'18 IL ATH Houston Griffith (Notre Dame Early Enrollee)

[Luckylucci]

Listen, enough of the Crawford slander. So he looked bad against Bama and their passing game and Cremson and their passing game. Join the club.
He was a great player who deserves respect.

You throw out plenty of criticism when you feel like it, no need to condemn others for theirs of him. Nothing here has been inappropriate.

Love Shaun Crawford and what he did during his time at ND. I've given him so many praises over the years. No slander here. He played more defensive snaps than anybody and in no universe did his play support that.

 

[NDFAN420]

Another DB. Good that we took such a big, high-upside, DB class this year. Griffith wasn't Hamilton, but I would have liked to have seen whether he could translate his athletic ability to play faster and smarter on the field at ND.

 

[JD Irish]

If you want to be depressed, go look at our 2018 recruiting class.

 

[GATTACA!]

Another underutilized athlete.

 

[fightingirish26]

If you want to be depressed, go look at our 2018 recruiting class.

Especially compared to the 2016 class...

 

[Irishnuke]

Was 2021 the year everything was supposed to click for him? Because it didn't happen in his first 3 years at ND.

 

[pumpdog20]

Was 2021 the year everything was supposed to click for him? Because it didn't happen in his first 3 years at ND.

Development can still happen, see Javon McKinley.

 

[NorthDakota]

Development can still happen, see Javon McKinley.

Yeah it can happen. But ND isn't in a position to wait until year 4 or 5 for some of these guys to produce. At least not at certain positions.

 

[T-Boone]

If you want to be depressed, go look at our 2018 recruiting class.

Yep. It has to be called a flop so far.

 

[Irishnuke]

If you want to be depressed, go look at our 2018 recruiting class.

Wow. The center is the best player from that class.

 

[IrishLion]

If you want to be depressed, go look at our 2018 recruiting class.

I don't think it looks that bad?

Maybe I'm just a brow-beaten ND fan that is accustomed to transfers and wash-outs, but that class doesn't look so bad to me. It's got a decent hit-rate on guys that are currently key depth pieces, as well as a couple of guys that are key starters.

 

[NDIrish88]

I don't think it looks that bad?

Maybe I'm just a brow-beaten ND fan that is accustomed to transfers and wash-outs, but that class doesn't look so bad to me. It's got a decent hit-rate on guys that are currently key depth pieces, as well as a couple of guys that are key starters.

Looks like, so far, about a third of the players are either transferred, in the portal, or medical (Mabry). That number may increase to half before it is all said and done.

 

[PANDFAN]

Another underutilized athlete.

or maybe they just aren't as good as the ranking???? they tried the kid at cb and safety and couldn't get him on the field more....

 

[IrishLion]

Another underutilized athlete.

DJ Brown was getting more reps than Griffith this year as part of the meaningful rotation, and Brown was supposed to be the "developmental" prospect. And Lea and Joseph get the benefit of the doubt in terms of their development and personnel decisions, IMO...

That leaves us with:

or maybe they just aren't as good as the ranking???? they tried the kid at cb and safety and couldn't get him on the field more....

Griffith just wasn't picking up either DB position well enough to unseat anybody.

He'd have a great shot at starting next to Hamilton next year, but that means a position battle with DJ Brown and maybe some other guys, too.

Maybe he feels he hasn't been given a fair shot... but his trials in '18 and '19 don't really support that.

 

[stpeteirish]

seems to be growing optimism that he stays. Surprising to me because he didn't appear to be good enough to win the open S job and he got plenty of reps.

Is there a position in Freeman's defense that would be a fir for HG that didn't exist in Clark's?

 

[BeauBenken]

seems to be growing optimism that he stays. Surprising to me because he didn't appear to be good enough to win the open S job and he got plenty of reps.

Is there a position in Freeman's defense that would be a fir for HG that didn't exist in Clark's?

He definitely has the body type and athleticism to fit in the scheme. Unfamiliar with position names for Freeman's system, but he could easily fit in somewhere.

 

[BabyIrish]

seems to be growing optimism that he stays. Surprising to me because he didn't appear to be good enough to win the open S job and he got plenty of reps.

Is there a position in Freeman's defense that would be a fir for HG that didn't exist in Clark's?

Free man likes to play five db’s and there’s talk of Hamilton playing sniper, which would leave two safety spots open. We need bodies in the secondary

 

[ResLife Hero]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yahoo's <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteThamel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PeteThamel</a> reports safety Houston Griffith is taking his name out of the transfer portal and coming back to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NotreDame</a> for a fifth season. <a href="https://t.co/ZSsqJMElng">pic.twitter.com/ZSsqJMElng</a></p>— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) <a href="https://twitter.com/ISDUpdate/status/1352637384253444096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[rtrn2glory]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yahoo's <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteThamel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PeteThamel</a> reports safety Houston Griffith is taking his name out of the transfer portal and coming back to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NotreDame</a> for a fifth season. <a href="https://t.co/ZSsqJMElng">pic.twitter.com/ZSsqJMElng</a></p>— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) <a href="https://twitter.com/ISDUpdate/status/1352637384253444096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Not technically a fifth season, but still good news none the less. Let's hope MF can tap into his potential

 

[dublinirish]

meh, would rather he moved on tbh

 

[rtrn2glory]

meh, would rather he moved on tbh

don't think we have enough depth at safety to want him to move on.

 

[IrishLion]

meh, would rather he moved on tbh

Hard disagree. Need non-freshmen bodies for Freeman and his safety coach to work with, even if they're guys that haven't panned out.

Hoping for the Bilal/McKinley light to click on for him.

 

[BeauBenken]

I'm excited to see if Freeman can find a place for him in his defense and get some use out of his build and athleticism.

Second big recruiting win by Freeman?

 

[arrowryan]

Glad he's coming back. Excited to see what new blood at DC and safeties coach can do for him.

 

[IrishLax]

IMO, this is great news. While he's been inconsistent he still has the requisite athleticism to be an impact player. He's been moved around every single year he's been on campus and not been allowed to "stick" anywhere. He clearly had issues with his new position coach last year.

With Freeman wanting to play 5 DBs you need depth above everything else. There is only one proven safety in Kyle Hamilton. You need at least one more as well as one "hybrid". It's likely that all three of Griffith/Brown/Pryor get serious PT next year.

 

[Luckylucci]

Hard disagree. Need non-freshmen bodies for Freeman and his safety coach to work with, even if they're guys that haven't panned out.

Hoping for the Bilal/McKinley light to click on for him.

Yea, there is no downside to this. He’s not taking the spot of a flashy prospective recruit that may present more long term value.

 

[Dale]

We could pluck every transfer S off the portal and still be short on bodies there. Definitely needed regardless

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Huge, huge win. Depth is huge at Safety - and whether or not he takes the next step - he'll have ND experience that few have. Including, a flashy recruit or transfer in.

 

[beryirish]

I. Am. Happy.

 

[IrishLax]

Right now, starting safeties look like Hamilton + Griffith/Brown and the "5th" DB in base sets looks like Pryor/Griffith/Liufau depending on the situation. This gives you enough depth for ~1 injury, so still not great, but not as dire as it was a few weeks ago.

CB is more scary, you have Lewis who might be OK + Bracy who got benched but has generally been OK. That's it. Maybe Cam Hart as a flex guy. They're going to be relying on a transfer or one of the unproven players to step up.

Front 7 looks great again on paper so no worries there. Elston/Lea did a fantastic job recruiting both depth and high upside players throughout the defensive front.