'21 MI OL Rocco Spindler (Notre Dame Early Enrollee)

[PutuporShutup]

I haven't seen anywhere what the injury was, A meniscus clean-up is season ending at this point. Anyone hear how bad?

No, freeman just made it sound like it was a big deal and obviously out for the season. But then his entire tone for the PC was bad so who knows.

 

[Old Man Mike]

We have some very good OLine athletes still on the bench. Our problems have been mostly too much give by Correll, and too foot slow by Fisher. Billy S probably knows enough about who to block by now (reminds me of the Braxton Cave situation where Coach Kelly said that "When Braxton blocks you, you stay blocked; but he doesn't always block the right man.") On the other hand, Kristofic has shown already that he can play. --- actually, in a fantasy world which is not happening, moving Fisher inside probably fixes the interior OLine strength problem and Fisher's poor foot movement problems (His biggest problem to my eye is not raw speed but inability to match outside rusher change-of-direction --- maybe Wagner's better at that.) If Harry was here, I'd think he'd be able to fix this --- just don't have the data on this other guy yet. .... against Wake and Stanford one would think that all of our offense should be OK. If Schrauth for instance was in, we should still be able to use Estime and maul. Then Sam can dissect the rest. Against a good bowl opponent: possible problems, but we're not much different as to strengths and weaknesses anyway.

 

[Crazy Balki]

This week, I fully expect Craig and Schrauth to start. I also think they should and will start rotating in Jagusah. You need him ready, because like it or not, he's one of the most talented and physically imposing OL you have. He HAS TO be a starter in '24.

Coogan ain't it. Spindler may still have a shot, but frankly, your interior should be some combination of Jagusah, Craig and Schrauth.

 

[Giddyup]

Spindler was probably our second best lineman. Sucks he’s out

 

[ulukinatme]

Spindler was probably our second best lineman. Sucks he’s out

I'm not sure about that.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Spindler was probably our second best lineman. Sucks he’s out

Uh no.

I'd say he was probably 3rd or 4th, and that's only if healthy, which he hasn't been for weeks.

 

[CanadalovesND]

The severity wasn't given, but if it's a tear of some sort, it's fair to question his availability for the season opener in '24.

Next year's OL is going to look different.

Jagusah - Schrauth - Craig - Fisher - Wagner

 

[Crazy Balki]

The severity wasn't given, but if it's a tear of some sort, it's fair to question his availability for the season opener in '24.

Next year's OL is going to look different.

Jagusah - Schrauth - Craig - Fisher - Wagner

I have zero knowledge, but I do know that he's been playing through an injury for weeks now.

My guess is that it's a minor tear that they ultimately decided to go the surgical route. I don't think that's going to be a super-long recovery.

Again, zero knowledge.

 

[AllTimeIrish]

That might be the end of the Spindler experiment, at least starting. I don't see him coming back and beating any of the young guys out for the starter role again. Might be the most disappointing OL recruit in quite some time.

 

[Old Man Mike]

We basically recruit tackles and more than half of them turn into guards --- I'm sure that the coaching staff expects that to happen but are not with any precision knowing who will be what --- so there are going to be a lot of "disappointments", mainly for the players themselves. The staff averages about 4 OLine recruits per year. Setting the frosh (usually) aside, that means roughly 12-14 OLine vying for the starting five (given injury and transfer losses and fifth year gains.) That means 7 to 9 guys of probably high quality sitting at second string or lower and not getting practice reps etc so much as the big dogs. Two rather different things come to my mind at this point:

1. The staff must feel that it NEEDS to "hit" on no more than two OLine recruits per year as very good college players to field a powerful five. I'll bet that they are reasonably happy with a 50% hit rate (2 out of 4). If they get that they are probably not disappointed with that year. I'll guess that they are disappointed for the guys who didn't quite develop, but this is business and they're not crying about it;
2. If you're the player, and you're not Zach Martin nor Quentin Nelson nor Ronnie Stanley heading for the NFL and the Hall-of-Fame, you might mitigate your chances of being a "disappointment" by getting super strong AND learning how to be a Center. THAT's who we are usually short on --- this is not me just reacting to this season. We have rarely had two serviceable centers ready to play. And we often have only one, and that debatable. --- and we all know this. So why does it persist? I'm guessing that the players in the vast majority don't want to try to get there. Nick Martin did, and should be our posterchild for this. In the pros, Robert Hainsey has done it, and I think is looking at a big career. Great centers are among the most valuable players in football. ... Why not desired? lack of respect or too tough a set of skills?

