'18 IL DE Devin O'Rourke (Northwestern Verbal)

[Rogue219]

Don't know they didn't. He hasn't reported an offer since he committed in March.

The majority of what has been public matches up to what I've heard behind the scenes. They passed and passed early.

Elko is looking for rangier pass rushers like Hayes and Okwara, correct? O'Rourke doesn't fit that bill and would not project to be that type of player.

ND fans see IL and the Irish last name, and suddenly a guy is a fit (All that was missing for O'Rourke was that he attends LWE and not Providence Catholic). Meanwhile, a slam dunk fit like Ja'mion Franklin is just a nice get for some folks.

 

[dublinirish]

The majority of what has been public matches up to what I've heard behind the scenes. They passed and passed early.

Elko is looking for rangier pass rushers like Hayes and Okwara, correct? O'Rourke doesn't fit that bill and would not project to be that type of player.

ND fans see IL and the Irish last name, and suddenly a guy is a fit (All that was missing for O'Rourke was that he attends LWE and not Providence Catholic). Meanwhile, a slam dunk fit like Ja'mion Franklin is just a nice get for some folks.

can't deal with ND having another Trumbetti (short arms, no reach) on the edge of DL. Trust in Elko on this one.

 

[BobbyMac]

The majority of what has been public matches up to what I've heard behind the scenes. They passed and passed early.

Elko is looking for rangier pass rushers like Hayes and Okwara, correct? O'Rourke doesn't fit that bill and would not project to be that type of player.

ND fans see IL and the Irish last name, and suddenly a guy is a fit (All that was missing for O'Rourke was that he attends LWE and not Providence Catholic). Meanwhile, a slam dunk fit like Ja'mion Franklin is just a nice get for some folks.

They passed early no doubt... but they circled back in October to some degree. There was too much action with staff & analysts at that time for it to be nothing. Polian followed first on Twitter and then BK. BK doesn't follow recruits on Twitter for fun. O'Rourke then followed him back. At the very least something like, 'Hey Devin, great season. We would like to invite you to campus and a revisit our earlier discussions about ND Football. Is that something you'd be interested in at this stage?' They could have gotten him on the phone and offered him(?) Who knows but something happened.

 

[Rogue219]

They passed early no doubt... but they circled back in October to some degree. There was too much action with staff & analysts at that time for it to be nothing. Polian followed first on Twitter and then BK. BK doesn't follow recruits on Twitter for fun. O'Rourke then followed him back. At the very least something like, 'Hey Devin, great season. We would like to invite you to campus and a revisit our earlier discussions about ND Football. Is that something you'd be interested in at this stage?' They could have gotten him on the phone and offered him(?) Who knows but something happened.

Could be. He was never offered, though.

 

[Irish YJ]

The majority of what has been public matches up to what I've heard behind the scenes. They passed and passed early.

Elko is looking for rangier pass rushers like Hayes and Okwara, correct? O'Rourke doesn't fit that bill and would not project to be that type of player.

ND fans see IL and the Irish last name, and suddenly a guy is a fit (All that was missing for O'Rourke was that he attends LWE and not Providence Catholic). Meanwhile, a slam dunk fit like Ja'mion Franklin is just a nice get for some folks.

66/240 not rangy? Does he have dinosaur arms?

 

[Rogue219]

66/240 not rangy? Does he have dinosaur arms?

I don't think he's actually 6-6. Even if he is, he's a strong guy but he's not speed off of the edge pass rushing fast. So rangy meaning fast and explosive off the edge in addition to tall and long armed.

 

[NDMIA]

Star of a 14-0 State title winning team, 6'6'' 240 (might be 6'5'', but still a physical specimen) at 17 years old, and was one of the best players in Illinois for two straight seasons. He was a massive swing and a miss. I trust the staff to make the right decisions on prospects, but this one makes no sense and I think was a whiff.

 

[Irish YJ]

I don't think he's actually 6-6. Even if he is, he's a strong guy but he's not speed off of the edge pass rushing fast. So rangy meaning fast and explosive off the edge in addition to tall and long armed.

so rangy body, not fast I take it

Star of a 14-0 State title winning team, 6'6'' 240 (might be 6'5'', but still a physical specimen) at 17 years old, and was one of the best players in Illinois for two straight seasons. He was a massive swing and a miss. I trust the staff to make the right decisions on prospects, but this one makes no sense and I think was a whiff.

17 year old star of a 14-0 state champ, 6-5+ and 240... yup, i don't get it. if he's not as fast as you want for a DE and the speed can not be improved, just pack pounds on for a few years and end up DT or NT. I'll take winners with Irish names any day that are that size.

