'17 VA DT Darnell Ewell (Notre Dame Signee)

[Sherm Sticky]

You see, when a man and a woman love each other very much, or when they're drunk, they sneak off into a dorm room and then 9 months later a stork drops a baby at their door.

^This


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NDJimmy]

How do you keep the stork away?
Shoot it in the air.

 

[BobbyMac]

How do you keep the stork away?
Shoot it in the air.

How do you keep the stork away asks a guy named... Jimmy.

You cant make that up.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Mods, could we drain the swamp from post 449 through my own? We are talking about real people here who don't deserve to be put through this sort of whatever-it-is commentary. Folks read these things as far as we know.

 

[dad4aa]

Mods, could we drain the swamp from post 449 through my own? We are talking about real people here who don't deserve to be put through this sort of whatever-it-is commentary. Folks read these things as far as we know.

Including parents of members of the team and staff

 

[snoopdog]

Any update on how this kid is doing. Came in with strong expectations, but quiet so far. Anyone....Bueller?

 

[Domina Nostra]

Any update on how this kid is doing. Came in with strong expectations, but quiet so far. Anyone....Bueller?

Based on an interview with Coach Elston on NSD, it sounds like:

- He came in extremely out of shape (weight room strong, but absolutely no stamina)
- He was not particularly well-coached (needed a lot of work technique-wise)
- He has a good attitude, cares about football, works hard
- Will start getting worked in slowly, but don't expect too much very soon

 

[PANDFAN]

also just had a kid not too long ago...so that is another mental hurdle or could be the light he needs to give him the extra motivation

 

[ResLife Hero]

Glad to see the big fella still committed.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Loved what I saw from Darnell Ewell. He's still very raw, but he worked hard today. He hustled from station to station, and after a rep on the 1-man sled he looked at Coach Elston and asked if he could repeat the rep b/c he didn't like how he did it. Loved seeing that.</p>— Bryan Driskell (@BGI_CoachD) <a href="https://twitter.com/BGI_CoachD/status/971042639293435904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[NDIrish88]

How long is it going to take to get him to where he needs to be? Will the 2019 class commits pass him by?

 

[Big23Head]

How long is it going to take to get him to where he needs to be? Will the 2019 class commits pass him by?

I think Ademilola will pass him. Everything I've read in the past up to now seems to indicate Ewell will need another year to compete at a high level. Hopefully he continues to grow technique wise and work hard

 

[Wingman Ray]

I think Ademilola will pass him. Everything I've read in the past up to now seems to indicate Ewell will need another year to compete at a high level. Hopefully he continues to grow technique wise and work hard

This just makes me wonder if ND is still in the rut of developing players, especially D lineman, to a high level. Doesnt make much sense how a guy can come in and have no eta when he can compete at a high level ranked as this guy was. Maybe he seriously digressed physically but the pictures I saw as a high school senior he was a flippin ox

 

[IrishLion]

This just makes me wonder if ND is still in the rut of developing players, especially D lineman, to a high level. Doesnt make much sense how a guy can come in and have no eta when he can compete at a high level ranked as this guy was. Maybe he seriously digressed physically but the pictures I saw as a high school senior he was a flippin ox

...he said, ignoring the fact that two less-heralded freshmen saw the field and appear to be developing just fine

 

[longliveautrydenson]

This just makes me wonder if ND is still in the rut of developing players, especially D lineman, to a high level. Doesnt make much sense how a guy can come in and have no eta when he can compete at a high level ranked as this guy was. Maybe he seriously digressed physically but the pictures I saw as a high school senior he was a flippin ox

We can’t have our players’ bodies going off on tangents if we want to compete with the Bama’s of the world.

 

[Luckylucci]

I think Ademilola will pass him. Everything I've read in the past up to now seems to indicate Ewell will need another year to compete at a high level. Hopefully he continues to grow technique wise and work hard

Different positions. I'd be shocked if Ademilola isn't at 3T. After this season we'll probably see MTA back at 3T so that will be the 2 deep there. Then you'll have Hinish, Ewell, and Franklin at 1T. So, I'd expect that we are still 1 year away from him cracking the 2 deep.

 

[Luckylucci]

...he said, ignoring the fact that two less-heralded freshmen saw the field and appear to be developing just fine

Exactly. When I look at this, I come to the conclusion that the recruiting rankings aren't very accurate. Not that we can't identify or coach talent. MTA was very good last year for a freshman DT, against a big time schedule.

 

[Wingman Ray]

Exactly. When I look at this, I come to the conclusion that the recruiting rankings aren't very accurate. Not that we can't identify or coach talent. MTA was very good last year for a freshman DT, against a big time schedule.

Did he play against weak competition in HS? I saw he was really developed muscle wise and if he was playing against smaller competition, he could have looked all world. And now that he is playing against 320 lb athletic OLmen, maybe it isnt going so well?

 

[Luckylucci]

Did he play against weak competition in HS? I saw he was really developed muscle wise and if he was playing against smaller competition, he could have looked all world. And now that he is playing against 320 lb athletic OLmen, maybe it isnt going so well?

