'20 CO DT Aidan Keanaaina (Notre Dame Signee)

[Irish YJ]

franklin had surgery and is out for the year.

i know lol.. how are things coming along.

 

[Luckylucci]

Yup.
With JayAde taking over at starting 3T, would love to have a + Lacy develop quickly at NT. Any news on how Franklin is coming along?

From a depth chart perspective, I'm of the opinion that MTA is the starting 3T next year and you have a very competitive situation at that spot with him and Jayson like we have at WDE. Because his injury was so early this season, I think he's being slept on quite a bit. He was every bit as good as a freshman as Jayson has been. Great problem to have. With that said, they'll probably be on the field at the same time quite a bit as well, against certain teams/offenses/packages. So you have a depth chart that says 1 and 2 but they play a lot of snaps together.

And the bolded is precisely why I said I expect Lacey to play and possibly quite a bit. I think by next fall he's got a chance to be the 2nd best NT on the team.

Nothing on Franklin from me.

 

[zelezo vlk]

I always figured MTA would get big/strong enough to play 1T. Could he split time there?

 

[T-Boone]

Side note, for some bizarre reason, fans think that playing NT is like the abyss of the DL. You only play the position if you aren't good at anything else, lol. Playmaking NT's are extremely valuable and rare. The good ones make a lot of money.

Ive got to admit I fall into this category (blame ignorance).
I have convinced myself that if the coaches made Bonner play NT last year instead of Tillery then we would have had an 11 or 12 win season.

 

[Irish YJ]

From a depth chart perspective, I'm of the opinion that MTA is the starting 3T next year and you have a very competitive situation at that spot with him and Jayson like we have at WDE. Because his injury was so early this season, I think he's being slept on quite a bit. He was every bit as good as a freshman as Jayson has been. Great problem to have. With that said, they'll probably be on the field at the same time quite a bit as well, against certain teams/offenses/packages. So you have a depth chart that says 1 and 2 but they play a lot of snaps together.

And the bolded is precisely why I said I expect Lacey to play and possibly quite a bit. I think by next fall he's got a chance to be the 2nd best NT on the team.

Nothing on Franklin from me.

I don't know. Something about JayAde gives me a gut feeling that he'll start. Agree that they'll have them on the field a lot together and it is a great problem. Reminds me of BK's radio show last week talking about how they move JT to 1T, etc..

On another topic, do you see any possibility of any of the ends possibly sliding to 3T?

 

[irishog77]

Exactly and that's the point. Finding a + player at both skillsets is hard, hence we don't currently have one.

Also, if Lacey isn't a 1T, who's the 1T in this class? Would seem fairly unanimous there is zero chance Cross is playing 1T and I doubt Spears (a converted SDE to DT) who's been told he might play some SDE/5T is being recruited for it either.

To be honest, I've really enjoyed this year having 2 true DE's on the field (along with 2 DT's), instead of essentially having 3 DT's (along with 1 DE), as the team seems to have had the last several years (Rochelle, Hayes). True, the run D has suffered a bit, but that pass rush tho.

I think the guys currently in the fold for '19 cycle (plus hopefully another DE commit coming soon) are an effort to do both in the future.

 

[ResLife Hero]

Assuming the picture is relevant
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Notre Dame Leads For A 2020 Defensive Tackle ($) <br><br>"Right now, it's at the top of my list." <a href="https://t.co/XDHa7clQtR">https://t.co/XDHa7clQtR</a> <a href="https://t.co/DMaWZlyNwP">pic.twitter.com/DMaWZlyNwP</a></p>— Matt Freeman (@mattfreemanISD) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattfreemanISD/status/1083095819375595525?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[NDIrish88]

So two stories about Aidan have come out on 247 and ISD recently. ND has all the CBS, especially form Blair Angulo. Think he commits soon? It would be nice if they started rolling in. Him, Mills, Cody Simon, Kevin Pyne, Daniel Jackson. Let's get this going!

 

[NDMIA]

So two stories about Aidan have come out on 247 and ISD recently. ND has all the CBS, especially form Blair Angulo. Think he commits soon? It would be nice if they started rolling in. Him, Mills, Cody Simon, Kevin Pyne, Daniel Jackson. Let's get this going!

January 11-February 2nd the staff will be out on the road recruiting. Other than Foskey & Turner, they will probably be checking in on 2020 & 2021 guys. You’ll also probably see a late January junior day like last year but I can’t confirm that. Either way. Over the next few weeks you will see an uptick in recruiting and the 2020 list will really start to make some moves. Hopefully Rylie Mills, AJ Henning, Braiden McGregor, and Aidan Keanaaina can get on board soon. I think the staff wants to see how Daniel Jackson looks after rehabbing his knee or else he’d be in the class already imo. They also went on a lot of first dates with offensive line recruits but it would be nice to see some return like Bryn Tucker, Kevin Pyne, and Andrew Gentry. Lots of work to be done but the staff is in solid shape with a great group of prospects.

 

[dublinirish]

offered by USC

 

[arrowryan]

Commitment date is February 13, per Matt Freeman.

