'15 OH CB Shaun Crawford (Notre Dame Signed NLI)

[NDMIA]

Clemson hasn't shown me anything this year that makes me think we can't hang with them.

Notre Dame hasn't shown me anything this year that makes me think they can hang with Clemson. lol

In all seriousness, ND's got some problems when it comes to numbers at the DB position and it is only growing. Just to give you an idea, most top programs in the country like to have or ideally have 16 DB's which allows for basically a 4 deep at the 4 main DB positions. For example, in 2019, Clemson has 15 scholarship DB's, Alabama - 15, Georgia - 15, Michigan - 15, Ohio State - 16, and Notre Dame has 12. Now, in a given year, ND might need 7-8 DB's max to play on the defensive side of the ball (special teams might need more but they pull from both sides of the roster). So they've got more than enough, but the issue with ND is depth and the ability for DB's to develop at their own rate and learn the system. Especially with safeties in the program, ND needs to teach them a lot of what the defense is doing and how they want to implement it. It is not a good idea to thrust freshman or unprepared sophomores into action because you don't have the numbers. I know Kyle Hamilton is a stud, but even he weren't, if ND lost Gilman or Elliott this year, they'd be forced to rely on a true freshman to play in one of their most important positions on the defense which is an awful thing to do. Next season their roster looks like this...

Defensive Backs (10 Scholarships)
JR Houston Griffith
JR Tariq Bracy
RS SO DJ Brown
SO Kyle Hamilton
RS FR KJ Wallace
RS FR Isaiah Rutherford
RS FR Litchfield Ajavon
FR Caleb Offord
FR Clarence Lewis
FR Landen Bartleson

Unlikely to Return
RS SR Alohi Gilman - going pro
RS SR Shaun Crawford - not returning for 6th year

That simply isn't good enough to compete for championships because ND will be relying on a freshman or two to contribute right away and that could put pressure on their development and maybe not be ideal for their long-term growth at the position. If ND were living in Bama, Clemson, or Georgia's world then they'd need to bring in 6 more DB's! 6! There's no way they're gonna do that, but maybe they'll bring in 1-2 more and hopefully hit the transfer market in the offseason to fill out the roster. They also have to hope that nobody leaves or gets a bad injury because the DB depth chart is dangerously thin. I really really like Todd Lyght and Terry Joseph so hopefully they can get it done on the recruiting trail cause ND needs bodies bad and likely needs a big time freshman who's ready to contribute right away, but they seem to be all trending away from ND for now.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Clemson hasn't shown me anything this year that makes me think we can't hang with them.

The Cotton Bowl was only 8.5 months ago, but it was still 2018, so we'll set that aside for now. How about the Tigers destroying Georgia Tech in their opener, and then completely smothering a ranked aTm team last week? You think this ND squad, that allowed Louisville to hang-around until the 4th quarter and failed to cover, wouldn't get absolutely embarrassed by Clemson if we played them on Saturday?

 

[ACamp1900]

The Cotton Bowl was only 8.5 months ago, but it was still 2018, so we'll set that aside for now. How about the Tigers destroying a ranked Georgia Tech team in their opener, and then completely smothering a ranked aTm team last week? You think this ND squad, that allowed Louisville to hang-around until the 4th quarter and failed to cover, wouldn't get absolutely embarrassed by Clemson if we played them on Saturday?

THIS is the kind of 'logic and reason' you should be bringing to this site....

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

We aren't going to compete for Championships with the likes of Bama or Clemson with Avery Davis at CB

Why so serious? Note the italics bruh

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

We aren't going to compete for Championships with the likes of Bama or Clemson with Avery Davis at CB

Why so serious? Note the italics bruh

Clemson hasn't shown me anything this year that makes me think we can't hang with them.

K, you're nuts. Did you not watch them against A&M last week? And what did we do vs. L'ville to make you so confident we can hang with the defending champs who embarrassed us?

The Cotton Bowl was only 8.5 months ago, but it was still 2018, so we'll set that aside for now. How about the Tigers destroying a ranked Georgia Tech team in their opener, and then completely smothering a ranked aTm team last week? You think this ND squad, that allowed Louisville to hang-around until the 4th quarter and failed to cover, wouldn't get absolutely embarrassed by Clemson if we played them on Saturday?