 

[zelezo vlk]

so rangy body, not fast I take it



17 year old star of a 14-0 state champ, 6-5+ and 240... yup, i don't get it. if he's not as fast as you want for a DE and the speed can not be improved, just pack pounds on for a few years and end up DT or NT. I'll take winners with Irish names any day that are that size.

Tbh they don't need another inside guy this year, and it looks like the staff will have all their guys for '19 too.

 

[dad4aa]

Star of a 14-0 State title winning team, 6'6'' 240 (might be 6'5'', but still a physical specimen) at 17 years old, and was one of the best players in Illinois for two straight seasons. He was a massive swing and a miss. I trust the staff to make the right decisions on prospects, but this one makes no sense and I think was a whiff.

Disagree with this completely. There was no swing at this guy. Some dialogue...yes. A swing and a miss is for Amon-Ra, Cade Mays and many others that we went after and came up empty. Not putting an offer out is not a swing.

 

[Irish YJ]

Disagree with this completely. There was no swing at this guy. Some dialogue...yes. A swing and a miss is for Amon-Ra, Cade Mays and many others that we went after and came up empty. Not putting an offer out is not a swing.

but it could be a miss.... without a swing

 

[dad4aa]

but it could be a miss.... without a swing

Agree and I think it is a miss...but he said "massive swing and a miss"...that is not the case.

 

[BobbyMac]

Could be. He was never offered, though.

66/240 not rangy? Does he have dinosaur arms?

Disagree with this completely. There was no swing at this guy. Some dialogue...yes. A swing and a miss is for Amon-Ra, Cade Mays and many others that we went after and came up empty. Not putting an offer out is not a swing.

I don't wanna get caught up with terminology/analogies but just because there is no official offer that was tweeted out, or even formally extended doesn't mean this sin't a swing and a miss. They did an initial assessment and they passed at that time to focus of Booker and Tyreke Smith but they DID come back around at the same time Enagbare and Langham got the interest. That level of social media contact doesn't happen because they want to possibly do a reassessment. They know he qualifies so there is no meet and greet needed with Admissions. BK doesn't follow people on Twitter for kicks. It's pretty clear that wave of action in October was a "swing" and Devin struck them out with one pitch. O'Rourke's locked in with NW it appears. Addresses it in that article I posted this morning. Wouldn't surprise me if that was added just for ND. They missed on this kid, they missed on the SDE position. I don't agree with 219's view that he's not athletic/quick/rangey enough. If it was all about pure speed, Daelin and Julian would be the starting DE's and get the majority of the snaps. Jay Hayes is no speed merchant. But he gets the 2nd most DE snaps.

Anyways, hard to get overly raggy about it, they've crushed in a lot of other positions and like OL I think SDE is a position that 2019 can fix. Spears, Anderson, JJ Weaver, Bill Norton and a lot of others are out there and interested.

 

[NDMIA]

Let me rephrase...massive miss where they should have taken a swing. Call it whatever you want, but I think if the staff pushes from day 1 he's a SDE or DT in this class and a good one at that.

 

[NDMIA]

2019 should put to rest any of the complaints I had about DL recruiting before. I think we're setting up for an amazing haul.

 

[dad4aa]

Let me rephrase...massive miss where they should have taken a swing. Call it whatever you want, but I think if the staff pushes from day 1 he's a SDE or DT in this class and a good one at that.

Agree 100% with this and never understood why they didn't.

2019 should put to rest any of the complaints I had about DL recruiting before. I think we're setting up for an amazing haul.

Looking good so far...hopefully it all works out.

 

[Rogue219]

I'll take winners with Irish names any day that are that size.

This sums up everything, in the end.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

I'll take wieners with Irish names any day that are that size.

Because my inner 12 year old made me do it.

 

[Rogue219]

ND never made any kind of serious run at him. Teddy Greenstein's garbage piece in the Chicago Tribune rekindled this discussion a tad yesterday and all it did was confirm there was nothing to see here with ND. Greenstein and David Haugh aren't in the know when it comes to recruiting.

 

[BobbyMac]

ND never made any kind of serious run at him. Teddy Greenstein's garbage piece in the Chicago Tribune rekindled this discussion a tad yesterday and all it did was confirm there was nothing to see here with ND. Greenstein and David Haugh aren't in the know when it comes to recruiting.

Now it's they didn't make a serious run? Greenstein's piece yesterday...??? There were people talking about this long before that piece. When they reach out to him, it's a run. Just because Polian and Kelly didn't climb up his tree doesn't mean they didn't make a decision to make a run to get re-involved. You don't do things for fun at the end of a cycle in Div. I recruiting.

 

[Rogue219]

Now it's they didn't make a serious run? Greenstein's piece yesterday...??? There were people talking about this long before that piece. When they reach out to him, it's a run. Just because Polian and Kelly didn't climb up his tree doesn't mean they didn't make a decision to make a run to get re-involved. You don't do things for fun at the end of a cycle in Div. I recruiting.

