'17 VA DT Darnell Ewell (Notre Dame Signee)

[stlnd01]

I don’t really understand why they would move him to the O Line - where we have lots of depth - only to move him back a year later. We knew inside DL was going to be light in 2019. Why not give him another year to develop at the position he was recruited to play?

Either way, this guy still has three seasons of eligibility remaining. If he’s willing to put in the work (and of course that may be the issue), I’d be wary of throwing in the towel.

 

[Luckylucci]

Pretty sure he has a kid. That could be a contributing factor in all this.

He does, and that's a good point. I guess I wasn't sure where the kid was being raised. I always assumed it was back home in VA. Which I would think would allow him to focus on his academics and athletics while on campus but I have no idea what that looks like of him.

 

[Luckylucci]

I don’t really understand why they would move him to the O Line - where we have lots of depth - only to move him back a year later. We knew inside DL was going to be light in 2019. Why not give him another year to develop at the position he was recruited to play?

Either way, this guy still has three seasons of eligibility remaining. If he’s willing to put in the work (and of course that may be the issue), I’d be wary of throwing in the towel.

Not really. MDT could've improved and Franklin's injury threw a curveball into it. Even without MDT, Franklin being healthy gives you a 1-2-3 of Junior/Sophomore/Freshman at NT. And the same at 3T if Spears didn't re-injure his knee.

 

[snoopdog]

In HS I could do 225 for 36

I ran a 4.67 in the 40 yard dash

I was 5ft 9in and weighed 205. I also played on the worst team in MO and looked like I could maybe lift 205 on bench, I maxed at 405 or 385? Point being, Ewell looked the part but that doesn't matter.

Huh????

In 2018 the 3rd best NFL combine performance was 35 reps, by the 300+lb, college senior, and you did better in HS?

Impressive. Really impressive. But is it true?

 

[SouthSideChiDomer]

Huh????

In 2018 the 3rd best NFL combine performance was 35 reps, by the 300+lb, college senior, and you did better in HS?

Impressive. Really impressive. But is it true?

I actually did close to that before (actually several times) and I know a couple other who have too. There are a couple differences though. We regularly lift closer to that weight, so we are more used to hitting it for high reps where these linemen are probably more used to high weights at lower reps. We also have the advantage of having a shorter distance to travel because we are shorter so we have shorter arms, but we are pretty barrel chested so there is an absolutely minimal distance to travel. We can also arch our backs where I'm pretty sure they make them keep flat backs at the combine. Finally, we get to be jacked up on all kinds of banned preworkouts and those especially help with preventing lactic acid buildup so we can keep our strength over a longer set.

 

[irishnd31]

I actually did close to that before (actually several times) and I know a couple other who have too. There are a couple differences though. We regularly lift closer to that weight, so we are more used to hitting it for high reps where these linemen are probably more used to high weights at lower reps. We also have the advantage of having a shorter distance to travel because we are shorter so we have shorter arms, but we are pretty barrel chested so there is an absolutely minimal distance to travel. We can also arch our backs where I'm pretty sure they make them keep flat backs at the combine. Finally, we get to be jacked up on all kinds of banned preworkouts and those especially help with preventing lactic acid buildup so we can keep our strength over a longer set.

I just put down a 2 for 6 Whoppers. Hammered a large fry and tall cherry Coke. So there’s that.

 

[NDdomer2]

I just put down a 2 for 6 Whoppers. Hammered a large fry and tall cherry Coke. So there’s that.

Were you at the White House for Clemson ceremony?

 

[Irish YJ]

I just put down a 2 for 6 Whoppers. Hammered a large fry and tall cherry Coke. So there’s that.

big meal combo++ from my local chi joint.... sweet and sour chicken, pork lo mein, pork fried lice, 2 egg rolls, 3 crab rangoon. powered down and was damn tasty.

would have went cow if i new you and Don were going burgers tonight.

 

[IrishFaninTX]

big meal combo++ from my local chi joint.... sweet and sour chicken, pork lo mein, pork fried lice, 2 egg rolls, 3 crab rangoon. powered down and was damn tasty.

would have went cow if i new you and Don were going burgers tonight.

How is was the pork fried lice? Pretty crunchy?

 

[Irish YJ]

How is was the pork fried lice? Pretty crunchy?

it was rike really good.

 

[Crazy Balki]

This is one of the more bizarre misses of recent time. He was seemingly a big/strong kid in reasonable shape who, at worst, would be able to hold up inside and provide some reps/snaps. Because he was already so physically developed, I don't think very many thought his floor was 'never play a down of college football.' I have to assume there is more to this. Bad eating habits, lack of training outside of football related activities, etc.

Ewell's issues were purely technical. This is a guy who played against very weak competition and was able to physically dominate his opposition without any need for advanced technique.

Despite his physical prowess, he was technically very raw. It would appear that he hasn't grasped the nuances of the position at this level, and if he wants to see even a lick of playing time, he'll have to (assuming he is moving back to DT).

