2016 Spring Practice Thread

[woolybug25]

Tyler Eifert 247 composite 0.8567
Greer Martini 247 composite 0.8833

I don't think anyone is telling you you are stupid because you think there may be better players. Maybe because you say Martini is not athletic and hasn't done anything in his time on the field. You seem awful hung up on stars from recruiting services and they don't mean sh1t...

What does Tyler Eifert have to do with Greer? The whole recruiting thing was just a baseline. The reason they were mentioned in the first place was because of expectations. Are you saying that you don't have higher expectations for guys rated higher? That's silly.

Throw out the entire recruiting thing if you want. My argument still stands. You have two guys with high expectations who are athletic. We have seen what Martini brings to the table already. We can disagree.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Thank goodness!

 

[goldandblue]

What does Tyler Eifert have to do with Greer? The whole recruiting thing was just a baseline. The reason they were mentioned in the first place was because of expectations. Are you saying that you don't have higher expectations for guys rated higher? That's silly.

Throw out the entire recruiting thing if you want. My argument still stands. You have two guys with high expectations who are athletic. We have seen what Martini brings to the table already. We can disagree.

Catch 22??? If we throw out the recruiting thing then we don't have preconceived expectations correct?

 

[GreyWorm]

Brian Kelly has called James Onwualu one of the best cover LBs he has ever coached and the film backs it up when Onwualu is in zone drops.

Man to man, he is going to struggle with as every LB struggles. Jaylon Smith was really bad at times this year in man coverage.

Greer Martini is a fine football player, but is not even in the same league as Onwualu in coverage skills and that is what is keeping him off the field on a consistent basis at SAM.

Martini, much like Carlo Calabrese, if they were players in the 1990's would have been All-Americans. Line them up against the I-formation and let them go to work against the fullback and they are going to have 120 tackles a season.

Football is different in 2016. Speed is king, but more importantly the ability to provide flexibility in stopping the run, pass coverage and pass rushing.

Onwualu came into the position last year and played some great football towards the end of the year. Remember, Onwualu had not played a snap at LB before the spring of 2014, so he has adjusted very quickly in just 2 seasons.

It's no shot at Martini, but Martini is more of a Will or Mike in my opinion, but has the ability to play Sam based on his athleticism on the edge, but when you ask him to play in coverage, there is a drop off.

In terms of flexibility, Martini is a great player to have, as he can play any of the three linebacker positions and if someone gets hurt, he can plug and play.

It's evident you can only take so much away from the LB corps this spring with it being so decimated by injuries, but there is more than enough talent there to be very successful this fall.

 

[woolybug25]

Catch 22??? If we throw out the recruiting thing then we don't have preconceived expectations correct?

Ahh.. forget it. You're spinning in circles, comparing them to Tyler Flippin' Eifert and just not adding any actual insight to the argument. I'm happy to debate with people that are doing it in good faith. I'm not gonna bother with the back and forth with you. No offense.

 

[woolybug25]

Brian Kelly has called James Onwualu one of the best cover LBs he has ever coached and the film backs it up when Onwualu is in zone drops.

Man to man, he is going to struggle with as every LB struggles. Jaylon Smith was really bad at times this year in man coverage.

Greer Martini is a fine football player, but is not even in the same league as Onwualu in coverage skills and that is what is keeping him off the field on a consistent basis at SAM.

Martini, much like Carlo Calabrese, if they were players in the 1990's would have been All-Americans. Line them up against the I-formation and let them go to work against the fullback and they are going to have 120 tackles a season.

Football is different in 2016. Speed is king, but more importantly the ability to provide flexibility in stopping the run, pass coverage and pass rushing.

Onwualu came into the position last year and played some great football towards the end of the year. Remember, Onwualu had not played a snap at LB before the spring of 2014, so he has adjusted very quickly in just 2 seasons.

It's no shot at Martini, but Martini is more of a Will or Mike in my opinion, but has the ability to play Sam based on his athleticism on the edge, but when you ask him to play in coverage, there is a drop off.

In terms of flexibility, Martini is a great player to have, as he can play any of the three linebacker positions and if someone gets hurt, he can plug and play.

It's evident you can only take so much away from the LB corps this spring with it being so decimated by injuries, but there is more than enough talent there to be very successful this fall.

