't so frosh anymore and we will know what we have for the bigger matchups later in the season.


By all accounts, this crew is more athletic than we have had for some time (and I didn't think Gray and Walls were slouches athletically). Servicable is my end desire for this unit and I am increasingly optimistic that they go beyond servicable and actually be above average by week four.

Overall Defense after four weeks -

CB - Servicable to above average
S - Above average to very good
LB - Great
D line - Great

Overall defense looks tough to me. Even if we just get to servicable in the CB position the rest of the D can more than make up for it.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I wonder if this is a situation where JA and JB are hesitant in their play-too afraid to make a mistake while KR is "just playing".

Regardless, they all need to be ready to play.

Wonder if JA is down, watching his bro get minutes. Chin up-you're chances are coming!

The way to look at it is JB has been making a move to start all summer, and seems to have solved his inconsistency problem. He was overtaking LW as LW had is injury. LW got all the coaches respect and deserves all ours because he got his game UP.

Then KR learned and took his game up to the level it is at and beat out JB, so you have two guys in addition to BJ that are playing championship football (3). This doesn't mean JA is out of it or hasn't brought his game up considerably.

No disrespect to Blanton or Gray. I am convinced that this year's corners, soap-opera and all, will play better before mid-season than last years.

 

[ab2cmiller]

I could have sworn he started against Georgia Tech. I know he started 2 games as a freshman.

Walls did "technically" start two games his Freshman year (MSU - 4th game and Purdue 5th game) but the only reason he was listed as a starter is because we started the game in the nickel package. The majority of defensive snaps that year were played out of the nickel or dime. This was in part because of the lack of quality LB's. I believe Walls was the nickel back and started those two games in part because Wooden was injured.

Walls was talented for a Freshman, but despite his talent, he was abused in the Purdue game by Selwyn Lymon for 166 yards on 4 catches in the first half and Walls didn't see much playing time in the second half.

This is a cautionary tale as even with Russell's obvious talent and an amazingly speedy transition, there will be times this season where he will probably not look very good. It happens to all Freshman CB's

 

[NDdomer2]

Selwyn was a freak athlete, just not real bright.

 

[Buster Bluth]

No disrespect to Blanton or Gray. I am convinced that this year's corners, soap-opera and all, will play better before mid-season than last years.

Ehhhhhhh I don't know about that.

 

[dublinirish]

Gray yes but Blanton played like an AA at times last year

 

[IrishFBfanatic]

No disrespect to Blanton or Gray. I am convinced that this year's corners, soap-opera and all, will play better before mid-season than last years.

Agreed. I understand that Blanton made some plays...but guys, that's what every football player is supposed to do. It's almost like we were so used to our corners giving up plays that when they went out and did their job correctly for once we wanted to give them a prize. Blanton DID make some good plays, but also made mistakes. If you don't think Jackson, Russell, Atkinson, or Brown will make some plays then you're out of your mind. They will make mistakes, but also have some solid plays in there. I've never thought our corners would be worse this season than last.

There's no denying the fact, though, that this years secondary is much more athletic than last years....heck it's much more athletic than we've seen in a very long time!

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Gray yes but Blanton played like an AA at times last year

Zactly!

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Oh, no!

 

[Sherm Sticky]

All the way from Poland...I just want to say I told you guys! Woot. This kid is going to be an All American one day.

 

[connect the dots]

Special K ready to play

Special K ready to play

In a player profile of Russell, analyst Tom Lemming had the foresight to state that Keivarae would be a natural at cornerback. Played all four years at Mariner HS, and in his junior and senior years, he was their offense at halfback. On defense, I believe Keivarae played safety.for his high school. On a list of all purpose backs, Lemming had him at twelve. High school coaches often require their athletes to carry the load on offense as halfbacks or quarterbacks, knowing that their skill set at the next level will be as defensive backs. Two recent examples that come to mind - Shaq Thompson and David Perkins. Put me in the game coach, I'm ready to play today!

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I am going to lie to myself and say that I know this is because KR is just that much of a stud and not because Brown and At aren't as good as we all assumed...

You can lean on me. Use my bona fides.

I will say again. Lo was at last years corner level. JB came along and got his attention to detail locked in and was doing everything to win the position away, because he really can streak, that defensive Brown. And then KR came outa nowhere to eclipse the Brownmeister.

I said Romeo, yes. I said 5 frosh. I am telling you by mid season we are going to have better, over all corner play than last year; no disrespect to Mr Blanton is intended. And for all of the cynics, yes there will be freshmen mistakes.

Period.

 

[Buster Bluth]

This is basically how I see it:

You can always protect a corner with a safety. You can't protect a safety with a corner.

I do not expect 2009, in that the safeties are left covering massive areas of the field while simultaneously being essentially abandoned by an ineffective blitz scheme.

I also don't expect to see Michigan 2009, playing young corners in man covered against the likes of Michael Floyd.

I do expect lots of Cover 2. Maybe we'll also see Slaughter in the nickel/DOG and he'll be on Russel's side of the field playing an extra-wide hooks zone.