'20 MO WR Jordan Johnson (Notre Dame Signee)

[Irish du Nord]

I wish JJ was 6-3. It's the magical # at ND. In the passing era at ND, who has led the team in receiving that wasn't 6-3? Golden, Fuller and TJ Jones one year I think.

It's ruined McKinley & Austin's careers.

It also guarantees Skowronek leads the team in receiving this year despite his hammy injury.

Rhema McKnight led the team in receiving in Ty's last two years. Arnaz Battle also did I believe.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Rhema McKnight led the team in receiving in Ty's last two years. Arnaz Battle also did I believe.

He was so underrated, feel like he got overshadowed a bit by Shark's emergence and his injury in '05; FIFTEEN TD's in '06. That's a big number.

 

[Huntr]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brian Kelly states WR Jordan Johnson was brought up to varsity this week as he’s improved things away from The Gug. <br><br>“It’s never been about ability.”</p>— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) <a href="https://twitter.com/ISDUpdate/status/1321845279038066688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2020</a></blockquote>

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

Sounds to me that maybe JJ is having trouble adjusting to academics plus football. If he needs extra time in school it seems learning the playbook should and has taken a back seat.

 

[PANDFAN]

Sounds to me that maybe JJ is having trouble adjusting to academics plus football. If he needs extra time in school it seems learning the playbook should and has taken a back seat.

come on now, the mouth breathers on this site know he is our best option at wr....geez how the hell did BK ever get hired to coach a div 1 team

 

[pumpdog20]

I could never survive at ND academically (laughable to think I could ever get accepted). To think that these guys succeed academically and perform under the pressure of ND football, man total props.

No disappointment in my eyes if a guy struggles early on.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

come on now, the mouth breathers on this site know he is our best option at wr....geez how the hell did BK ever get hired to coach a div 1 team

Let the young man play. Other teams do it! If he isn't ready academically, we should lower our academic standards so the Freshman can play. Other schools do it! It's coaches fault, he should be tutoring him in his free time to ensure he is making the grades. What are we paying him for anyways

 

[PANDFAN]

Let the young man play. Other teams do it! If he isn't ready academically, we should lower our academic standards so the Freshman can play. Other schools do it! It's coaches fault, he should be tutoring him in his free time to ensure he is making the grades. What are we paying him for anyways

it's my biggest gripe with fans on here, but especially on facebook/twitter....fans are not privy to everything that goes on behind the scenes...we have a 5* wr(actually ended up as 4* i think) and of course he is our best option at wr according to these fans....do you not think BK would be playing him if he felt he would better our team? the kid played in a run dominant high school program..he wasn't some kid lighting it up at different camps every weekend, or posting some crazy stats or measurables.....the kids time will come...look at lenzy...as much as we wanted him to play, he even admitted finally he wasn't anywhere ready to play his freshman year....for all of the people too saying well he could just run a go route...well no shit he can but what if they have to check out of the play and he doesn't know what the new call is??? burn a time out? i mean there is so much more than just running a damn route

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

Coincidentally he gets his off-field act together at the time of biggest need on-field. Weird how those things work.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Coincidentally he gets his off-field act together at the time of biggest need on-field. Weird how those things work.

Maybe the weekend he spent on campus last week instead of traveling with the team got him back on track....that's a lot of free time to be focusing on your grades.

 

[RDU Irish]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brian Kelly states WR Jordan Johnson was brought up to varsity this week as he’s improved things away from The Gug. <br><br>“It’s never been about ability.”</p>— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) <a href="https://twitter.com/ISDUpdate/status/1321845279038066688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2020</a></blockquote>

Again - not a problem at factories. Argument can also be made that a taste of success on the field could help motivate in the classroom.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

it's my biggest gripe with fans on here, but especially on facebook/twitter....fans are not privy to everything that goes on behind the scenes...we have a 5* wr(actually ended up as 4* i think) and of course he is our best option at wr according to these fans....do you not think BK would be playing him if he felt he would better our team? the kid played in a run dominant high school program..he wasn't some kid lighting it up at different camps every weekend, or posting some crazy stats or measurables.....the kids time will come...look at lenzy...as much as we wanted him to play, he even admitted finally he wasn't anywhere ready to play his freshman year....for all of the people too saying well he could just run a go route...well no shit he can but what if they have to check out of the play and he doesn't know what the new call is??? burn a time out? i mean there is so much more than just running a damn route

I couldn't agree more. I think 99% of fans on this board have been frustrated with the WR production heading into Pitt, but to act like the coaches aren't playing guys who could help for no good reason is just asinine. It's people making assumptions when they don't have a single spec of detail to formulate that opinion.

Sure enough, the news broke that he did in fact have issues academically, which many of us figured was a likely scenario when the classic BK "traits" was mentioned. If you want to blame someone, you blame ND and the academic standards, not BK. If anything, he has demonstrated a tremendous effort in the latter half of his tenure here to find highly skilled football players that, for the most part, meat ND's above and beyond character expectations compared to other teams. He deserves a lot of credit.