 

[goldandblue]

Ahh.. forget it. You're spinning in circles, comparing them to Tyler Flippin' Eifert and just not adding any actual insight to the argument. I'm happy to debate with people that are doing it in good faith. I'm not gonna bother with the back and forth with you. No offense.

None taken Here's to you! LOL.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PAswVl_KZVU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[ResLife Hero]

Irish247 Quick Clip: Versatility key for Luke, secondary

 

[connor_in]

I miss easy going "The Dude" Wooly.

(and yes I know it takes 2 to make an argument)

 

[greyhammer90]

i'll keep pointing out that the player you are projecting has seen the field.... and hasn't done squat...

Statements like this are why, IMO, you are seeing so much pushback. It's fine to say, "I'd rather take a chance on Bilal because he's more athletic and that's going to give us dividends down the road", but when you say "Martini hasn't made plays" or "hasn't done squat" it becomes harder to defend your position. In the last page of discussion alone this statement has been statistically shown to be untrue. You can't argue with a straight face that Martini has been unproductive because in his time on the field he absolutely has been.

 

[OCIrish]

There is practice today, right?

God, I for sure hope not......this thread is the most entertaining thing I've seen the past two days, lol. I've continually laughed my ass off since I started reading from yesterday. Keep up the lovely hob fellas, makes for an outstanding Friday!!!

 

[OCIrish]

Statements like this are why, IMO, you are seeing so much pushback. It's fine to say, "I'd rather take a chance on Bilal because he's more athletic and that's going to give us dividends down the road", but when you say "Martini hasn't made plays" or "hasn't done squat" it becomes harder to defend your position. In the last page of discussion alone this statement has been statistically shown to be untrue. You can't argue with a straight face that Martini has been unproductive because in his time on the field he absolutely has been.

You just stay out of the conversation with your well thought out respectful type posts.........I'm enjoying the back and forth!!!!

 

[woolybug25]

Statements like this are why, IMO, you are seeing so much pushback. It's fine to say, "I'd rather take a chance on Bilal because he's more athletic and that's going to give us dividends down the road", but when you say "Martini hasn't made plays" or "hasn't done squat" it becomes harder to defend your position. In the last page of discussion alone this statement has been statistically shown to be untrue. You can't argue with a straight face that Martini has been unproductive because in his time on the field he absolutely has been.

How was it shown to be untrue? Because someone posted one of his two career sacks (a blown assignment when he went in untouched, I may add)? The dude has started a bunch of games and has played in 20+ games. How is that not a good enough sample? He has played the second most snaps of any LB on our roster, second only to Onwualu. He has 8 times the amount of snaps as Morgan and this board certainly has plenty to opine on Morgan.

People want to point to his starts and extrapolate his stats to make some bizarre correlation. The dude played in 13 games as a freshman. He has well over a full season of combined playing time with very little in the form of exciting plays or sparks of athleticism.

 

[greyhammer90]

For what it's worth...

SNAPS PER TACKLE (2015)

Smith- 7.23
Martini- 8.91
Schmidt- 11.47
Onwualu- 14.31.

This is what I'm referring to.

 

[ResLife Hero]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">☘ The Team is back.<br>🏈 Coach is back.<br><br>Watch Brian Kelly work with <a href="https://twitter.com/NDFootball">@NDFootball</a> on their 1st day of practice.<a href="https://t.co/p0PGuBQGi5">https://t.co/p0PGuBQGi5</a></p>— The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) <a href="https://twitter.com/FightingIrish/status/710625397096841217">March 18, 2016</a></blockquote>
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[Redbar]

What linebacker on our team right now has made more plays than Martini? Show me who is better and I don't mean recruiting reports, stats or film. There is no substantive basis to make the claims Wooly is making other than opinion and hopes.? I hope Bilal and Barajas pan out, just like I hope Max Redfield and Nyles Morgan will pan out. Greer is a proven player who can handle his assignments at a number of positions and has a nose for the football.

My prediction is unless Bilal or Barajas, or Coney turn out to be football savants, none of them will beat out Martini at whatever position Greer settles into.

 

[woolybug25]

What linebacker on our team right now has made more plays than Martini? Show me who is better and I don't mean recruiting reports, stats or film. There is no substantive basis to make the claims Wooly is making other than opinion and hopes.? I hope Bilal and Barajas pan out, just like I hope Max Redfield and Nyles Morgan will pan out. Greer is a proven player who can handle his assignments at a number of positions and has a nose for the football.

