'23 CA WR Rico Flores (UCLA Transfer)

[ulukinatme]

I do believe that Tyler was partially right...the WR roster at this point is catastrophic, not the overall. I think it will be telling if some TEs leave as well as RBs that Porker is the problem.

I know a few of you are saying don't be concerned, but when close to 50% of 1 position group is transferring..thats an issue...and someone also posted that our WR transfer portal acquisitions have been abysmal...including the Super Bowl champ

Yeah, we're not getting Randy Moss, and whoever we get will be a one year loaner graduate probably. You're not replacing the lost years of eligibility and development (Although a few of the losses hadn't developed much or at all). It's going to leave big holes in a year or two, forcing us to continue playing inexperienced freshmen that aren't quite ready.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Yeah, we're not getting Randy Moss, and whoever we get will be a one year loaner graduate probably. You're not replacing the lost years of eligibility and development (Although a few of the losses hadn't developed much or at all). It's going to leave big holes in a year or two, forcing us to continue playing inexperienced freshmen that aren't quite ready.

Or continuing to augment the room with transfers until we've rectified Del's ineptitude and this...ahem....speed bump.

 

[Luckylucci]

It is not. Assuming healthy with the current roster and who is coming in, it would be a solid upgrade over what we had last year. People can't control their emotions even when it's their job to be objective.

Sorry, but this is peak cope.

Completely non-sensical to say that a WR room that loses 4 guys, including it's top two in Rec, yards, and YPR is better without adding players.

Considering all the guys "coming in" were always doing so, it literally makes no sense we're better off without new players.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

This seems fine...

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Sorry, but this is peak cope.

Completely non-sensical to say that a WR room that loses 4 guys, including it's top two in Rec, yards, and YPR is better without adding players.

Considering all the guys "coming in" were always doing so, it literally makes no sense we're better off without new players.

Fair enough. I think some of us are trying to counterbalance the whiny ass, sky-is-falling, chicken little bitches who get erections from posting bad news. People are spending a ton of time doing what they are supposed to on a message board: bantering about shit they have no knowledge of while growing ever more certain they have it figured out.

It sucks we're losing players.

We're hopeful the staff brings in some players of equal or greater skill/experience.

If they do, all of this hand-wringing and whinging will have been for nothing. And everyone involved with stoking the panic fire should have to wear a dress and take a community photo as a reminder to all of us: keep your fucking head on no matter the circumstances and see how things shake out.

Queue the crowd saying it's not irrational to point out all of Freeman's failures, blah, blah, cronyism, nepotism, buddy-buddy, out of touch, lack's control, in over his head.

 

[NewBrunswickIrish]

Good luck at...SDSU? Fresno State? Cal?

Yeah, seriously. I don’t want to come off as a jerk, but there are only so many places open. There’ll be over a thousand or two thousand players enter the portal in December.

It’s going to be a rude awakening for a bunch of guys when they realize that they’re going to have to go to the G5 because no P5 (is it P4 now?) really want or have room for them.

I can’t imagine any players from ND will land on a team that is better than ND. Which is fine for guys that are transferring as grad students - they just want to play more - but the younger guys may regret it.

I think Rico probably gets a spot at a P5/4 school, but I imagine it will be like UCLA, Cal or similar where they are a mid-pack team.

No one is going to a Georgia or Alabama level football school so hopefully they have reasonable expectations

 

[T-Boone]

Maybe he thinks he gets into OSU

 

[stlnd01]

Maybe he thinks he gets into OSU

Weren’t they the other school he was into as a recruit? They never offered but the fear was that he’d flip if they did, IIRC.
Anyway, the more likely OSU for him is Oregon State.

 

[stlnd01]

What are the chances we announce Leonard and hire a WR coach and go back at one or two of these guys in a week and change their minds?

Thinking Tyree or Rico most likely.

 

[Giddyup]

Let ‘em go.

 

[irishff1014]

It is not. Assuming healthy with the current roster and who is coming in, it would be a solid upgrade over what we had last year. People can't control their emotions even when it's their job to be objective.

Thomas and Colzie have proven nothing.

 

[JamIrish]

I'm not a fan of changing someone's mind. How often do relationships work when one side begs or has to convince the other to stay? Rico of all the receivers shouldn't even be contemplating a transfer.

