2019 Spring Practice Thread

[BobbyMac]

He's been way behind others since he showed up. Regardless of what he looked like when he showed up or position he started at, he couldn't even make it through practice. Hinish is puking his guts out and running to the next drill, Darnell can't even walk to the next drill. The guy was struggling to complete consecutive reps in his second year. This has nothing to do with position.

I'll stick with my statement of he may have been better off at OL because it's true, he may have been. He may have seen a light at the end of the tunnel there. HE may not have gotten so far behind mentally as he worked himself into shape. He may have had an ominous feeling that he accepted the wrong challenge at ND going defense. Just throwing this stuff out there. Who knows the exact combination of factors?

One thing I do know, he probably found out he was going to be a father a month or so before reporting to summer camp. I can't even imagine what that was like for him.

 

[Irish Man3]

Just to protect the kid's good name, O'Malley has indicated on the II board that it's not that Ewell is lazy. He's just not good at football on the level ND is playing at. It happens, but usually when a kid doesn't pan out he was a 3 star project, not a 4 star ranked in the top ten at his position. It seems like this was just a swing and miss by scouts everywhere. Maybe everyone was blinded by his measurements.

I'm by no means trying to lead anyone in to thinking he's not a good kid. I have however, heard from multiple sources that he just doesn't put the work in all year long. He's a Pete Mokwuah basically, except that he came in with much higher expectations.

 

[NewBrunswickIrish]

Sometimes it feels like this staff gets so enamored by a player on their current roster that they look to recruit players that come from similar areas with somewhat similar traits. Here, it appears the staff tried to recruit Jerry Tillery 2.0 with Ewell. Hopefully Drue Tranquil 2.0 (Kiser) turns out a little better

Did people think that Tillery and Ewell had anything in common during Ewell’s recruitment? Also, Tillery is from Louisiana and Ewell is Virginia.

 

[Old Man Mike]

We've had some awfully good OLinemen. ... even second team OLinemen. He might be in a life situation where he just couldn't face (given too-soon family obligations) the stress of a full-out-over-100% effort to compete with them, and got depressed a little. "Eating is momentary comfort and slow demise."

I have not been particularly disappointed by this young man, since I don't rate any of these guys (OLinemen) at all until I begin hearing intriguing little news-drops by the staff. I can never remember hearing such about Ewell.

 

[Luckylucci]

I'll stick with my statement of he may have been better off at OL because it's true, he may have been. He may have seen a light at the end of the tunnel there. HE may not have gotten so far behind mentally as he worked himself into shape. He may have had an ominous feeling that he accepted the wrong challenge at ND going defense. Just throwing this stuff out there. Who knows the exact combination of factors?

One thing I do know, he probably found out he was going to be a father a month or so before reporting to summer camp. I can't even imagine what that was like for him.

Seems kind of pointless, you could literally say that about any player that didn't live up to expectations. Trumbetti may have been an All American TE.

He's one of an extremely small group of scholarship players that this has happened to and it's zero fault of anyone's other than his. I hope he crushes life with his degree but at this point it's a wasted scholarship on a guy that clearly doesn't want to play football.

And if he eventually puts it together, I'll be the first person to eat crow and say kudos to Darnell.

 

[stlnd01]

Did people think that Tillery and Ewell had anything in common during Ewell’s recruitment? Also, Tillery is from Louisiana and Ewell is Virginia.

Also Tillery is three or four inches taller than Ewell and always looked leaner. Don’t ever recall weight or conditioning being an issue for Tillery. He walked in and played as a freshman despite coming from a small school that probably didn’t have elite S&C program.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Sometimes it feels like this staff gets so enamored by a player on their current roster that they look to recruit players that come from similar areas with somewhat similar traits. Here, it appears the staff tried to recruit Jerry Tillery 2.0 with Ewell. Hopefully Drue Tranquil 2.0 (Kiser) turns out a little better

I greatly dislike this post. They didn't think Ewell was Jerry Tillery, they aren't even close in measurables or athleticism. If anything, he's closer to a Louis Nix in build.

