'23 MO CB Christian Gray (Notre Dame Signee)

Irish#1

Livin' Your Dream!
Staff member
Gray will be fine this year, but I'm interested to see how he performs under a new position coach.
 

Rocketman84

Well-known member
I'm not the biggest Gray fan, but when Gray lost, he was generally getting beat by guys like Malachi Toney, Makai Lemon, Mario Craver. Oh, so you mean some of the top receivers in the country? If Graham is doing that to Gray, that probably indicates that ND has something special in Mylan.
☝️☝️
 

FightingIrishLover7

All troll, no substance
I'll never stop believing in Christian Gray. His talent has never been a problem, but his mental state/focus/effort have been. To be fair, some of that might have been related to injury. A new position coach and new role on the team (nickleback) could do wonders for him.
This
I'm being downvoted into oblivion for making fun of Gray smoothbrainers

I may be his biggest supporter on here. Love everything about that kid
 
There's a lot on here that are better at the X's and O's side of things and I recall reading somewhere (not sure if here or someplace else) that it's likely he'll get used more in a nickel role vs boundary/field which might be a better fit for his talents. If someone recently commented on this, sorry I missed it but curious what the thoughts are with that? Would love to see him get into a better spot because while he's had some struggles at times, he also has brought some of my favorite memories recently with my son being old enough to begin his ND football obsession with me.
 

allenm5333

Well-known member
There's a lot on here that are better at the X's and O's side of things and I recall reading somewhere (not sure if here or someplace else) that it's likely he'll get used more in a nickel role vs boundary/field which might be a better fit for his talents. If someone recently commented on this, sorry I missed it but curious what the thoughts are with that? Would love to see him get into a better spot because while he's had some struggles at times, he also has brought some of my favorite memories recently with my son being old enough to begin his ND football obsession with me.
He is getting reps at field and nickel. Some have argued he actually may be better suited for boundary but we have had DUDES there. He struggles when he cannot press and plays off coverage. He does tend to panic and get grabby when beat. I like how Greg at hit and hustle said his misses are "load", meaning not often but critical and big. I honestly don't know if Nickel is great for him. But it could help him get more safety help behind
 

LifelongFan

Well-known member
I'll never stop believing in Christian Gray. His talent has never been a problem, but his mental state/focus/effort have been. To be fair, some of that might have been related to injury. A new position coach and new role on the team (nickleback) could do wonders for him.
Gray has been asked to do a lot and has been fine. An adjusted role will have him looking great. He will be a good nickelback when he is used there.
 

NDFAN420

Well-known member
I'm not the biggest Gray fan, but when Gray lost, he was generally getting beat by guys like Malachi Toney, Makai Lemon, Mario Craver. Oh, so you mean some of the top receivers in the country? If Graham is doing that to Gray, that probably indicates that ND has something special in Mylan.
I know that a lot of people think that, but he gets beat by every team's #1 receiver or #1 option on a specific play consistently, not just by a few guys. He plays with very poor technique, too poor for an NFL CB and he's too small/brittle to be a FS. They play him too far off the WR in order to hide his deficiencies, but that also leads to a lot chain moving catches in front of him. His saving grace for the ND team and what's led to his most vocal defenders has been the INTs. However, most of those were very bad decisions by the QB rather than really good plays by Gray.

He's a guy. A body at CB. Not good, not bad, just a guy.
 

NDFAN420

Well-known member
He is getting reps at field and nickel. Some have argued he actually may be better suited for boundary but we have had DUDES there. He struggles when he cannot press and plays off coverage. He does tend to panic and get grabby when beat. I like how Greg at hit and hustle said his misses are "load", meaning not often but critical and big. I honestly don't know if Nickel is great for him. But it could help him get more safety help behind
I don't think that he has the body type, nor the technique to play nickel. That's Moore vs. Lemon. Gray cannot do that against P5 WRs.
 

allenm5333

Well-known member
I don't think that he has the body type, nor the technique to play nickel. That's Moore vs. Lemon. Gray cannot do that against P5 WRs.
If we play a dude at slot, Moore is gonna be the guy. I think repping Gray at slot right now is got. The transfer and Golden may take over Field
 

Crazy Balki

Site Assigned Optimist
I know that a lot of people think that, but he gets beat by every team's #1 receiver or #1 option on a specific play consistently, not just by a few guys. He plays with very poor technique, too poor for an NFL CB and he's too small/brittle to be a FS. They play him too far off the WR in order to hide his deficiencies, but that also leads to a lot chain moving catches in front of him. His saving grace for the ND team and what's led to his most vocal defenders has been the INTs. However, most of those were very bad decisions by the QB rather than really good plays by Gray.

He's a guy. A body at CB. Not good, not bad, just a guy.
Yeah no. Sorry, but the numbers don't back that up at all.

Gray allowed 48.3% completion percentage when throwing his way last year. He finished 3rd in passes defended per game in 2025.

Those are not the numbers of just "a guy" at corner. Gray has his shortcomings that he has to work on, but we have to keep in mind, Gray is going to be given the best look of every team, because nobody is going to even tempt fate with Leonard Moore on the other end.

Doesn't mean his job is safe, because Golden is clearly impressing and I like what I saw from McKinney at Colorado, but the notion that Gray was just getting toasted by everybody's #1 is just patently false.
 

T-Boone

Well-known member
Yeah no. Sorry, but the numbers don't back that up at all.

Gray allowed 48.3% completion percentage when throwing his way last year. He finished 3rd in passes defended per game in 2025.

Those are not the numbers of just "a guy" at corner. Gray has his shortcomings that he has to work on, but we have to keep in mind, Gray is going to be given the best look of every team, because nobody is going to even tempt fate with Leonard Moore on the other end.

Doesn't mean his job is safe, because Golden is clearly impressing and I like what I saw from McKinney at Colorado, but the notion that Gray was just getting toasted by everybody's #1 is just patently false.
We should see if we can get Moore to play in a jersey number against Miami. Is that legal?
 
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