 

[Luckylucci]

Fair enough. I think some of us are trying to counterbalance the whiny ass, sky-is-falling, chicken little bitches who get erections from posting bad news. People are spending a ton of time doing what they are supposed to on a message board: bantering about shit they have no knowledge of while growing ever more certain they have it figured out.

It sucks we're losing players.

We're hopeful the staff brings in some players of equal or greater skill/experience.

If they do, all of this hand-wringing and whinging will have been for nothing. And everyone involved with stoking the panic fire should have to wear a dress and take a community photo as a reminder to all of us: keep your fucking head on no matter the circumstances and see how things shake out.

Queue the crowd saying it's not irrational to point out all of Freeman's failures, blah, blah, cronyism, nepotism, buddy-buddy, out of touch, lack's control, in over his head.

And that's fine. But to say that you are counterbalancing extreme pessimism with extreme optimism is still going to get called out for what it is.

Completely irrational to say we're better off today, without new players. Just as irrational as the "sky is falling" crowd.

 

[PutuporShutup]

Thomas and Colzie have proven nothing.

Agree, but they've proven as much or as little as anyone else on our roster. Actually Thomas clearly has the most catches career wise at wr.

We absolutely need to hit 2 proven wrs in the portal.

 

[NewBrunswickIrish]

Sorry, but this is peak cope.

Completely non-sensical to say that a WR room that loses 4 guys, including it's top two in Rec, yards, and YPR is better without adding players.

Considering all the guys "coming in" were always doing so, it literally makes no sense we're better off without new players.

By the same token it isn’t catastrophic either - ND’s top receiver had less than 500 yards, no other receiver even had 400 and most didn’t even have 300. No receiver had more than 27 catches. That’s from a year where they were playing with a QB who is the all time leading passer in the ACC.

We’re also leaving out that Thomas and Greathouse played like half as many games as Tyree and Flores and would have been on pace to be the top two receivers if they had played all of them. Losing depth isn’t good but it’s not “peak cope” to think ND’s receivers will perform better next year.

It’s not like ND is losing Golden Tate, Michael Floyd or Fuller.

I would genuinely interested in seeing how people on this board deal with real problems or adversity because it’s a full on meltdown here every time something doesn’t go ND’s way.

 

[T-Boone]

What are the chances we announce Leonard and hire a WR coach and go back at one or two of these guys in a week and change their minds?

Thinking Tyree or Rico most likely.

I’d go tyree and Merriweather. I want that Mweather upside. Flores is blah. I feel like we have 3 of him in the TE room.

 

[Giddyup]

Coaches know what they have in Colzie. He must have showed out in practice if they are inviting him back.

 

[T-Boone]

Thomas and Colzie have proven nothing.

Thomas was excellent last year and until injured this year. I cursed him a bit when I said he’d never dropped a pass then he dropped about 3 in a row. I’ll own that together with Suckey.

 

[Luckylucci]

By the same token it isn’t catastrophic either - ND’s top receiver had less than 500 yards, no other receiver even had 400 and most didn’t even have 300. No receiver had more than 27 catches. That’s from a year where they were playing with a QB who is the all time leading passer in the ACC.

We’re also leaving out that Thomas and Greathouse played like half as many games as Tyree and Flores and would have been on pace to be the top two receivers if they had played all of them. Losing depth isn’t good but it’s not “peak cope” to think ND’s receivers will perform better next year.

It’s not like ND is losing Golden Tate, Michael Floyd or Fuller.

I would genuinely interested in seeing how people on this board deal with real problems or adversity because it’s a full on meltdown here every time something doesn’t go ND’s way.

This point is still extremely weak.

We still lost the top 2 WR's in receptions, yards, and YPR. It doesn't matter how talented they were compared to what we had in the past. It matters in comparison to what else we have now. If it was so easily made up. Freeman would have done it already and we wouldn't have had another underperforming season.

Also, while I would agree that in theory that production is easily replaced here's some food for thought. Beaux Collins had 407, 373, and 503 yards the last 3 seasons, playing 33 career games. So, by your example and standards, if he transferred out of ND at 503 yards. It would mean nothing, not a big deal. Easily replaceable.

Yet, when he transfers in. Everyone will go nutty. It's the hype era. Hopefully at some point the winning starts matching the hype.

 

[NumbersGuy0520]

This point is still extremely weak.

We still lost the top 2 WR's in receptions, yards, and YPR. It doesn't matter how talented they were compared to what we had in the past. It matters in comparison to what else we have now. If it was so easily made up. Freeman would have done it already and we wouldn't have had another underperforming season.