It also blows my mind that they say "we don't play freshman." Tyree and Mayer are doing a great job. Hamilton came in last year and balled out. Don't give me that, it's flat our wrong. You have academic and character expectations here and if you don't meet them, you don't play. period. If you don't like it, I hate to break it to you, but you're rooting for the wrong university.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

BK realizes that if they line up with McKinley and Skowronek against Clemson they'll lose 30-3 again. Encouraging.

 

[317Irish]

I couldn't agree more. I think 99% of fans on this board have been frustrated with the WR production heading into Pitt, but to act like the coaches aren't playing guys who could help for no good reason is just asinine. It's people making assumptions when they don't have a single spec of detail to formulate that opinion.

Sure enough, the news broke that he did in fact have issues academically, which many of us figured was a likely scenario when the classic BK "traits" was mentioned. If you want to blame someone, you blame ND and the academic standards, not BK. If anything, he has demonstrated a tremendous effort in the latter half of his tenure here to find highly skilled football players that, for the most part, meat ND's above and beyond character expectations compared to other teams. He deserves a lot of credit.

It also blows my mind that they say "we don't play freshman." Tyree and Mayer are doing a great job. Hamilton came in last year and balled out. Don't give me that, it's flat our wrong. You have academic and character expectations here and if you don't meet them, you don't play. period. If you don't like it, I hate to break it to you, but you're rooting for the wrong university.

I get the point that you and some others are making, but I think there’s some head-scratching decisions over the years that just leave a lot of fans wondering why the other powerhouses find a way to make it work but we don’t. Nyles Morgan riding the bench because Joe Schmidt’s mind was too valuable. Cam McDaniel being our STARTING RB. Not finding a way to get use out of Jurkovec, or keeping some of the talented receivers around. Even Claypool seemed to be held back for whatever reason. Recruit talent, find a way to play said talent as soon and as much as possible. That’s what the goal should be

 

[Irish#1]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brian Kelly states WR Jordan Johnson was brought up to varsity this week as he’s improved things away from The Gug. <br><br>“It’s never been about ability.”</p>— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) <a href="https://twitter.com/ISDUpdate/status/1321845279038066688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2020</a></blockquote>

 

[BeauBenken]

BK also mentioned that whether this translates to significant playing time is unsure. I think he just said "we'll see". So take that with a grain of salt.

He also said that Johnson is currently better out of the X than the W because he can get a free release, and they think he may struggle if not given that ability.

 

[Irish#1]

I get the point that you and some others are making, but I think there’s some head-scratching decisions over the years that just leave a lot of fans wondering why the other powerhouses find a way to make it work but we don’t. Nyles Morgan riding the bench because Joe Schmidt’s mind was too valuable. Cam McDaniel being our STARTING RB. Not finding a way to get use out of Jurkovec, or keeping some of the talented receivers around. Even Claypool seemed to be held back for whatever reason. Recruit talent, find a way to play said talent as soon and as much as possible. That’s what the goal should be

Without being privy to what is going on behind the scenes I find it hard to question the decisions by BK and the staff. BK wants to win a NC as much as anyone else, so one would think he will play the best players if they are ready physically, academically and mentally.

As mentioned, he's playing Mayer & Tyree and he played Adams as a freshman. IIRC Morgan took a back seat to Schmidt because he had trouble with the playbook. Didn't Claypool come from a school that didn't play 11 on 11? There's got to be a learning curve there.

It's good Johnson is getting a chance to acclimate to game conditions this week and not next week.

 

[PANDFAN]

the other thing to is IF you don't learn to get your studies in order, practice right and learn the playbook, how can they reward you with playing time???? that's how you build a culture for a team

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

This Phil J stuff man. Unreal. Like he's lighting the world on fire at BC. Let's supplant the career 24-3 starter for an unknown commodity with apparent rapport, work ethic and attitude issues with the coaching staff because he had a really good HS recruit ranking. Mind-boggling.

 

[snoopdog]

Without being privy to what is going on behind the scenes I find it hard to question the decisions by BK and the staff. BK wants to win a NC as much as anyone else, so one would think he will play the best players if they are ready physically, academically and mentally.

As mentioned, he's playing Mayer & Tyree and he played Adams as a freshman. IIRC Morgan took a back seat to Schmidt because he had trouble with the playbook. Didn't Claypool come from a school that didn't play 11 on 11? There's got to be a learning curve there.

It's good Johnson is getting a chance to acclimate to game conditions this week and not next week.

Claypool came from a school that played 12 on 12. Which for you math dullards is 1 better. That is the reason why Claypool is so good.

 

[ulukinatme]

Rhema McKnight led the team in receiving in Ty's last two years. Arnaz Battle also did I believe.