Should be all Irish and would be a high quality pick up, IMO

 

[NDIrish88]

He reminds me of PJ Mustipher in his film. Big body who moves really well down hill. If he is anything like PJ Mustipher he is going to be a great pick up.

 

[stlnd01]

He reminds me of PJ Mustipher in his film. Big body who moves really well down hill. If he is anything like PJ Mustipher he is going to be a great pick up.

That's great but I still don't understand why we couldn't also have picked up PJ Mustipher himself.

 

[NDIrish88]

That's great but I still don't understand why we couldn't also have picked up PJ Mustipher himself.

Read his thread and you will see.

 

[NDMIA]

That's great but I still don't understand why we couldn't also have picked up PJ Mustipher himself.

PJ Mustipher will either be the starting 3T or top backup at 1T/3T this coming season. He’ll play Starting-caliber snaps and we will get an idea of how good he is. It’ll be tough to judge who is better between PJ Mustipher and Ja’Mion Franklin anytime soon. Probably in year 4 or 5 we’ll have a good idea of who is better but from what I’ve heard and seen in regards to PJ Mustipher, I’d be happy to have him on the squad instead of Franklin. The staff chose Franklin over Mustipher so we’ll see who’s better. So far it seems like they whiffed on that decision but a loooong way to go in that one.

 

[BobbyMac]

PJ Mustipher will either be the starting 3T or top backup at 1T/3T this coming season. He’ll play Starting-caliber snaps and we will get an idea of how good he is. It’ll be tough to judge who is better between PJ Mustipher and Ja’Mion Franklin anytime soon. Probably in year 4 or 5 we’ll have a good idea of who is better but from what I’ve heard and seen in regards to PJ Mustipher, I’d be happy to have him on the squad instead of Franklin. The staff chose Franklin over Mustipher so we’ll see who’s better. So far it seems like they whiffed on that decision but a loooong way to go in that one.

Did they choose Franklin over PJ or did they choose at some point that PJ wasn't gonna happen / wasn't worth the effort... or did PJ decide for them?

I never did feel like the whole story was ever told. Maybe I missed it?

 

[NDMIA]

Did they choose Franklin over PJ or did they choose at some point that PJ wasn't gonna happen / wasn't worth the effort... or did PJ decide for them?

I never did feel like the whole story was ever told. Maybe I missed it?

That was from skimming the Mustipher thread where 4-5 times it was mentioned by various members that the staff liked Ja’Mion Franklin more than Mustipher. Also, the staff definitely toned down their recruitment of him by the last little while of it and wasn’t pushing all that hard. I think they could’ve had him if they made him a top priority early on but they didn’t for whatever reason.

 

[NDIrish88]

I heard they wanted him . . .at OL. He wanted to play DL and PSU was like yes come play DL.

 

[stlnd01]

I thought it was because Kelly once pointed out in public that his big brother messed up a couple snaps in 2016.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

I thought it was because Kelly once pointed out in public that his big brother messed up a couple snaps in 2016.

#windbackwednesday

 

[stlnd01]

Yeah, I don’t remember all the ins and outs, and I generally trust the staff. If they preferred Franklin I’m sure they have their reasons.

It’s just that when you have a high-academic top ten DL recruit who wants to come here, is the younger brother of a future captain and is apparently good enough to start at Penn State as a sophomore, you might want to take him.

Maybe him and Franklin both, because if there’s one position group it’s smart to over-recruit, I think it’s DL. Guys get hurt and you want to rotate as much as possible. Take them all, I say.

Anyway, go get this kid from Colorado. He looks good.

 

[Luckylucci]

Second guessing the decision after Franklin's injury is petty.

Mustipher appeared in 10 games had 14 tackles and 1 TFL.

For comparison:

Jayson A appeared in 9 and had 18 tackles, 1.5 TFL's, and 0.5 sacks.

Hinish appeared in 6 with 8 tackles and 0.5 TFL as a freshman.

Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa appeared in 7, had 13 tackles and 2 TFL's.

So, those are the freshman seasons of our last 3 DT's excluding Franklin who was lost for the season. He had the least efficient production of the 3T's and be very similar to Hinish as a 1T. It's not like he's at PSU setting the world on fire here.

 

[Luckylucci]

On to AK, Feb. 13th is going to be a great day. Elston going to work on what could be another very good class.

 

[arrowryan]

On to AK, Feb. 13th is going to be a great day. Elston going to work on what could be another very good class.

Yup. Can’t remember the last time Notre Dame put together back to back really good d-line classes.

 

[stlnd01]

Second guessing the decision after Franklin's injury is petty.
.

To be clear, my opinion on Mustipher has nothing to do with Franklin’s injury. PJ just always seemed like a no-brainer take to me. I’d be happy to have both him and Franklin, for depth purposes. But apparently that wasn’t in the cards.

Anyway, on to the next one.

 

[stpeteirish]

Sinclair with a CB to ND today.

 

[Luckylucci]

Should already be pretty clear we’ll get our next 20’ commit on Feb. 13th.

 

[BobbyMac]

Dino Martino just called, asked if it's Wednesday yet.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

Who does his skill set most closely mirror on the current roster (or very recent rosters)? Hinish?

 

[NDIrish88]

Although not on the roster his film reminds me of PJ Mustipher