 

[Giddyup]

That might be the end of the Spindler experiment, at least starting. I don't see him coming back and beating any of the young guys out for the starter role again. Might be the most disappointing OL recruit in quite some time.

Lol. Most of you guys didn’t even think he would play for ND. Look at him now.

 

[AllTimeIrish]

Lol. Most of you guys didn’t even think he would play for ND. Look at him now.

I thought he would dominate, hoping he was another Martin. Unfortunately, he wasn't. Wish the kid well and hope he comes back full strength and has a shot at starting again. But there is enough talent on the roster he might not make it back to starting by the time he is fully ready.

 

[AllTimeIrish]

We basically recruit tackles and more than half of them turn into guards --- I'm sure that the coaching staff expects that to happen but are not with any precision knowing who will be what --- so there are going to be a lot of "disappointments", mainly for the players themselves. The staff averages about 4 OLine recruits per year. Setting the frosh (usually) aside, that means roughly 12-14 OLine vying for the starting five (given injury and transfer losses and fifth year gains.) That means 7 to 9 guys of probably high quality sitting at second string or lower and not getting practice reps etc so much as the big dogs. Two rather different things come to my mind at this point:

1. The staff must feel that it NEEDS to "hit" on no more than two OLine recruits per year as very good college players to field a powerful five. I'll bet that they are reasonably happy with a 50% hit rate (2 out of 4). If they get that they are probably not disappointed with that year. I'll guess that they are disappointed for the guys who didn't quite develop, but this is business and they're not crying about it;
2. If you're the player, and you're not Zach Martin nor Quentin Nelson nor Ronnie Stanley heading for the NFL and the Hall-of-Fame, you might mitigate your chances of being a "disappointment" by getting super strong AND learning how to be a Center. THAT's who we are usually short on --- this is not me just reacting to this season. We have rarely had two serviceable centers ready to play. And we often have only one, and that debatable. --- and we all know this. So why does it persist? I'm guessing that the players in the vast majority don't want to try to get there. Nick Martin did, and should be our posterchild for this. In the pros, Robert Hainsey has done it, and I think is looking at a big career. Great centers are among the most valuable players in football. ... Why not desired? lack of respect or too tough a set of skills?

You hit on one thing that affects two things. Recruiting prototypical tackles to fill out other positions at G and C. Granted they do recruit C prospects, but they all tend to be light and not strong. It is as if ND doesn't know how to recruit interior line types at all and every two years we have the O-line shuffle. Every few years it leads to a dominant line, but in between it leads to frustration given the overall talent we are recruiting every year.

Is is better to do it this way, or focus on position/skill-specific recruits with the downside that a miss will leave a bigger hole in a given year? Not sure but it's an interesting question.

 

[PutuporShutup]

I thought he would dominate, hoping he was another Martin. Unfortunately, he wasn't. Wish the kid well and hope he comes back full strength and has a shot at starting again. But there is enough talent on the roster he might not make it back to starting by the time he is fully ready.

I knew he wasn't extremely fleet of foot, but he's slower than I expected. Strong when engages properly but just struggles to move.

Watching spindler, coogan, and zeke waddle out each possession wasn't a confidence builder in our interior oline talent.

I think/Hope Craig and Billy run with this opportunity because they are both more talented and move much better than zeke and roco. Better size/length too.

 

[Giddyup]

The young shiny recruit fever. I doubt Rocco is overtaken next year.

 

[PutuporShutup]

The young shiny recruit fever. I doubt Rocco is overtaken next year.

I get it, but he didn't grab it and make it his.

I just don't see how coming off of surgery (assume major) and rehab he has the time and ability to win it back by early next fall camp.

 

[Irish#1]

Anyone know how he graded out against Miami? I watched the replay last night and paid close attention to him. He did really well from what I saw.

 

[irish4ever]

Anyone know how he graded out against Miami? I watched the replay last night and paid close attention to him. He did really well from what I saw.

As should have been expected as he played in 10 games last year after earning the starting right guard spot in fall camp.

 

[Irish#1]

As should have been expected as he played in 10 games last year after earning the starting right guard spot in fall camp.

Except he didn't. Schrauth locked down the RG spot. Rocco was listed as the backup at LG for A&M.

 

[GrangerIrish24]

Oddly he looked better on pass compared to run plays.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Oddly he looked better on pass compared to run plays.

That actually make sense...trust me you don't want to see Rocco having to pull on a running play....yikes

 

[GrangerIrish24]

That actually make sense...trust me you don't want to see Rocco having to pull on a running play....yikes

i agree but even on just plays where your assignment is to walk your man forward he struggled with. Could possibly be just a setback from his injury last year