That's correct. And the Tribune reaches a particular audience in print and online that don't follow recruiting the way you do. So long before that piece, those people didn't know shit from vanilla ice cream about Devin O'Rourke or anyone else. So the conversation got started again.

There was very little discussion here, and what discussion there was happened early. What reason there is to be hellbent on not considering this to be true I don't know. Even with some talent and grades, some guys just aren't fits and the feeling is mutual. They weren't into each other.

 

[BobbyMac]

That's correct. And the Tribune reaches a particular audience in print and online that don't follow recruiting the way you do. So long before that piece, those people didn't know shit from vanilla ice cream about Devin O'Rourke or anyone else. So the conversation got started again.

There was very little discussion here, and what discussion there was happened early. What reason there is to be hellbent on not considering this to be true I don't know. Even with some talent and grades, some guys just aren't fits and the feeling is mutual. They weren't into each other.

The conversation got re-started in October, not by a Trib piece.

The 5-6 or so late follows from Polian, BK & multiple recruiting staff members, plus follow backs by O'Rourke where all just random keystroke errors.

"There was very little discussion". In the beginning of the recruiting process, you sit around for hours watching film & talking to coaches, before you reach out and inform the recruit that you plan to actively recruit him. If something happens to change that and you go in another direction ok. But to come back a year later and reach out again means you have an agenda. Polian and BK don't have time to waste in late October on someone they have no interest in.

ND made a decision to circle back and revisit O'Rourke.

No one ever said they were outside his window in a tree. I know you like to argue and Melke isn't garbage.

That's all I got, I'm out.

 

[Rogue219]

The conversation got re-started in October, not by a Trib piece.

The 5-6 or so late follows from Polian, BK & multiple recruiting staff members, plus follow backs by O'Rourke where all just random keystroke errors.

"There was very little discussion". In the beginning of the recruiting process, you sit around for hours watching film & talking to coaches, before you reach out and inform the recruit that you plan to actively recruit him. If something happens to change that and you go in another direction ok. But to come back a year later and reach out again means you have an agenda. Polian and BK don't have time to waste in late October on someone they have no interest in.

ND made a decision to circle back and revisit O'Rourke.

No one ever said they were outside his window in a tree. I know you like to argue and Melke isn't garbage.

That's all I got, I'm out.

Do you know anyone in the building at Lincoln Way East? Or anyone who was in 2016 but still stays in touch with those are are?

Melky Cabrera isn't garbage. He's Mark Kotsay.

 

[IrishLax]

Is what it is, the DE class was pretty bad this year (they said as much publicly) and after not getting some guys they wanted they did try to see if there was interest here. I think O'Rourke could be a very good player. Nobody likes being a "Plan B" for a lot of reasons but mainly because players generally want to go where they're "believed in" and think they'll have the best opportunity to be a contributor. This was not a kid that was a "must get" or anything like that... we may rue the day we didn't recruit him hard if he turns into a Keuchly but who knows at this point.

 

[dublinirish]

Is what it is, the DE class was pretty bad this year (they said as much publicly) and after not getting some guys they wanted they did try to see if there was interest here. I think O'Rourke could be a very good player. Nobody likes being a "Plan B" for a lot of reasons but mainly because players generally want to go where they're "believed in" and think they'll have the best opportunity to be a contributor. This was not a kid that was a "must get" or anything like that... we may rue the day we didn't recruit him hard if he turns into a Keuchly but who knows at this point.

the greatest fear all ND recruiting followers have is that a white defensive player ND does not offer/get a commit from turns out to be the next Keuchly. This fear never goes away, damn you Weis you headfooked us all forever.

 

[Rogue219]

Find me a white kid from the Midwest that ND didn't offer and I'll find you the next Luke Kuechly.

Dear Lord.

 

[tko]

Dan Foxx > Luke K.

 

[IrishLax]

Find me a white kid from the Midwest that ND didn't offer and I'll find you the next Luke Kuechly.

Dear Lord.

Keuchly used as proverbial worst case scenario of passing on a borderline talent, not that he will or should turn into him.

 

[IrishLion]

Keuchly used as proverbial worst case scenario of passing on a borderline talent, not that he will or should turn into him. Would you still have gotten your panties in a bunch if I said Sam Hubbard instead?

I think he was agreeing that not every recruit is the next Keuchly just because we passed on them, and his commentary was that too many people DO believe that.

I could be wrong and misreading it though lol

 

[ACamp1900]

Keuchly used as proverbial worst case scenario of passing on a borderline talent, not that he will or should turn into him. Would you still have gotten your panties in a bunch if I said Sam Hubbard instead?

Just wait until Hubbard wins NFL defensive player of the year smartass....