Also, while I would agree that in theory that production is easily replaced here's some food for thought. Beaux Collins had 407, 373, and 503 yards the last 3 seasons, playing 33 career games. So, by your example and standards, if he transferred out of ND at 503 yards. It would mean nothing, not a big deal. Easily replaceable.

Yet, when he transfers in. Everyone will go nutty. It's the hype era. Hopefully at some point the winning starts matching the hype.

You’ve hit the nail on the head. Most here will tell you that our WRs transferring out are no big deal. They’re transferring out because they’re soft, have hit their low ceiling, etc etc.

Potential WRs when they transfer in? Game changers. Huge net positive.

The reality is we are currently at a loss. Catastrophic is an exaggeration, but pretending that we’re totally fine right now is burying your head in the sand.

 

[ND03]

I’m more in the camp that I don’t understand the Flores decision. Fine if you liked your old coach, but wherever you go that coach can leave too.

Million reasons to make these decisions, but on surface I don’t get it

 

[Lberry]

You’ve hit the nail on the head. Most here will tell you that our WRs transferring out are no big deal. They’re transferring out because they’re soft, have hit their low ceiling, etc etc.

Potential WRs when they transfer in? Game changers. Huge net positive.

The reality is we are currently at a loss. Catastrophic is an exaggeration, but pretending that we’re totally fine right now is burying your head in the sand.

They don't have to be game changers to be an upgrade. Braylon James had 7 yards. Outside of a play where the corner fell down, TM had 150 yards. Rico was solid.

If we get a 500/yard per year WR from Clemson and a 1,000 yard WR from South Carolina or some sub school (which produce a lot of awesome WRs), we will have upgraded.

Everyone needs to chill, we'll soon be on the other end of this, especially if we have a coach and QB locked down. Pin this post for when the dust settles.

 

[NumbersGuy0520]

They don't have to be game changers to be an upgrade. Braylon James had 7 yards. Outside of a play where the corner fell down, TM had 150 yards. Rico was solid.

If we get a 500/yard per year WR from Clemson and a 1,000 yard WR from South Carolina or some sub school (which produce a lot of awesome WRs), we will have upgraded.

Everyone needs to chill, we'll soon be on the other end of this, especially if we have a coach and QB locked down. Pin this post for when the dust settles.

Yeah, that’s fine. The potential to improve our situation is definitely there.

Let’s be real though - while our WRs failed this year because they weren’t great, they also failed due to coaching. This includes Chansi but also extends past him (Gerad, Freeman, etc).

I’m not just going to assume that a productive WR transfers in and keeps the same level of production, nor am I saying that you are. But too many people are just considering WR production and exchangeability at face value without looking at the overall picture - the way we run and coach our offense needs a pretty big overhaul, far past what’s currently happening with the WR roster.

 

[Reaper97]

Weren’t they the other school he was into as a recruit? They never offered but the fear was that he’d flip if they did, IIRC.
Anyway, the more likely OSU for him is Oregon State.

OSU offered.
He had an OV set up there right after the ND visit.
He cancelled it, and OSU tried to talk him into still taking it.
The scuttlebutt was that OSU was slowplaying him, but at that point they had room for him & were pushing for him to take the OV.

 

[Pennick44]

Fan anxiety spreading to the beat writers now

Rising superstar. Wow. That's rich.
Good player and sorry to see him go but let's get real.

 

[Giddyup]

He had a nice long neck. Rising SS is a big stretch

 

[Pennick44]

I’d go tyree and Merriweather. I want that Mweather upside. Flores is blah. I feel like we have 3 of him in the TE room.

Merriweather is soft. Much rather have Flores on the team.

 

[IAIrish]

And that's fine. But to say that you are counterbalancing extreme pessimism with extreme optimism is still going to get called out for what it is.

Completely irrational to say we're better off today, without new players. Just as irrational as the "sky is falling" crowd.

Let it play out, and judge accordingly.

 

[IAIrish]

I’m more in the camp that I don’t understand the Flores decision. Fine if you liked your old coach, but wherever you go that coach can leave too.

Million reasons to make these decisions, but on surface I don’t get it

Agreed. Many freshman leave due to lack of pt. In Rico's case, he got a shitload.

Wtf, mate?

 

[Classic Irish]

Imagine telling someone in 10 years you transferred out of Notre Dame as a football player when you started as a freshman…

Arnold Ale says hi.