'15 NV TE Aliz'e Mack (Notre Dame Signed NLI)

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Baller. Can't believe this thread hasn't been bumped more.

It took longer than expected and I'd love to have him another year but he's finally living up to the billing. Let's hope he balls out the remainder of the season and ups his draft day stock.

 

[Irish YJ]

Baller. Can't believe this thread hasn't been bumped more.

It took longer than expected and I'd love to have him another year but he's finally living up to the billing. Let's hope he balls out the remainder of the season and ups his draft day stock.

Agree.
Right now, I'm just praying he gets over the concussion symptoms.

 

[calvegas04]

I think he needs one more year to get into the top 4 rounds of the draft

 

[Irish YJ]

I think he needs one more year to get into the top 4 rounds of the draft

It's been said before IIRC in this thread, but I think his measurables come combine will boost him more than folks think. I still believe he would benefit greatly with a full year of an even more improved Book. I'd love to see him get more streak type routes.

 

[BobbyMac]

It's been said before IIRC in this thread, but I think his measurables come combine will boost him more than folks think. I still believe he would benefit greatly with a full year of an even more improved Book. I'd love to see him get more streak type routes.

I'd like to see him work with Kmet at TE and him @ the Eifert Flex. He was so good in HS at doing that. Really too bad it took the staff so long to get him on their page.

 

[Irish YJ]

I'd like to see him work with Kmet at TE and him @ the Eifert Flex. He was so good in HS at doing that. Really too bad it took the staff so long to get him on their page.

yup, yup, and yup.

 

[stlnd01]

FWIW, some analyst for The Athletic seems to think he is definitely not coming back. Was at the bottom of a piece on Dex they posted yesterday.

 

[NDMIA]

Irish Illustrated had a question about if Mack would be back and all 3, Prister, O’Malley, and Sampson said they think he’ll leave.

 

[Irish YJ]

FWIW, some analyst for The Athletic seems to think he is definitely not coming back. Was at the bottom of a piece on Dex they posted yesterday.

a lot of talking heads didn't see Tillery coming back this year.
i doubt he comes back, but would not be shocked if he did.
i'm sure he'll get graded/evaluated and have a long talk with BK after.

 

[Irish#1]

a lot of talking heads didn't see Tillery coming back this year.
i doubt he comes back, but would not be shocked if he did.
i'm sure he'll get graded/evaluated and have a long talk with BK after.

True, but Tillery wanted to meet Father Hesburgh during his recruiting visit. I called Tillery returning. Jerry walks to the beat of a different drummer.

 

[Irish YJ]

True, but Tillery wanted to meet Father Hesburgh during his recruiting visit. I called Tillery returning. Jerry walks to the beat of a different drummer.

I too thought he'd return.
Very different drummer. But some say that is why they didn't expect him back.

 

[T-Boone]

Hopefully he does so well over the next 4 games that he is able to leave and get drafted high and then the next group of TEs get to step up.

 

[greyhammer90]

I get being concerned that Mack will be gone but ND will always have bodies at TE that can ball out. Boykin is my big concern. I think him returning or not returning is close to a two game swing next year. Dude is a baller.

 

[Irish YJ]

I get being concerned that Mack will be gone but ND will always have bodies at TE that can ball out. Boykin is my big concern. I think him returning or not returning is close to a two game swing next year. Dude is a baller.

IMO, Mack and Boykin are very similar in what they bring to the team (big bodies, great hands). I don't want to lose Boykin either, but I'm very confident in Austin. Not as big, but much faster. If I had my choice for next year, I'd move Boykin to X, Austin take over at W, Mack remains at TE (but in a more Eifert type role), Kmet as the true tight end, and Lenzy as the Z taking the top off of Ds.

 

[stlnd01]

True, but Tillery wanted to meet Father Hesburgh during his recruiting visit. I called Tillery returning. Jerry walks to the beat of a different drummer.

