'13 PA ATH Alex Anzalone (Florida Early Enrollee)

[Irish YJ]

Carly Simon - Anticipation - 1972 - YouTube

 

[Mavericknyc1980]

He is basically ours.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

So begins the refresh...

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

 

[DomeLover3]

This is in the bag

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Is he announcing today? Time? Go Irish!

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

What's the deal with ESPN? Are they airing this live or just getting video for later?

 

[IrishLax]

Announcing tomorrow. Bummer.

 

[Irish2155]

Now we can all get on with our days...

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Announcing tomorrow. Bummer.

Thanks for the update. 1 more day.

 

[NDPhilly]

“@DougRandolph7: @AlexAnzalone_24 Twitter / DougRandolph7: @AlexAnzalone_24 http://t.

 

[Irish2155]

“@DougRandolph7: @AlexAnzalone_24 Twitter / DougRandolph7: @AlexAnzalone_24 http://t.

What is this? Link won't open for me. Thanks

 

[Irishman77]

Link didn't work philly

 

[NDPhilly]

Try now.

 

[Irishman77]

Randolph likes our guys.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

His team will be playing on ESPNU tonight at 8 EST. Set your DVRs

 

[NDhoosier]

Randolph likes our guys.

that is two pictures he posted of ND commits. But honestly, right now, we dont even need Randolph anymore, especially if we get Anzalone, I would much rather have a CAT/DE type of player instead of Randolph right now.

 

[NYMIKE6]

that is two pictures he posted of ND commits. But honestly, right now, we dont even need Randolph anymore, especially if we get Anzalone, I would much rather have a CAT/DE type of player instead of Randolph right now.

Anzalone projects inside for us either MIKE or WILB.... Randolph projects outside CAT or DOG opposite of Jaylon... no offense but we would be very foolish to not take a guy like Randolph...

I really like Mattingly but if we pulled Randolph in he would definitely get the nod in front of Danny.

In the end this is just wishful thinking because i see Randolph staying firm with Stanford...

 

[IrishLion]

Anzalone projects inside for us either MIKE or WILB.... Randolph projects outside CAT or DOG opposite of Jaylon... no offense but we would be very foolish to not take a guy like Randolph...

I really like Mattingly but if we pulled Randolph in he would definitely get the nod in front of Danny.

In the end this is just wishful thinking because i see Randolph staying firm with Stanford...

If something were to change and Randolph did decide he wants to be at ND, Mattingly could maybe then provide some quality TE depth. We lose Eifert after this season, and I believe Welch would leave the year after that, leaving us with Niklas and Koyack. Just looking at all angles...

 

[Old Man Mike]

I may forget someone here, but you guys can fill in the blanks.

In two seasons, I expect Manti to be gone of course, neither Carlo nor Dan Fox to be asked back [maybe Fox], Danny Spond another available player but still a maybe as to field time if he performs without injury, and Kendall Moore and Justin Utupo either not playing much [KM] or moved into DE [JU]. I believe that Romeo might have outgrown CAT by then also. We need to remember that unless we do a lot of speed experimenting at OLB [which would be fine with me] that, if we cannot count players like Baratti and Shumate as "sort-of" Slaughter-like LBs, we essentially whiffed at linebacker last year. That alone should give the intuition that in the staff's mind they should "go heavy" at LB this time around.

Say that two seasons from now we line up a four-man LB array like Shembo [CAT]/ Grace [MIKE]/ Councell [DOG]/ and "someone" [WILL]. Other playable linebackers on the team would be Rabasa, maybe Spond, maybe Fox, Ishaq as sharing CAT with The Prince, Moore, and whoever these 2013s LBs are as frosh [Hint: an EE might have a GREAT chance to play right off].

Let's imagine a numerical worst case scenario in which none of Carlo nor Fox are asked back, and Kendall and DannyS can't cut it for their different reasons. And Justin and Romeo look out-of-place at LB. Diaco then has Prince, Ishaq, Jarrett, Ben, Anthony, ONLY, as guys that he might be really comfortable with for long periods of game time. Adding young superstuds to that would seem to be VERY desirable. JSmith could step right in, especially if he would be happy to play WILL, or Ben shift over. Or a guy like Anzalone could step right in, especially if Rabasa wouldn't quite fit the bill, though I think Anthony has BIG potential in the middle somewhere. Adding Deeb as a Grace back-up, and both Mattingly and Randolph as understudy DOGs and WILLS with plenty of early potential playing time, seems almost a necessity.

