2019 Spring Practice Thread

[FightingIrishLover7]

Check out @BGI_CoachD’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/BGI_CoachD/status/1113822479104008197?s=09

Darnell with a, possible, good update?

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[Luckylucci]

Honestly, I don't have a problem with questioning his play recognition or his effort when the play goes away from him (though a lot of what looks like "laziness" could really just be the Rover staying home backside by design). That stuff is well known.

But I disagree about his physical ability. He's a really good athlete, especially when he recognizes the play and is able to get downhill. He's not a big-time thumper, but he's not a dude that is gonna get run over, like you seem to think. He was at his best last year when he was attacking the run and flying through gaps. He just didn't get many chances to do that late in the year based on the opponents during the last half of the season, and because that's not often the Rover's job.

I'd encourage you to watch the scUM and Stanford games again if you have time. Bilal looked bad in coverage, as per what we all know, but he looked fine against the run.

I think being a two-down linebacker in the middle is going to be great for Bilal. We just need to hope that Lamb and JOK are actually developing well, and aren't just getting good reviews for lack of options.

This right here. I think there’s a good chance that Lea will find his niche within this defense and the above seems likely. The problem, currently, is it seems like this is the case with a majority of the LB room. They’re all better against the run versus the pass (except Lamb) so we’re going to have to find a Mike in the Nickel if Lamb is Buck.

 

[IrishLax]

This question was asked at ISD, and I thought I'd give the haters their fix for the day: "Jamie, Mike, and Matt - what does Bilal *not* do well?"

My response:

Not any of those guys, but IMO.

-- Doesn't hustle to the ball. Often times he looks like Jadaveon Clowney's junior year just going through the motions if they play isn't directly at him.
-- Not strong at point of attack. Never stops runners in their tracks, much less push them back. He tackles soft for a LB IMO.

That's really it that I can speak to, but those are freaking huge if you're a LB. He might be slow to recognition, but I can't say that I've seen that, he's just not a physical football player and doesn't make many plays, let alone stop ball carriers where they're at because of that.

Ignoring the trolling for a second, and focusing back on that thread Mike Frank said the following --

Sometimes you just have to take your lumps for a more talented player to get some experience and emerge.

In this situation, I haven't seen a guy I'd say might be a more talented player than Asmar at the position, so far.

The Drew White injury really hurts as I'd like to see what he could do there. I haven't seen anything from Bo Bauer or Jon Jones to make me think they should play over Asmar at this point.

So right now there is no one that is better than Bilal. Full stop. Not on talent, or on experience.

There is basically one legitimate gripe people can have: Bilal is not a natural MIKE, so if you don't have a natural MIKE ready to play what the hell were you doing in recruiting?

 

[koonja]

Ignoring the trolling for a second, and focusing back on that thread Mike Frank said the following --


So right now there is no one that is better than Bilal. Full stop. Not on talent, or on experience.

There is basically one legitimate gripe people can have: Bilal is not a natural MIKE, so if you don't have a natural MIKE ready to play what the hell were you doing in recruiting?

It's spring ball, and every analyst is all over the board with different observations, and this is no different.

On the II podcast with Prister, O'malley, and Pete Sampson last week, one of them asked "if you take experience out of it, is Asmir Bilal one of the 3 best LBs from what we've seen this spring?".

One of them said "Definitely not", and all agreed.

 

[IrishLax]

It's spring ball, and every analyst is all over the board with different observations, and this is no different.

On the II podcast with Prister, O'malley, and Pete Sampson last week, one of them asked "if you take experience out of it, is Asmir Bilal one of the 3 best LBs from what we've seen this spring?".

One of them said "Definitely not", and all agreed.

That's literally not the point. The point is that they don't have a MIKE linebacker.

He is quite obviously not one of the three most talented LBers or he wouldn't have been bumped out of the position where he has all his experience. The question being asked is whether he is better than Bauer/Jones not if he is one of the "3 best" in the whole position. You have to start with the right question first for the discussion to go anywhere.

 

[Luckylucci]

Ignoring the trolling for a second, and focusing back on that thread Mike Frank said the following --


So right now there is no one that is better than Bilal. Full stop. Not on talent, or on experience.

There is basically one legitimate gripe people can have: Bilal is not a natural MIKE, so if you don't have a natural MIKE ready to play what the hell were you doing in recruiting?

From a recruiting standpoint Lea is either dealing with his underclassmen LB’s (on campus max 1 year) or BVG’s upperclassmen Mike’s. With his guys, Bauer for example, he’s been on campus for 1 year. I don’t think its all that surprising that he hasn’t “locked down” the position over Bilal, at least not yet.