No one has ever heard the staff say, "Well, Tranquil was really good so we're looking for the next 'Tranquil' and we believe that is Jack Kiser". We're the ones saying that. They don't get enamored with reproducing what they had prior, they hit and miss on various prospects like every other coaching staff.

You want to see big time recruits who failed to live up to expectations. Look at tOSUs roster. There are a number DE/LBs we were close to signing (and were sick for missing out on) who haven't panned out.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Ewell appears to be the Steve Filer of DLs for us.

Somebody mentioned that he was in terrific shape in high school, but then got fat and lazy. If that were the case, he hid that bad weight pretty damn well. From a looks perspective, Ewell was the most physically well built interior linemen I think we have had in a while.

A Pete Mokwuah he was not. Not even close.

Just goes to show you looks aren't everything. If you were to judge based on looks, Hinish was the guy you would worry about and Ewell was the guy who had the makings of a dominant interior lineman.

 

[stlnd01]

Ewell appears to be the Steve Filer of DLs for us.

Somebody mentioned that he was in terrific shape in high school, but then got fat and lazy. If that were the case, he hid that bad weight pretty damn well. From a looks perspective, Ewell was the most physically well built interior linemen I think we have had in a while.

A Pete Mokwuah he was not. Not even close.

Just goes to show you looks aren't everything. If you were to judge based on looks, Hinish was the guy you would worry about and Ewell was the guy who had the makings of a dominant interior lineman.

Yep.
Build/the appearance of being in shape does not equal conditioning and actually being in football shape. And certainly doesn't equal the desire to get into that kind of shape.

Also, IIRC, the knock on Ewell when he showed up was that, while he was strong, he didn't have the technique to maximize that strength as a defensive lineman. Probably lacked good coaching in high school and got by on his size. For whatever reason, that didn't develop in his early days at Notre Dame, and then life (i.e. a kid) happens, and then he's passed on the depth chart by MTA and Hinish, etc.. It's too bad, but you can see how this all comes to pass.

The guy still has three seasons of eligibility remaining. Was really hoping this spring he'd start to put it together to where he can contribute at some point. Guess not?

 

[koonja]

Listening to both ISD and II podcast, it's pretty apparent all analysts see Asmir Bilal as just not impressing. They say he's in there because of experience, and if you take that away, he's not one of the 3 best.

Which I guess is a good and bad thing. It's good that the others look better, but they dont have the experience and we all know if you start for BK for a good amount of time, you're grandfathered that spot your senior year.

I've been very bullish on how unimpressive Bilal is and how I never thought he should be starting. He played an entire year at Rover last year and I cant remember him flashing or making a single play. That's pretty creaking crazy. I dont think he offers the defense anything.

I know some people get upset to hear that but it sounds like he hasn't taken a step forward, and that's not good to hear.

 

[EuropeanDomer22]

Listening to both ISD and II podcast, it's pretty apparent all analysts see Asmir Bilal as just not impressing. They say he's in there because of experience, and if you take that away, he's not one of the 3 best.

Which I guess is a good and bad thing. It's good that the others look better, but they dont have the experience and we all know if you start for BK for a good amount of time, you're grandfathered that spot your senior year.

I've been very bullish on how unimpressive Bilal is and how I never thought he should be starting. He played an entire year at Rover last year and I cant remember him flashing or making a single play. That's pretty creaking crazy. I dont think he offers the defense anything.

I know some people get upset to hear that but it sounds like he hasn't taken a step forward, and that's not good to hear.

His biggest weakness is that he does not finish plays, last season he missed a lot of Tackles for loss, he was in great position to make plays but failed to finish.

An example: https://twitter.com/bigredindy/status/1036073660581326849

 

[fightingirish26]

Listening to both ISD and II podcast, it's pretty apparent all analysts see Asmir Bilal as just not impressing. They say he's in there because of experience, and if you take that away, he's not one of the 3 best.

Which I guess is a good and bad thing. It's good that the others look better, but they dont have the experience and we all know if you start for BK for a good amount of time, you're grandfathered that spot your senior year.

