'13 IN ATH Jaylon Smith (Notre Dame Man & Graduate)

rtrn2glory

rtrn2glory

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Really think he could play middle linebacker. I know it's being discussed in max's thread and its not a popular opinion but I think we r loaded at the lob spot and even if it didn't work out it would be easy to put him back there
 
ThePiombino

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rtrn2glory said:
Really think he could play middle linebacker. I know it's being discussed in max's thread and its not a popular opinion but I think we r loaded at the lob spot and even if it didn't work out it would be easy to put him back there
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I can't help but feel that would be a colossal waste of his talents.
 
NDWorld247

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rtrn2glory said:
Really think he could play middle linebacker. I know it's being discussed in max's thread and its not a popular opinion but I think we r loaded at the lob spot and even if it didn't work out it would be easy to put him back there
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ThePiombino said:
I can't help but feel that would be a colossal waste of his talents.
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Could Jaylon play either of the ILB positions? Definitely. He could probably play any of eight positions (everything but DL) on our defense at a high level, if needed.

Would playing ILB be a colossal waste of his talents? I don't think so, but it's definitely not the position he'd maximize his talents at.

Bottom line...it really doesn't matter what position he plays at. The kid is going to be a stud and his position flexibility will be needed at some point during his ND career.
 
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Bogtrotter07

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Kelly's whole thing is getting him on the field to use him as a freshman in a position where he can excel. I don't think that for that to happen there needs to be absolute continuity with the position he plays as a sophomore. And finally, it appears that Kelly believes that Smith is so talented that he and the staff need to be creative to find ways to get Smith on the field.
 
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Cackalacky

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Irish Insanity

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From those that know more about positions and what it takes to play them (pretty much everyone on here), is this because he is that good, or that nobody else is good enough? I have full faith in him, I just don't know **** about talent evaluation.
 
STLDomer

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Irish Insanity said:
From those that know more about positions and what it takes to play them (pretty much everyone on here), is this because he is that good, or that nobody else is good enough? I have full faith in him, I just don't know **** about talent evaluation.
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He's that good IMO. He doesn't get talked about much but I've always thought Ben Councell was a real solid player and Jaylon snapped up the starting spot in like 2 practices after Spond got injured. Coaches rave about Jaylon too
 
CanadalovesND

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Irish Insanity said:
From those that know more about positions and what it takes to play them (pretty much everyone on here), is this because he is that good, or that nobody else is good enough? I have full faith in him, I just don't know **** about talent evaluation.
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The transcript from today's press conference should be enough to answer that.

Q. I believe you said at one point that you didn't think Manti (Te'o) as a freshman was going to start his first game. What have you seen from Jaylon (Smith) that makes you think he's ready to start in game one?

"Consistent performance. He's in a different position. Manti was in a four-down defense. We're going into a three-down defense. Jaylon is playing on the edge of a defense asked to do a lot of different things. Probably not a fair comparison, other than they're both great freshman players, right. Jaylon is asked to do a different job. He plays so well in space. Very smart player, plays instinctively.

"I think the one thing that Jaylon has done as well as a lot of freshmen that I've been around, he doesn't make the same mistake twice. He's a guy that comes back the next day, and he can eradicate the same mistake twice, and that's a hallmark of a guy that's going to play a lot of football for us."


Q. With Jaylon, he came in with such a tag on him as being one of the top five players in the country. How did he handle that as a guy here in the summer and fall camp, and then also how did he handle not having a clear path to getting on the field right away?

"I think he's done pretty well. You know, I don't know that there were many times where we had to remind him that, hey, you have to work for it. But he had to work for it. It was Danny Spond, it was Councell and it was Jaylon Smith; it didn't start the other way around. He was No.3 on the depth chart when they ran out there, even though there wasn't a depth chart posted.

"He didn't go with the first group. Danny Spond was with the first, (Ben) Councell was second, and Jaylon was third, and he went out and he did his job. He comes from a good family. He comes from a great program where they obviously did a great job of teaching him how to go about and do his thing. He's been great, and he's put himself in a position now to do some great things."
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arrowryan

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I was 100% sold on him being the starter when there were reports that he was locking down TJ
 
greyhammer90

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arrowryan said:
I was 100% sold on him being the starter when there were reports that he was locking down TJ
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Same here. I heard that on power hour and immediately hit rewind to make sure I'd heard it right.

If he can do that at 230 as a true freshman, I'm not worried.
 
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vmgsf

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Kelly praised Jaylon Smith's football IQ. There is no doubt Jaylon Smith is extremely gifted physically. I am looking forward to Jaylon Smith playing for the Fighting Irish this season.
 
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phillyirish

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Wow that is so surprising. Not that he is starting cause I know he is totally talented enough. Its just that when I click on a players thread, especially a younger/newer player, I expect to see something like "Broken ankle, out 6 weeks", or "Change of heart transferring to Southern Indiana Tech Community College" or of course the classic "Sources are reporting that the player does not in fact exist and was just an optical illusion created by the perfect alignment of the sun and moons reflection off of the Golden Dome".
 
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notredomer23

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phillyirish said:
Wow that is so surprising. Not that he is starting cause I know he is totally talented enough. Its just that when I click on a players thread, especially a younger/newer player, I expect to see something like "Broken ankle, out 6 weeks", or "Change of heart transferring to Southern Indiana Tech Community College" or of course the classic "Sources are reporting that the player does not in fact exist and was just an optical illusion created by the perfect alignment of the sun and moons reflection off of the Golden Dome".
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Come on now, that was only twice.
 
Old Man Mike

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Everything points to Jaylon Smith being at a minimum "the real deal" and that the only person who could limit his on-field reps was an extremely under-rated super football player named Danny Spond. So, absolutely, Jaylon is that good.

As far as the Councell quote is concerned, Ben's response to the comment that he and Jaylon would both see a lot of the field was: that's news to me; I haven't been told anything yet about playing time. Councell's response was [to my ear] simply that he was right in line with Kelly's mantra that we're all out here competing, and whatever happens as to reps happens later. Didn't sound to me like a "surprise" statement at all. In fact Ben said nice things about Jaylon.
 
irishpat183

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Jaylon is going to wreck shop. Plain and simple.

He's young, so I expect some mistakes, but I'd rather a guy be out there flying around and showing flashes of athleticism, than a guy like Ishaq who has been frozen because he thinks too much but has the skills.

Follow your instincts, Jaylon. Go out there and make plays.
 
Luckylucci

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irishpat183 said:
Jaylon is going to wreck shop. Plain and simple.

He's young, so I expect some mistakes, but I'd rather a guy be out there flying around and showing flashes of athleticism, than a guy like Ishaq who has been frozen because he thinks too much but has the skills.

Follow your instincts, Jaylon. Go out there and make plays.
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Whats scary is by all accounts Ishaq is there and we could have Ishaq, Jaylon, Shembo, Nix and Tuitt on the field at the same time. Wow, I just got chills.
 
Ironman8

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irishpat183 said:
Jaylon is going to wreck shop. Plain and simple.

He's young, so I expect some mistakes, but I'd rather a guy be out there flying around and showing flashes of athleticism, than a guy like Ishaq who has been frozen because he thinks too much but has the skills.

Follow your instincts, Jaylon. Go out there and make plays.
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Agree 100%
 
bobbyok1

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Anyone have a good picture of Jaylon in a ND uniform I can use for my desktop wallpaper?
 
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