GT definitely wasn't ranked. Didn't even have votes. They are bad and have a new staff.

But agree with the rest of your post.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

GT definitely wasn't ranked. Didn't even have votes. They are bad and have a new staff.

Good catch, and fixed. I misread Google's summary of their schedule thus far.

 

[stlnd01]

Didn’t really think a Crawford would be coming back, given his injury history. But our upper classes are gonna be really thin.
Maybe Donte Vaughn could take a redshirt this year? Think I saw he DNPd against Louisville.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Didn’t really think a Crawford would be coming back, given his injury history. But our upper classes are gonna be really thin.
Maybe Donte Vaughn could take a redshirt this year? Think I saw he DNPd against Louisville.

BK said in one of his interviews after L'ville that Vaughn will see the field. Not sure if anything has changed since, but given the fact that he reportedly had a really solid camp, and BK reiterated he will play, I highly doubt it.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

BK said in one of his interviews after L'ville that Vaughn will see the field. Not sure if anything has changed since, but given the fact that he reportedly had a really solid camp, and BK reiterated he will play, I highly doubt it.

He also had a quad injury that kept him on the sidelines for some part of camp.

 

[stpeteirish]

Six years is a long time to spend in college so i get Crawford's sentiments here. They should try to manage his snaps to keep him on the field this year. Vaughn, Bracy, Griffith..I don't know who's the next man in but hopefully somebody emerges.

They love Hamilton as the back end guy but couldn't he play boundary corner? He can cover and tackle in space. I'd rather see us rest Crawford than Gilman and Elliot.

 

[Crazy Balki]

The Cotton Bowl was only 8.5 months ago, but it was still 2018, so we'll set that aside for now. How about the Tigers destroying Georgia Tech in their opener, and then completely smothering a ranked aTm team last week? You think this ND squad, that allowed Louisville to hang-around until the 4th quarter and failed to cover, wouldn't get absolutely embarrassed by Clemson if we played them on Saturday?

Tech is MUCH worse than Louisville.

One team had completely drained the swamp of the horrific previous regime that was not only detrimental on the field but off it as well. Replaced it with a very good head coach and staff, and had some legitimate talent that fit the schemes they were trying to implement.

The other is Georgia Tech. A team that is only months into a massive rebuild, with a roster completely filled with misfits who were recruited to run the triple option and are now running a spread.

Keep in mind that Tech was held to 14 points and 257 total yards against South Florida, who a week earlier, gave up 49 to Wisconsin and gave up nearly that many yards on the ground alone and made Jack Coan look like a respectable QB.

And would we get embarrassed? I mean, A&M didn't get embarrassed, so I'd say ND would've faired well enough. Probably not win, but at least hung in there.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Six years is a long time to spend in college so i get Crawford's sentiments here. They should try to manage his snaps to keep him on the field this year. Vaughn, Bracy, Griffith..I don't know who's the next man in but hopefully somebody emerges.

They love Hamilton as the back end guy but couldn't he play boundary corner? He can cover and tackle in space. I'd rather see us rest Crawford than Gilman and Elliot.

I don't think there's any way you take his versatility as a safety and limit him to one half of the field. You want him on the back end to cover ground as well as coming up to make plays against the run. I wouldn't mess with Hamilton's situation one bit.

Besides on some of the plays they had all three of Gilman, Elliott, and Hamilton on the field, which we will likely see a lot of this year. Elliott can be a very effective nickel.

Finally, Bracy backs up Crawford on the depth chart came in to rest Crawford quite a bit. Crawford had 59 snaps, Bracy had 32.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Going back to Crawford though...

He maybe just done with college and ready to test the NFL waters while he still has some prime years left.

He'll likely be 24 next season, and it may be in his best interest to end it on a healthy and good season and try to earn that payday. I'm sure he's done a ton of work to earn that Bachelors and hopefully he's working on his Masters as we speak, so he should be more than prepared if his NFL career ends early.

 

[koonja]

There's an ISD article that just went up.

He's done with football after this year, no NFL after all of the injuries.

Also, I love him.

 

[stlnd01]

There's an ISD article that just went up.

He's done with football after this year, no NFL after all of the injuries.