He was so underrated, feel like he got overshadowed a bit by Shark's emergence and his injury in '05; FIFTEEN TD's in '06. That's a big number.

Yeah, that injury was horrible timing, but it did lead to the Shark emerging as a big time player. I thought Rhema was better than Stovall, he was one of my favorites during the Weis era.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brian Kelly states WR Jordan Johnson was brought up to varsity this week as he’s improved things away from The Gug. <br><br>“It’s never been about ability.”</p>— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) <a href="https://twitter.com/ISDUpdate/status/1321845279038066688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2020</a></blockquote>

Im relieved to hear this as last week I chalked it up to another top 10 threat just not panning out at ND.. again.

Im excited about this team, especially the D.. If JJ can even create a slight bit more pressure on the D it will pay back 10 fold on our drives.. We need this kid to max out on potential.

 

[texbender]

Im relieved to hear this as last week I chalked it up to another top 10 threat just not panning out at ND.. again.

Im excited about this team, especially the D.. If JJ can even create a slight bit more pressure on the D it will pay back 10 fold on our drives.. We need this kid to max out on potential.

Agree, having JJ on the field can only help the offense. Our receiver corps isn't loaded with AA talent, glad to see CBK will let this kid have a go.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

This Phil J stuff man. Unreal. Like he's lighting the world on fire at BC. Let's supplant the career 24-3 starter for an unknown commodity with apparent rapport, work ethic and attitude issues with the coaching staff because he had a really good HS recruit ranking. Mind-boggling.

So we (outside the Gug) somehow know that Phil J had attitude and work ethic issues and JJ has off field issues...interesting.

Your thought process with BK and the staff doesn't really line up with what those of us who are somewhat critical are saying.

 

[BeauBenken]

So we (outside the Gug) somehow know that Phil J had attitude and work ethic issues and JJ has off field issues...interesting.

Your thought process with BK and the staff doesn't really line up with what those of us who are somewhat critical are saying.

To be fair, these are things that have been reported. And Phil practically admitted that he was not mentally/emotionally invested at ND.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

So we (outside the Gug) somehow know that Phil J had attitude and work ethic issues and JJ has off field issues...interesting.

Your thought process with BK and the staff doesn't really line up with what those of us who are somewhat critical are saying.

As Beau said, this was reported with Phil J. There was little to NO detail surrounding JJ other than "traits" until this week that it was a reported academic issue, which is completely understandable for a true fresh.

I'm not a rainbows and butterflies BK supporter. I think he has gotten us to the healthiest spot since the Holtz era and has found a way to keep ND competitive as a "tier II" (not Bama, Clemson, OSU) CFB contender. It's not lost on me that he hasn't won the big games such as the one coming up on the 7th. But I also trust his judgement if he's holding back a talent such as JJ.

We can't know what is going on inside the gug, within reason. But to act like 1) BK doesn't want to win, 2) he doesn't like talent (seriously, wtf), 3) He doesn't play freshman (completely false), or whatever other hot take the critics regarding JJ have come up with.....they're just not based on facts IMO.

I'm glad JJ appears to be getting a shot to compete in the WR group this week, just like you. But a lot of posters here are basing JJ's lack of activity on a lot of assumptions. Let's not forget, BK mentioned "traits" early on this year and JJ DID get into the game late in garbage time against USF....and resulted in a personal foul penalty after a chippy play. Not saying JJ is an inherently bad kid, but not a good look after he was already mentioned to be having issues adjusting to college life and adhering to ND's standards very early on.

Hope he has it figured out, hope he competes and hope we see plenty of him moving forward. But I give BK and the staff the benefit of the doubt for this instance, specifically.

EDIT: Not to mention we had an extremely limited off season program and fall camp and he came in as a true fresh in a position group riddled with 5th year seniors and vets. There are enough factors at play here to trust the staff on this one, in summary.

 

[irishandy]

https://www.ndinsider.com/football/...cle_4bc3d39f-da49-56b5-bf50-c91ec97168e1.html

 

[Irish YJ]

https://www.ndinsider.com/football/...cle_4bc3d39f-da49-56b5-bf50-c91ec97168e1.html

Thanks. Great article.

"it was never about ability" + "he's making progress in the classroom" = ? lol

I did like the fact they said he could end up playing W instead of X down the road. I don't really want he and Austin stuck on the same side. Seems BK thinks he needs to get better against the press, so needs to start at X... Personally I'd put him at W, and simply motion him if getting a clean release is the issue.

 

[317Irish]

I just want to see a bubble screen or shallow cross with one of our TE’s coming from the opposite side to clear some room, where we let him get through the LBs, get him the ball and see if he can make a play. Give these young athletes a chance to make a play and if they do their confidence will soar and really help the team out. Tyree hasn’t broken out too much but look out if he does as well.

 

[Ndaccountant]

Good to see him playing some reps versus BC.