Different drummers indeed. For one thing, Mack will have his degree, right? Tillery didn't, and clearly values the education. Indeed, Tillery appears to enjoy being a college student very very much (that was a knock on him earlier in his career, IIRC). To me he was the most-likely-to-return of last year's crop (aside from Tranquil).
Also Mack has had academic/eligibility struggles. I understand why guys who go through that might not choose to stick around.

I certainly hope Mack stays. For him and for us. But all the experts seem to think he's going. If so, we'll be OK.

Boykin should definitely stay. Guy is getting zero draft buzz right now but can play his way into the draft with a fifth year. Also would be a leader on next year's team. Though I do think we'd be OK running Kevin Austin out there.

The potential early departures who worry me are Love and the defensive linemen.

 

[greyhammer90]

IMO people severely underestimating Boykin's potential impact on the team next year. If he comes back next year with Claypool, he's Corey Davis 2.0 with no team able to give him extra help without getting burnt. 99% of teams CANNOT cover those two when they play like this. College secondaries aren't built for it.

 

[zelezo vlk]

IMO people severely underestimating Boykin's potential impact on the team next year. If he comes back next year with Claypool, he's Corey Davis 2.0 with no team able to give him extra help without getting burnt. 99% of teams CANNOT cover those two when they play like this. College secondaries aren't built for it.

Excuse me, but if you're gonna steal my line of Boykin being Corey Davis, you better rep me. Or buy me beer.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[greyhammer90]

Excuse me, but if you're gonna steal my line of Boykin being Corey Davis, you better rep me. Or buy me beer.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

That's gonna be a rep boss.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

IMO people severely underestimating Boykin's potential impact on the team next year. If he comes back next year with Claypool, he's Corey Davis 2.0 with no team able to give him extra help without getting burnt. 99% of teams CANNOT cover those two when they play like this. College secondaries aren't built for it.

I agree that he'd be a potential gamebreaker next year but if he decides to jump, I think we have plenty of candidates to step into his position. Hopefully he comes back for one more year but sounds like Boykin and Alize are expected to leave if they get a high enough draft grade (I'm guessing top 3 rounds).

 

[stlnd01]

I agree that he'd be a potential gamebreaker next year but if he decides to jump, I think we have plenty of candidates to step into his position. Hopefully he comes back for one more year but sounds like Boykin and Alize are expected to leave if they get a high enough draft grade (I'm guessing top 3 rounds).

FWIW, Walter Football - which loved them some ESB last year - doesn't have Boykin in their top 36 WRs right now. They do have Claypool 10th, though, FFS.
http://walterfootball.com/draft2019WR.php

Mack is currently No. 5 on their TE board.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

FWIW, Walter Football - which loved them some ESB last year - doesn't have Boykin in their top 36 WRs right now. They do have Claypool 10th, though, FFS.
http://walterfootball.com/draft2019WR.php

Mack is currently No. 5 on their TE board.

Thanks for the info. I do expect Claypool to test really well but Boykin makes every difficult catch look easy. He has monster hands and a huge catch radius and he's dependable.

I'll be surprised if he doesn't play himself into the first 3 rounds.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Different drummers indeed. For one thing, Mack will have his degree, right? Tillery didn't, and clearly values the education. Indeed, Tillery appears to enjoy being a college student very very much (that was a knock on him earlier in his career, IIRC). To me he was the most-likely-to-return of last year's crop (aside from Tranquil).
Also Mack has had academic/eligibility struggles. I understand why guys who go through that might not choose to stick around.

I certainly hope Mack stays. For him and for us. But all the experts seem to think he's going. If so, we'll be OK.

Boykin should definitely stay. Guy is getting zero draft buzz right now but can play his way into the draft with a fifth year. Also would be a leader on next year's team. Though I do think we'd be OK running Kevin Austin out there.

The potential early departures who worry me are Love and the defensive linemen.

Love grew up a HUGE ND fan, so I'm hoping this will play a factor into him returning for his final year. One can dream.