 

[Luckylucci]

Ewell's issues were purely technical. This is a guy who played against very weak competition and was able to physically dominate his opposition without any need for advanced technique.

Despite his physical prowess, he was technically very raw. It would appear that he hasn't grasped the nuances of the position at this level, and if he wants to see even a lick of playing time, he'll have to (assuming he is moving back to DT).

That’s not the only reason. He’s been having significant troubles with conditioning since he’s been on campus. He noticeably struggles consecutive reps.

 

[connor_in]

it was rike really good.

Pronounciation guide starting at about 3:20

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TfDSZkQvuXU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[irishnd31]

big meal combo++ from my local chi joint.... sweet and sour chicken, pork lo mein, pork fried lice, 2 egg rolls, 3 crab rangoon. powered down and was damn tasty.

would have went cow if i new you and Don were going burgers tonight.

That my friend is a 5 star performance. Impressive.

 

[stlnd01]

Not really. MDT could've improved and Franklin's injury threw a curveball into it. Even without MDT, Franklin being healthy gives you a 1-2-3 of Junior/Sophomore/Freshman at NT. And the same at 3T if Spears didn't re-injure his knee.

Fair enough, but I think in August most people would've been surprised to see MDT come back for a fifth year in 2019, and guys do get hurt, like Franklin. The upshot is we have three interior linemen who've ever played a down of college football, one of whom just missed most of the season. We're largely counting on Lacey to be able to walk in and contribute (as many though Ewell would two years ago). This at a position where experience and physical maturity pay dividends, as does rotational depth.

If technique is part of Ewell's trouble - as some say it is - even having him play scout team DL in 2018 and work on that would seem to put him in better position to contribute in 2019 than to have him sitting at the bottom of a stacked OL depth chart he was never likely to crack anyway.
But, obviously, I don't see the guy in practice every day. So who knows.

 

[Irish#1]

it was rike really good.

I see what you did there.

 

[GoldenToTheGrave]

It's also very plausible that he doesn't see himself with an NFL future and would rather collect an all expense paid elite college degree without risking brain/body injury. Probably something that happens more than most on this board would care to admit.

 

[Wingman Ray]

It's also very plausible that he doesn't see himself with an NFL future and would rather collect an all expense paid elite college degree without risking brain/body injury. Probably something that happens more than most on this board would care to admit.

This was my thought yesterday. Doubtful ND punts anyone for failing to meet potential and as long as the guy does the minimum, he stays on scholarship. Do the minimum for 4 years and get a free great education.

 

[IrishFanJMercy]

At this point what depth is he really going to provide next year? I just don't see him making the jump to be able to play snaps

 

[SouthSideChiDomer]

This was my thought yesterday. Doubtful ND punts anyone for failing to meet potential and as long as the guy does the minimum, he stays on scholarship. Do the minimum for 4 years and get a free great education.

If this is what is happening then ND would likely find a way to put him on medical retirement so he still gets the scholarship money for 4 years but they can get another spot on the 85. If he is still on the 85, then I feel like its something else holding him back.

 

[stlnd01]

It's also very plausible that he doesn't see himself with an NFL future and would rather collect an all expense paid elite college degree without risking brain/body injury. Probably something that happens more than most on this board would care to admit.

Honestly if a guy is working hard/contributing in practice - and/or significantly injured and takes a medical - I don't really have any problem with that approach. Most of these guys are not going to make their living in the NFL anyway.

 

[stlnd01]

At this point what depth is he really going to provide next year? I just don't see him making the jump to be able to play snaps

I keep coming back to this but Ewell has three seasons of eligibility remaining. That's a lot of time. Some guys are late bloomers, especially on defensive line (Jay Hayes comes to mind, as does Kona Schwenke). And it's a position where you tend to need all the bodies you can get.
Even if he winds up giving us 25 snaps a game as a senior in 2020, graduates and retires, that's OK.

 

[Domina Nostra]

I keep coming back to this but Ewell has three seasons of eligibility remaining. That's a lot of time. Some guys are late bloomers, especially on defensive line (Jay Hayes comes to mind, as does Kona Schwenke). And it's a position where you tend to need all the bodies you can get.
Even if he winds up giving us 25 snaps a game as a senior in 2020, graduates and retires, that's OK.

Even if he just gets really strong, and provides a good transition practice teammate for our stud OLinemen to break in against...

 

[NDMIA]

I keep coming back to this but Ewell has three seasons of eligibility remaining. That's a lot of time. Some guys are late bloomers, especially on defensive line (Jay Hayes comes to mind, as does Kona Schwenke). And it's a position where you tend to need all the bodies you can get.
Even if he winds up giving us 25 snaps a game as a senior in 2020, graduates and retires, that's OK.