 

[IrishLion]

That's literally not the point. The point is that they don't have a MIKE linebacker.

He is quite obviously not one of the three most talented LBers or he wouldn't have been bumped out of the position where he has all his experience. The question being asked is whether he is better than Bauer/Jones not if he is one of the "3 best" in the whole position. You have to start with the right question first for the discussion to go anywhere.

From a recruiting standpoint Lea is either dealing with his underclassmen LB’s (on campus max 1 year) or BVG’s upperclassmen Mike’s. With his guys, Bauer for example, he’s been on campus for 1 year. I don’t think its all that surprising that he hasn’t “locked down” the position over Bilal, at least not yet.

Jonathan Jones was a shot in the dark, and hasn't panned out.

Drew White was recruited by the current staff to play MIKE, but he's had near-constant shoulder issues. That's on them for not covering their asses better, but also kind of bad luck.

Bo Bauer got good reviews after the first two practices, but might be getting lost in the shuffle that they've had to undertake?

I guess I feel okay that Bilal and Lamb have been singled out by BK as guys that are clearly trending to the rotation, and that JOK is starting to be a guy that is consistently getting good reviews.

TL;DR

They don't have a MIKE because they committed to recruiting a high-potential guy that is also always hurt, and because they didn't cover their asses enough. Also, Jones not developing hurts.

 

[IrishLion]

My ideal scenario:

MIKE - Bilal and then eventually Simon
BUCK - Lamb and JGH/Simon in a rotation based on sub packages and opponent
ROVER - JOK

JOK might have the goods... he just needs to stay healthy and continue his development.

After that, I'm kind of hoping that Lamb develops into a full-time BUCK that can get spelled by JGH, and that Simon gets a shot to play MIKE, getting comfortable and eventually taking reps from Bilal.

 

[koonja]

My ideal scenario:

MIKE - Bilal and then eventually Simon
BUCK - Lamb and JGH/Simon in a rotation based on sub packages and opponent
ROVER - JOK

JOK might have the goods... he just needs to stay healthy and continue his development.

After that, I'm kind of hoping that Lamb develops into a full-time BUCK that can get spelled by JGH, and that Simon gets a shot to play MIKE, getting comfortable and eventually taking reps from Bilal.

FWIW, in Freeman's practice observations from today, he said it looks like JOK has locked down the rover spot.

Which would be awesome, because he's apparently a freak athlete. Mike went bananas and compared him to Jaylon Smith, athletically.

 

[Luckylucci]

Drew White committed to ND in March of 2016, he was recruited by BVG, they obviously honored his commitment when the staff changed. It’s the 16’ and 17’ class of White and Adams that BVG recruited that has us in this predicament.

 

[IrishLion]

Drew White committed to ND in March of 2016, he was recruited by BVG, they obviously honored his commitment when the staff changed. It’s the 17’ class of White and Adams that BVG recruited that has us in this predicament.

Ah okay, I was a year off.

Adams hurt, too, because those two were supposed to be legit answers to ILB down the line.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Drew White committed to ND in March of 2016, he was recruited by BVG, they obviously honored his commitment when the staff changed. It’s the 16’ and 17’ class of White and Adams that BVG recruited that has us in this predicament.

Yeah don't forget that '16 only has 1 guy (Jonathon Jones) left at the position since Jamir was moved to D Line.

 

[koonja]

It's a real bummer it's just not happening for Jonathan Jones.

He was a highly rated guy with legit offers, and he's always played like his hair is on fire and with a ton of passion. And he's shredded.

If you asked me in 2016, I would have been shocked to learn he never came close to starting at ND by 2019.

 

[Luckylucci]

Yeah don't forget that '16 only has 1 guy (Jonathon Jones) left at the position since Jamir was moved to D Line.

Yea, certainly important to go back and edit the post. 2 lb’s in 2 classes, BVG is such a douche

 

[Nothingman]

BVG is such a douche

He may have been a terrible recruiter, but at least he was an awful coach.

 

[Irish#1]

It's a real bummer it's just not happening for Jonathan Jones.

He was a highly rated guy with legit offers, and he's always played like his hair is on fire and with a ton of passion. And he's shredded.

If you asked me in 2016, I would have been shocked to learn he never came close to starting at ND by 2019.

Koon it just dawned on me that whenever you post about a player, it's negative. Rarely something good or if you do post something positive, you have to add something negative. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my perception.

 

[condoms SUCk]

It's a real bummer it's just not happening for Jonathan Jones.

He was a highly rated guy with legit offers, and he's always played like his hair is on fire and with a ton of passion. And he's shredded.