My prediction is unless Bilal or Barajas, or Coney turn out to be football savants, none of them will beat out Martini at whatever position Greer settles into.

Well good thing I said it was "my opinion" and that I "hoped" it would happen.

Quit hyperventilating.

 

[GrangerIrish24]

So why are we still debating over guy that isn't even participating in spring practice? As of now our hope rests on an ex receiver, two red shirt freshmen, and a guy who couldn't beat out Joe Schmidt.

 

[Redbar]

Well good thing I said it was "my opinion" and that I "hoped" it would happen.

Quit hyperventilating.

Yeah that's what I'm doing. Funny. Like I said no substantive basis.

 

[woolybug25]

Yeah that's what I'm doing. Funny. Like I said no substantive basis.

I've made a ton of posts on the topic. Made my points. I'm not going to repeat everything again to meet your fragile sensibilities.

You're right... You seem calm

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

What linebacker on our team right now has made more plays than Martini? Show me who is better and I don't mean recruiting reports, stats or film. There is no substantive basis to make the claims Wooly is making other than opinion and hopes.? I hope Bilal and Barajas pan out, just like I hope Max Redfield and Nyles Morgan will pan out. Greer is a proven player who can handle his assignments at a number of positions and has a nose for the football.

My prediction is unless Bilal or Barajas, or Coney turn out to be football savants, none of them will beat out Martini at whatever position Greer settles into.

....but his recruiting ranking wasn't that great....

 

[Irish#1]

Anyone got an opinion on how Martini is going to perform this year?

 

[IrishLion]

Anyone got an opinion on how Martini is going to perform this year?

He's not. They finally perfected the cloning portion of the athletic department that was supposed to be put in place for Jaylon.

Instead, BVG has requested 11 clones of Joe Schmidt, each with fresh eligibility clocks, and each knowing the system flawlessly. Lets goooooo!

 

[GrangerIrish24]

He's not. They finally perfected the cloning portion of the athletic department that was supposed to be put in place for Jaylon.

Instead, BVG has requested 11 clones of Joe Schmidt, each with fresh eligibility clocks, and each knowing the system flawlessly. Lets goooooo!

I started crying at the thought of this

 

[BobbyMac]

Anyone got an opinion on how Martini is going to perform this year?

Second in tackles behind Morgan.

 

[Redbar]

Well good thing I said it was "my opinion" and that I "hoped" it would happen.

Quit hyperventilating.

I've made a ton of posts on the topic. Made my points. I'm not going to repeat everything again to meet your fragile sensibilities.

You're right... You seem calm

When in doubt, sling insults...transparent!

 

[woolybug25]

When in doubt, sling insults...transparent!

Those are insults?

I guess you are sensitive.

Listen man, there are like three pages of this discussion and you didn't ask me anything new. Just ranted an accusatory laced post demanding more substance to a dead topic. I went in depth and clearly stated it as my opinion. Don't like it? Cool... Get over it.

 

[Guest]

This is what I'm referring to.

Notice the crickets on this point from W.

Martini is not as athletic or good in coverage, but he is a tackling machine second (by plays) only (so far) to Smith.

He has a place on this team and will play a lot until one of the younger dudes unseats him. To do that, their 'athleticism' has to translate into on- field production and it may eventually.

To me, Martini is a good problem for this program to have. A very productive player that makes the next guy up work very hard to displace him. Competition is good for the team and he creates it.

 

[Irish Insanity]

What linebacker on our team right now has made more plays than Martini? Show me who is better and I don't mean recruiting reports, stats or film.

I hate this angle. Just because he may be the best on the team doesn't mean he's good.

 

[woolybug25]

Notice the crickets on this point from W.

Martini is not as athletic or good in coverage, but he is a tackling machine second (by plays) only (so far) to Smith.

He has a place on this team and will play a lot until one of the younger dudes unseats him. To do that, their 'athleticism' has to translate into on- field production and it may eventually.

To me, Martini is a good problem for this program to have. A very productive player that makes the next guy up work very hard to displace him. Competition is good for the team and he creates it.

I did address it. I feel it's a stat that doesn't really prove that he was a playmaker. It doesn't have a frame of reference and that stat would also point to him being on par with Jaylon. Is that what everyone sees?

Other than that, your post is exactly what I said about Martini. I said he was a solid player, a value to the team. But he is flawed and could get unseated. My fearless prediction was that I thought it would indeed happen.

Then everyone blew my opinion way out of proportion.