I don't believe the competition was all that tough. But more than anything, I think it was proper conditioning and skillset. Like Kelly said yesterday, he can do all the heavy lifting, but it has to translate to football. Also, can he give the necessary volume of work in order to play. It doesn't sound like he's quite there yet.

 

[Ndaccountant]

https://247sports.com/Article/Irish-A-to-Z-Darnell-Ewell-118356430

 

[ResLife Hero]

https://247sports.com/Article/Irish-A-to-Z-Darnell-Ewell-118356430

.

Path To Playing Time In ‘18

When Ewell came up in last year’s A-to-Z series it felt like he might a sophomore starter based on potential. Instead, it’s difficult to see how he climbs above fourth-string among Notre Dame’s nose guards, trailing Jonathan Bonner, Kurt Hinish and Micah Dew Treadway. How much work does a fourth-line defensive lineman actually get? Walk-ons Lincoln Feist and Ryan Kilander held those roles last season. Each played three snaps all year. The best case for Ewell might be job sharing with Dew-Treadway, which isn’t out of the question. Considering Bonner was limited during spring ball and is undersized by traditional nose guard standards, maybe there will be more rotation than usual.

Long-Term Projection

Give up on Ewell at your own risk, even though he’s got a mountain to climb to become a regular within the defense. Bonner is done after this season. Dew-Treadway could graduate transfer out. That would leave Hinish and Ewell, both juniors at that point, as the anchors of the defensive line with sophomore Ja’mion Franklin in reserve. If Ewell sticks with Notre Dame through this season, Notre Dame will likely stick with Ewell beyond it. It’s not easy to basically do back-to-back red-shirt seasons, but there could be a light at the end of the tunnel here.

 

[Wingman Ray]

I dont get it. This was my favorite get from that class and in a great position of need. How does he go from a no-way-miss to a complete benchwarmer?

I dont know what's up here. Too much of non football life or did he just peak out in High School?

 

[IrishLion]

I dont get it. This was my favorite get from that class and in a great position of need. How does he go from a no-way-miss to a complete benchwarmer?

I dont know what's up here. Too much of non football life or did he just peak out in High School?

His ratings were based entirely on his ceiling, which is high based on his physical upside.

It was well-noted early on that he had a lot of work to do to get in shape and achieve that physical upside, and also a lot of work to do on the fundamentals of the game.

If he had been rated as a three-star guy, he would've been praised as a high-upside project that was a steal.

 

[snoopdog]

Ewell is what I find difficult about the rating system.

For sure there are 50-100 guys you know that we be impact players at the P5 level, and 200+ that you hope will be impact players.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

I dont get it. This was my favorite get from that class and in a great position of need. How does he go from a no-way-miss to a complete benchwarmer?

I dont know what's up here. Too much of non football life or did he just peak out in High School?

Remember Justin Hilliard and Jashon Cornell, we were all salty AF that we lost them to tOSU. Neither have logged meaningful minutes and they are going into their 3rd or 4th years. They were both high 4 or 5 star players.

There are only 10-20 players every year that are "sure things" and even those can have a miss rate of 10-20%.

Let's hope Ewell is committed and willing to work because he has plenty of time to realize his talent.

 

[Ndaccountant]

Remember Justin Hilliard and Jashon Cornell, we were all salty AF that we lost them to tOSU. Neither have logged meaningful minutes and they are going into their 3rd or 4th years. They were both high 4 or 5 star players.

There are only 10-20 players every year that are "sure things" and even those can have a miss rate of 10-20%.

Let's hope Ewell is committed and willing to work because he has plenty of time to realize his talent.

TBF to Hilliard, I think he has had quite the few injuries to overcome. Thought I read somewhere he has twice torn his bicep. I think Cornell was in no mans land as he "grew" into a DT spot and is now being asked to move outside IIRC. Sounds to me he wasn't a good physical fit at OSU.

 

[stlnd01]

His ratings were based entirely on his ceiling, which is high based on his physical upside.

It was well-noted early on that he had a lot of work to do to get in shape and achieve that physical upside, and also a lot of work to do on the fundamentals of the game.

If he had been rated as a three-star guy, he would've been praised as a high-upside project that was a steal.

Exactly. Why are we so disappointed? If Ewell sticks with it and puts in the work he has a clear shot to be a three-year starter/co-starter beginning in 2019. I’ll take that any day, especially at that position.

 

[snoopdog]

Exactly. Why are we so disappointed? If Ewell sticks with it and puts in the work he has a clear shot to be a three-year starter/co-starter beginning in 2019. I’ll take that any day, especially at that position.

Or the newer guys are just better....which isn't a problem whatsoever.

The issue for me I guess...is how suspect the star rating system actually is.

ie Hinish isn't much of a player...Ewell is a beast...

 

[KizerWilhelm]

I dont get it. This was my favorite get from that class and in a great position of need. How does he go from a no-way-miss to a complete benchwarmer?

I dont know what's up here. Too much of non football life or did he just peak out in High School?

Along with what others have said, he also had a daughter last December. Which he would've found out about, say, just before summer practice started. Difficult to say if that might have factored in to his slow start and showing up overweight.

 

[BobbyMac]

Now listed at 6-3 / 330

 

[zelezo vlk]

Listed at 6-3, 321 from 6-4, 280 on signing day.

Compared to 330 per Crus' post