Five LBs this cycle, if they are all good ones, gives Diaco 10 potentially playable athletes there two years out if Spond, Moore, Utupo, and Fox are not seriously in that mix. And one should remember that high school credentials don't always translate into "championship" linebacker play [ can you say "Filer"?]. I very much hope that we get five very good LB prospects this cycle. And if everybody shines, well, Mattingly may just become another hero of "Tight End U" when it's said and done.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Awesome post Mike! As usual. Mattingly off the edge is a nightmare, and he plays with a pronounced defensive violence. What you are seeing with Utopo and a couple others is a blending. There may be more hybrid players between the d-line and linebacker. I wouldn't count anyone out. Especially some of the older guys you mentioned. They have real heart.

My bottom line on defense is what I have been saying for two years. Sooner than later, you are about to see a situation where most guys are ready to play, instead of too few.

 

[Grahambo]

Jaylon Smith ‏@JaeeSmiff9ENT
"@SWiltfong247: Top50 LB Alex Anzalone with a pick six. Breaks on the ball, makes a player miss on the return."letsssgo Nd!

Tom Luginbill ‏@TomLuginbill
Alex Anzalone is so smart and savvy. Good football player. He, Matt Rolin and Mike Mitchell very similar.

 

[IrishFanJMercy]

All talk is pointing in our way!! Id say its almost 95% chance that he picks us.. It will be nice having 17 solid commits now our coaches can be picky with the other 5 or 6 guys to fill out the class

 

[clashmore_mike]

All talk is pointing in our way!! Id say its almost 95% chance that he picks us.. It will be nice having 17 solid commits now our coaches can be picky with the other 5 or 6 guys to fill out the class

Calm down bro

 

[ACamp1900]

All talk is pointing in our way!! Id say its almost 95% chance that he picks us.. It will be nice having 17 solid commits now our coaches can be picky with the other 5 or 6 guys to fill out the class

Only thing is this has killed us in past years... With ethics enough not to oversign and the no jucos policy, it really hurts when you save spots for elite guys that you miss on and then have a few of your 'commits' flip on you....

Idk how to solve it, but it has been an issue

 

[phillyirish]

Only thing is this has killed us in past years... With ethics enough not to oversign and the no jucos policy, it really hurts when you save spots for elite guys that you miss on and then have a few of your 'commits' flip on you....

Idk how to solve it, but it has been an issue

I agree. I really can't stand it every year people say the same things. That our class will fill up before an elite player gets the chance to commit to us, or that we should put some of the offers out to "3 stars" on hold. When in the end it doesn't really manner because either the class collapses or all the elite players choose to play elsewhere. Worse part is this people usually don't say things like this till around October, and its still July right now. There is still a half a year left for this class to pan out, calm down people.

 

[RubberSoul]

Only thing is this has killed us in past years... With ethics enough not to oversign and the no jucos policy, it really hurts when you save spots for elite guys that you miss on and then have a few of your 'commits' flip on you....

Idk how to solve it, but it has been an issue

Oversign by a couple and have the talk with a couple of players each year who won't play. Basically, 'You're welcome to stay but you're not going to play.' It's honest and lets the kids know upfront that if they want to play, they had better transfer.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Oversign by a couple and have the talk with a couple of players each year who won't play. Basically, 'You're welcome to stay but you're not going to play.' It's honest and lets the kids know upfront that if they want to play, they had better transfer.

Not how it works. If we oversign, some of our kids end up without scholarships. So it's not so much "you're not going play"; it's "I hope your family can pony up $45k for tuition, because you can't stay otherwise".

Saban pulls that crap all the time, and it's borderline evil. I hope ND never sinks so low.

 

[Irish Houstonian]

Oversign by a couple and have the talk with a couple of players each year who won't play. Basically, 'You're welcome to stay but you're not going to play.' It's honest and lets the kids know upfront that if they want to play, they had better transfer.

I don't know...obviously there's no right or wrong answer here, but if I were coach I'd be afraid that these type of discussions, once generally known, would hinder 2's and 3's from pushing themselves.

As unrealistic as it always sounds, I've always believed that the best "team" was always one where every single player believed there was some remote chance of playing, if they just worked/played well enough. But obviously I'm not a coach, so it may well be that being able to oversign recruits outweighs this team dynamic.

 

[sportallyr]

Only thing is this has killed us in past years... With ethics enough not to oversign and the no jucos policy, it really hurts when you save spots for elite guys that you miss on and then have a few of your 'commits' flip on you....

Idk how to solve it, but it has been an issue

I know how to solve it. Win! More elite guys will strongly consider ND and less recruits will flip if we win.

I understand that your point had more to do with the over signing factor, but winning makes the ability to oversign less important.

 

[woolybug25]

Only thing is this has killed us in past years... With ethics enough not to oversign and the no jucos policy, it really hurts when you save spots for elite guys that you miss on and then have a few of your 'commits' flip on you....

Idk how to solve it, but it has been an issue

Make all BCS schools offer 4 year scholarships. You sign a kid, he is uses one of your scholarships for 4 years.