Also, I love him.

Hope he has a hell of a season and then goes on to a great life in something other than football.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

There's an ISD article that just went up.

He's done with football after this year, no NFL after all of the injuries.

Also, I love him.

I love Crawford so much. Even if this year ends negatively, he's given everything to Our Lady and he still has such a good attitude.

 

[T-Boone]

I like these players who decide not to play in the NFL, but I don't really understand why he would not play another year if he has the eligibility.

 

[ND88]

I like these players who decide not to play in the NFL, but I don't really understand why he would not play another year if he has the eligibility.

Two possibilities: (1) The health factor. It’s a physically and mentally arduous sport. I imagine with the injuries he has had to overcome, the journey has been particularly stressful. (2) Plus, he might simply have other goals of greater priority in his life.

Nothing but total respect for the young man.

 

[Henges24]

I like these players who decide not to play in the NFL, but I don't really understand why he would not play another year if he has the eligibility.

Injuries. Ask Andrew Luck why he retired early.

 

[Circa]

Clemson hasn't shown me anything this year that makes me think we can't hang with them.

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[Circa]

Injuries. Ask Andrew Luck why he retired early.

No. I'm pretty sure after talking to them he said he retired because a guy named Quentin blocks Noone ever. He can't afford to take hits from such a terrible o-line.

BTW, Luck retired because he doesn't need football and wanted to do something more productive with his mind than deal with men acting like children and getting fans and obsessive people to paint them as gods... He's smart!. IMHO

 

[stlnd01]

I like these players who decide not to play in the NFL, but I don't really understand why he would not play another year if he has the eligibility.

It's an interesting question. In six years you could actually get an MBA, or various MA degrees, and be set up pretty well for whatever comes next. OTOH, six years is a long time to play college football. He may just be done with it.

Regardless, I do think we'll continue to see more guys (at least from schools like Notre Dame and Stanford) retiring after college. The NFL is just brutal. Injuries like crazy. No job security. And unless you're a very high pick or an established free agent, it's not like the money's going to set you up for life or anything. Take that degree and those connections and go get a job that won't wreck your health.

 

[T-Boone]

It's an interesting question. In six years you could actually get an MBA, or various MA degrees, and be set up pretty well for whatever comes next. OTOH, six years is a long time to play college football. He may just be done with it.

Regardless, I do think we'll continue to see more guys (at least from schools like Notre Dame and Stanford) retiring after college. The NFL is just brutal. Injuries like crazy. No job security. And unless you're a very high pick or an established free agent, it's not like the money's going to set you up for life or anything. Take that degree and those connections and go get a job that won't wreck your health.

Yep, ND football should do more updates on guys like Elmer who opt out of football but go on to kick business arse. Couldn't hurt recruiting.

 

[317Irish]

I love Crawford so much. Even if this year ends negatively, he's given everything to Our Lady and he still has such a good attitude.

Definitely one of my favorite players as well. There’s something about hearing a lot of hype about a game-changing type DB here at ND (it feels like we don’t get many as of late) and then getting to see it with my own eyes, albeit in short glimpses. I was at Michigan State when he forced the fumble by LJ Scott on the 1, one of my favorite defensive plays in the last ten years or so.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Yep, ND football should do more updates on guys like Elmer who opt out of football but go on to kick business arse. Couldn't hurt recruiting.

Funny you mention it, because the Indy Star just released an article on Hunter Bivin, who is the current director of player development, who's job is to help student athletes adjust to life post-playing days.

https://www.indystar.com/story/spor...new-career-ron-powlus-brian-kelly/2263659001/

 

[stlnd01]

Any word on him?

 

[Irishize]

Any word on him?

Looked like dislocated elbow. Only news I’ve read on him is they are going to get MRI. He was in a sling for the rest of the game.

 

[tussin]

I believe Eifert dislocated his elbow for the Bengals and missed the year.

 

[GUknights75]

That looked horrifying. I felt so bad for the kid, though he did look like he was in good spirits on the sideline in his sling and if it was something serious you would think he would have been taken to the hospital immediately. Lets hope he is double jointed and walks away with a sprain.

 

[Rizzophil]

I thought it was dislocated too but he was on the sideline afterwards. I would have thought there would be extreme pain