I've been very bullish on how unimpressive Bilal is and how I never thought he should be starting. He played an entire year at Rover last year and I cant remember him flashing or making a single play. That's pretty creaking crazy. I dont think he offers the defense anything.

I know some people get upset to hear that but it sounds like he hasn't taken a step forward, and that's not good to hear.

I've been right there with you. Rover is theoretically the position in our defense with the most playmaking potential and he did jack. Plus, he has always been lacking in physicality and now we want to slide him inside? No thanks.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Listening to both ISD and II podcast, it's pretty apparent all analysts see Asmir Bilal as just not impressing. They say he's in there because of experience, and if you take that away, he's not one of the 3 best.

Which I guess is a good and bad thing. It's good that the others look better, but they dont have the experience and we all know if you start for BK for a good amount of time, you're grandfathered that spot your senior year.

I've been very bullish on how unimpressive Bilal is and how I never thought he should be starting. He played an entire year at Rover last year and I cant remember him flashing or making a single play. That's pretty creaking crazy. I dont think he offers the defense anything.

I know some people get upset to hear that but it sounds like he hasn't taken a step forward, and that's not good to hear.

From all of the reports, I don't disagree with this but it's a bit troubling that Kelly is still saying Asmar is kind of locking down a position. Is it because he's assignment sound but fails to make the big plays? Are they weighing that against the other players being more athletic/flashign but then being out of position too often?

From all of the analysis we've heard so far, it sounds like the reporters think 1st/2nd: Lamb/Bauer at Mike, Simon/Bilal at Buck and JOK/Moala at Rover. Does anyone disagree with that?

But it sounds like that won't necessarily play out.

 

[PerthDomer]

Was there any open practice this AM?

 

[snoopdog]

From all of the reports, I don't disagree with this but it's a bit troubling that Kelly is still saying Asmar is kind of locking down a position. Is it because he's assignment sound but fails to make the big plays? Are they weighing that against the other players being more athletic/flashign but then being out of position too often?

From all of the analysis we've heard so far, it sounds like the reporters think 1st/2nd: Lamb/Bauer at Mike, Simon/Bilal at Buck and JOK/Moala at Rover. Does anyone disagree with that?

But it sounds like that won't necessarily play out.

I think that’s exactly how it play out

 

[IrishFaninTX]

Listening to both ISD and II podcast, it's pretty apparent all analysts see Asmir Bilal as just not impressing. They say he's in there because of experience, and if you take that away, he's not one of the 3 best.

Which I guess is a good and bad thing. It's good that the others look better, but they dont have the experience and we all know if you start for BK for a good amount of time, you're grandfathered that spot your senior year.

I've been very bullish on how unimpressive Bilal is and how I never thought he should be starting. He played an entire year at Rover last year and I cant remember him flashing or making a single play. That's pretty creaking crazy. I dont think he offers the defense anything.

I know some people get upset to hear that but it sounds like he hasn't taken a step forward, and that's not good to hear.

Yeah not encouraging. He did have 50 tackles last year but only 19 solo, only 3 TFL, no sacks or picks and 1 PD. He did have a FR which might be the only impressive thing he did in 13 games.

 

[BabyIrish]

Was there any open practice this AM?

Yes
Some notes from II’s analysis video:
Simon was 2nd team Mike today behind Bilal. Jack Lamb seems to be doing well at Buck in Nickel package. No one really standing out at LB though.
Chris Finke and Claypool have been absolutely dominant including today. Young Wr’s continued to flash as well.
Book threw the deep ball really well today. Best of the spring.
Tony Jones and Jafar looked good again as well as Jahmir Smith.

 

[Rizzophil]

Yes
Some notes from II’s analysis video:
Simon was 2nd team Mike today behind Bilal. Jack Lamb seems to be doing well at Buck in Nickel package. No one really standing out at LB though.
Chris Finke and Claypool have been absolutely dominant including today. Young Wr’s continued to flash as well.
Book threw the deep ball really well today. Best of the spring.
Tony Jones and Jafar looked good again as well as Jahmir Smith.

Simon is really trying everything to see his best spot Wow

 

[Bluto]

His biggest weakness is that he does not finish plays, last season he missed a lot of Tackles for loss, he was in great position to make plays but failed to finish.