Ewell spent his first 14 months on campus learning NT and the last 4 months learning OLine. Hopefully for his sake, he gets a quick switch this spring back to NT and continues the rest of his career at this position. At OLine there are many interchangeable parts and he really is 15th or 16th on the depth chart to play football and will likely keep moving down the list as these All American offensive lineman come in from high school. At Nose Tackle you have Kurt Hinish, Ja’Mion Franklin, and Jacob Lacey. It’s a unique position that only a couple of guys can fill on the roster. I think it is better to give Ewell a chance to be a Micah Dew-Treadway who could learn for 3-4 years at the position and continue to work on technique and then finally play a couple of reserve snaps. I just think that OL is for the purposes of burying the kid on a depth chart. They may say they love his size at guard but I just don’t see how he ever sees the field at OLine where I could foresee an injury at NT where he could come up and play 5-10 snaps in a game and ND wouldn’t be horrified when he’s in year 4 or 5. Seems like a better use of depth to me.

 

[Irish#1]

Flipping him to O never made any sense, but the staff had to have their reason, otherwise why go through the gymnastics? Maybe he struggled picking up the technique and nuances of playing on the O line. On D there's not much to learn and remember compared to the O line. Just spitballin'.

 

[Luckylucci]

Fair enough, but I think in August most people would've been surprised to see MDT come back for a fifth year in 2019, and guys do get hurt, like Franklin. The upshot is we have three interior linemen who've ever played a down of college football, one of whom just missed most of the season. We're largely counting on Lacey to be able to walk in and contribute (as many though Ewell would two years ago). This at a position where experience and physical maturity pay dividends, as does rotational depth.
If technique is part of Ewell's trouble - as some say it is - even having him play scout team DL in 2018 and work on that would seem to put him in better position to contribute in 2019 than to have him sitting at the bottom of a stacked OL depth chart he was never likely to crack anyway.
But, obviously, I don't see the guy in practice every day. So who knows.

Not sure I see it that way. The staff did give him 140 snaps through the regular season. He had 12 1st half snaps versus BSU, 13 versus VU, and 21 versus Wake Forest. You are only doing that if you are trying to see what you have there. Otherwise, you'd give those to Franklin. I'd bet that they were hopeful he'd play better, he just didn't.

I think this is being overstated. I had previously posted on the snap counts for this year and last to illustrate this. Last year Hinish as a True Freshman played 14 snaps/game. Lacey is a substantially better prospect and it seems very reasonable that he'd deserve those snaps in 2019 regardless.

 

[Luckylucci]

I keep coming back to this but Ewell has three seasons of eligibility remaining. That's a lot of time. Some guys are late bloomers, especially on defensive line (Jay Hayes comes to mind, as does Kona Schwenke). And it's a position where you tend to need all the bodies you can get.
Even if he winds up giving us 25 snaps a game as a senior in 2020, graduates and retires, that's OK.

With the expectation that you'll have a Senior Hinish, Junior Franklin (now healthy), Sophomore Lacey, and a Freshman Aidan K (we are current leader) I don't see how he gets 25 snaps/game unless he completely transforms his game. 25/game is a lot of snaps, he'd essentially be a co-starter. There were only 13 players that played that many snaps or more during the regular season this year.

 

[stlnd01]

With the expectation that you'll have a Senior Hinish, Junior Franklin (now healthy), Sophomore Lacey, and a Freshman Aidan K (we are current leader) I don't see how he gets 25 snaps/game unless he completely transforms his game. 25/game is a lot of snaps, he'd essentially be a co-starter. There were only 13 players that played that many snaps or more during the regular season this year.

Fine. 10 to 15 snaps a game. About what Jay A and MDT gave us this year. Maybe I’m still scarred by years like 2014 where we were burning redshirts and putting linebackers in there just to have a defensive line by the end of the season. But I want all the DTs we can get, and I see no reason not to keep working on Ewell in the hopes he can at least provide rotational depth at some point.
What’s the alternative?

 

[Luckylucci]

Fine. 10 to 15 snaps a game. About what Jay A and MDT gave us this year. Maybe I’m still scarred by years like 2014 where we were burning redshirts and putting linebackers in there just to have a defensive line by the end of the season. But I want all the DTs we can get, and I see no reason not to keep working on Ewell in the hopes he can at least provide rotational depth at some point.
What’s the alternative?

I don't think DT depth is ideal going into next year but I don't think moving Ewell had or will have any impact with the "on field" product. And, I'm totally on board with Ewell back at NT. I was more just explaining how the situation looked to the staff when the decision was made last year. It was noted by virtually all sites that Ewell was still having troubles taking reps in succession.

 

[NDMIA]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Celebrating a great spring!! <br>Great meal with a great group of men!!<br><br>To the Brotherhood!!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BoomBoomPow?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BoomBoomPow</a> <a href="https://t.co/gBBkpPlJXP">pic.twitter.com/gBBkpPlJXP</a></p>— Mike Elston (@CoachMikeElston) <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachMikeElston/status/1117938721058324483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 15, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>