The kid just looks like he loves being at this school. I've seen so many clips this year of the team walking to the stadium, and even coming out onto the field at NW, and he's always giving out high fives and interacting with the fans. Plenty of players walk by without a glance or high five, but he never does.

....Which could mean absolutely nothing. But again, one can dream.

Mack, on the other end...I have a hard time seeing him come back. Hope he does, but if he's already top 5 for TEs, he's likely gone.

 

[ab2cmiller]

One article I read said that even if Mack wants to come back, it's not a given. I guess Notre Dame is pretty stingy in giving a 5th year to players that have struggled academically.

 

[stlnd01]

Love grew up a HUGE ND fan, so I'm hoping this will play a factor into him returning for his final year. One can dream.

The kid just looks like he loves being at this school. I've seen so many clips this year of the team walking to the stadium, and even coming out onto the field at NW, and he's always giving out high fives and interacting with the fans. Plenty of players walk by without a glance or high five, but he never does.

....Which could mean absolutely nothing. But again, one can dream.

Mack, on the other end...I have a hard time seeing him come back. Hope he does, but if he's already top 5 for TEs, he's likely gone.

Agree about Love. A friend of mine has close ties to his high school and says the word is he’s a really good kid. If he comes back he’d be a captain, face of the program, likely All-American candidate, all that. So I certainly hope he does.
But if he’s really first-round, that money is hard to turn down. We’ll see.

Kareem, too, seems to like being at Notre Dame enough to stick around, be a senior and graduate. Hoping that’s enough.

 

[stlnd01]

One article I read said that even if Mack wants to come back, it's not a given. I guess Notre Dame is pretty stingy in giving a 5th year to players that have struggled academically.

Fair point. Though IIRC, Golson and Ishaq Williams could have come back. But those were different situations, and depth charts.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Love grew up a HUGE ND fan, so I'm hoping this will play a factor into him returning for his final year. One can dream.

The kid just looks like he loves being at this school. I've seen so many clips this year of the team walking to the stadium, and even coming out onto the field at NW, and he's always giving out high fives and interacting with the fans. Plenty of players walk by without a glance or high five, but he never does.

....Which could mean absolutely nothing. But again, one can dream.

Mack, on the other end...I have a hard time seeing him come back. Hope he does, but if he's already top 5 for TEs, he's likely gone.

Love's taclking lately kinda tells me he already has his mind made up. And he will surely project 1st round so I would be suprised if he returns.

 

[IrishLion]

Love's taclking lately kinda tells me he already has his mind made up. And he will surely project 1st round so I would be suprised if he returns.

Love's tackling has been normal this year, aka physical and sure, so maybe you're conflating him with Troy Pride, who had a bad game against Navy?

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Love's tackling has been normal this year, aka physical and sure, so maybe you're conflating him with Troy Pride, who had a bad game against Navy?

Yeah I was slightly confused, unless T Town is trying to say that he's tackling so well in an effort to get drafted higher?

Love is a stud supporting the run and tackling WRs in space.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Fair point. Though IIRC, Golson and Ishaq Williams could have come back. But those were different situations, and depth charts.

And Te'von to this list as well.

Edit: forgot he is a true senior that we "recruited back".

 

[ab2cmiller]

Fair point. Though IIRC, Golson and Ishaq Williams could have come back. But those were different situations, and depth charts.

And Te'von to this list as well.

Didn't realize that Te'von had any academic difficulties.

As you alluded to, Golson and Williams situation was different in that they were caught cheating and suspended for "Poor Academic Judgement". I really don't know for sure how Notre Dame looks at these things as it relates to 5th year offers. If they thought the cheating was a one time thing and the kid has learned from his mistakes and is performing well in classes, that may be looked on more favorably than a kid who didn't cheat but struggles with closer to a 2.0 GPA. That's probably an indicator that the player might have a problem with graduate level coursework. I have no idea how Mack has done in the classroom over the last year+, but he was hovering around a 2.0 GPA during the summer of 2017.