An example: https://twitter.com/bigredindy/status/1036073660581326849

That’s a bad example if you’re trying to critique his play. He did exactly what an outside linebacker is supposed to do. He set the edge and forced the play back inside towards the interior help flowing to the outside. He didnt make some flashy big play but was assignment correct and prevented a big play to the outside off of the option pitch.

 

[Luckylucci]

Simon is really trying everything to see his best spot Wow

Apparently and somewhat surprising to the staff, he’s struggling quite a bit. He wasn’t doing well in space so they moved him inside (from Rover) and now he’s having problems with “contact” or tackling inside.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Apparently and somewhat surprising to the staff, he’s struggling quite a bit. He wasn’t doing well in space so they moved him inside (from Rover) and now he’s having problems with “contact” or tackling inside.

That ain't good. I was really counting on him being one of the more physical forces inside once reports were saying he wasn't great in space.

If our guys don't commit to being great right now, I mean with every waking minute: nutrition, study, etc - we are going to regress more than I was hoping. I'm afraid we're going to get pushed around and be vulnerable to the ground & pound teams.

It's so painful seeing a team lineup to run and doing it and not being able to stop it. Then dropping the safeties into the box and getting burned deep.

I don't mean to hit the panic button, I was just really hoping some players would be rounding into form, especially Simon. Maybe Lamb, Bilal and whoever will be a revelation. I really hope JOK has the light bulb go off because everyone says he's possibly the most athletic linebacker we have.

 

[Luckylucci]

Certainly not time to hit the panic button at all. We need to remember that for most of these freshman, this is their first Spring practice. For freshman that show up in the summer (fall camp) they don’t get a ton of work in the scheme, and at LB, that was especially true with Tranquill and Coney.

I’ve been quite pleased with the reports of JOK and Lamb. And feel confident Lea will continue to push the group forward. We don’t play another team in April so still plenty of time to work this out.

 

[T-Boone]

So BK mentioned Kevin today in the press conference so seems like he is officially back from stint in dog house.

 

[Irish YJ]

So BK mentioned Kevin today in the press conference so seems like he is officially back from stint in dog house.

 

[T-Boone]

BK also said Lamb did some good things in coverage and gave some sort of compliment to Bilal, he is reliable, confirming he is in the rotation.
Said something about the other LBs have work to do.
Confirmed tackling from the group was bad today.
Said Finke was the man today.

 

[NDdomer2]

Seems like we'll continue to to see lots of combinations at LB this spring to find who fits where best then use summer camp to lock guys in.

 

[T-Boone]

With things looking good at WR should we give Claypool some practice reps at LBer.

Not sure why I italics.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Sorry about the whiny ass post above, I was imbibed and got stuck in a negative place.

I'm sure the coaches will find a good group of LBs out of all our options. The cupboard isn't bare.

 

[irishandy]

Upsetting to hear about Allen and Ewell.

Ewell reminds me of Ishaq Williams, both highly recruited, but they couldn't pan out at playing the level of college football at ND.

As far as Allen, anything I've read about him is that he's one of the players that need to have an important spring. Seems to me that it is coming down to a make it or brake it spring. If he doesn't make it, I wonder if he'd transfer? I was surprised that Allen couldn't find his way onto special teams last year. Hoping for the best for Allen is at ND.

 

[fightingirish26]

Upsetting to hear about Allen and Ewell.

Ewell reminds me of Ishaq Williams, both highly recruited, but they couldn't pan out at playing the level of college football at ND.

As far as Allen, anything I've read about him is that he's one of the players that need to have an important spring. Seems to me that it is coming down to a make it or brake it spring. If he doesn't make it, I wonder if he'd transfer? I was surprised that Allen couldn't find his way onto special teams last year. Hoping for the best for Allen is at ND.

From the sounds of it, Ewell isn't even in the same stratosphere as Ishaq as a player. Ishaq was disappointing, but at least he contributed a little bit and eventually got invited to try out for NFL teams, something that doesn't sound in the cards for Ewell.