If you asked me in 2016, I would have been shocked to learn he never came close to starting at ND by 2019.

Does he make the First Team All American Bod Squad?

 

[koonja]

Koon it just dawned on me that whenever you post about a player, it's negative. Rarely something good or if you do post something positive, you have to add something negative. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my perception.

That's probably true.

And probably because anything positive would just be me repeating the #274th positive post on that topic, because this board is so "praise heavy", and most don't have the balls to talk about the limitations of players/coaches/team in general. No sense in me being the 100th person to say "yeah, Keys looks awesome in that clip".

There's also positivity, like me saying pre-season Dexter would break out, that the Pass blocking excuses were overblown, and will have a better pro career than Josh Adams (just to qualify how high I thought of Dexter's senior year).

 

[dublinirish]

He may have been a terrible recruiter, but at least he was an awful coach.

he didnt recruit lol

 

[Valpodoc85]

Cultivation theory says we become negative if others perceive us in a negative way. So if others perceive our performance/social skills in a negative way and let us know it, we become negative and this colors our world.

 

[koonja]

Koon it just dawned on me that whenever you post about a player, it's negative. Rarely something good or if you do post something positive, you have to add something negative. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my perception.

Cultivation theory says we become negative if others perceive us in a negative way. So if others perceive our performance/social skills in a negative way and let us know it, we become negative and this colors our world.

Cute theory.

But this is a football discussion board and people gravitate to me in real life. So.

 

[koonja]

Does he make the First Team All American Bod Squad?

Fantastic shoulders, herculean traps, and lower body is thicc, but I haven't seen his midsection and abs matter.

He may end up on the list but he hasn't punched his ticket quite yet.

 

[NEIIrish]

 

[dublinirish]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NotreDame</a> signed 27 players in the 2018 class and I had Paul Moala ranked 27th out of those 27 signees.<br><br>Based on what I've seen the last 3-4 practices - and especially today - he's going to make me look really, really bad for having him ranked that low.</p>— Bryan Driskell (@BGI_CoachD) <a href="https://twitter.com/BGI_CoachD/status/1113839294651752448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

ya boy Bryan Shapiro high on errbody today

 

[stlnd01]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NotreDame</a> signed 27 players in the 2018 class and I had Paul Moala ranked 27th out of those 27 signees.<br><br>Based on what I've seen the last 3-4 practices - and especially today - he's going to make me look really, really bad for having him ranked that low.</p>— Bryan Driskell (@BGI_CoachD) <a href="https://twitter.com/BGI_CoachD/status/1113839294651752448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

ya boy Bryan Shapiro high on errbody today

Someone was saying how Kiser is the next Tranquil. Wouldn’t be shocked if Moala beats him to it.

 

[Rizzophil]

Paul Moala and ‘Woo’ have separated from the pack at rover

 

[Luckylucci]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NotreDame</a> signed 27 players in the 2018 class and I had Paul Moala ranked 27th out of those 27 signees.<br><br>Based on what I've seen the last 3-4 practices - and especially today - he's going to make me look really, really bad for having him ranked that low.</p>— Bryan Driskell (@BGI_CoachD) <a href="https://twitter.com/BGI_CoachD/status/1113839294651752448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

ya boy Bryan Shapiro high on errbody today

Not just Bryan, seems unanimous that Moala is playing pretty well right now. He's found his spot at Rover.

 

[IrishLion]

Someone was saying how Kiser is the next Tranquil. Wouldn’t be shocked if Moala beats him to it.

Moala can be the next Tranquil at Rover, though JOK could be a three-year starter if he keeps getting rave reviews and wants to exhaust his eligibility.

Kiser can focus on putting the weight on and be the next Tranquil at Buck.

 

[Irish#1]

That's probably true.

And probably because anything positive would just be me repeating the #274th positive post on that topic, because this board is so "praise heavy", and most don't have the balls to talk about the limitations of players/coaches/team in general. No sense in me being the 100th person to say "yeah, Keys looks awesome in that clip".

Moala can be the next Tranquil at Rover, though JOK could be a three-year starter if he keeps getting rave reviews and wants to exhaust his eligibility.

Kiser can focus on putting the weight on and be the next Tranquil at Buck.

Koon, care to balance out the positivity on Kiser and Moala?

 

[koonja]

Koon, care to balance out the positivity on Kiser and Moala?

What's there to say? I didn't think we should have taken Kiser, and nothing's happened since to change my mind. Could I be wrong? Duh.

I didn't really follow Moala's recruitment, but it's good to hear he has "it" and sounds like he'll be the #2 rover. Good for him for grabbing the bull by the horns.