'23 MO CB Christian Gray (Notre Dame Signee)

[GowerND11]

Those were the days when all of us fan boys legitimately thought we could do a better job in coverage than our DBs. And we probably weren't that far off.

All he had to do was turn his head. Or push the receiver OB before he came down. Instead he did neither.

 

[IAIrish]

Gray is my pick for most improved player (along with Burnham) on D. He had a decent year last year and made some massive plays down the stretch (usc pick 6, psu int) but gave up some deep balls despite being in pretty good coverage.I don't put the natty game winner on him as much as I do on Golden.

Ash's desire to incorporate more zone and match will help mask those deep ball issues if they continue this year.

Regardless, I think he puts it together this year and parlays it into an early draft entry.

 

[pumpdog20]

Playing field corner in man coverage has to be the hardest thing to do in football. Some of you are way too hard on Gray.

 

[notredomer23]

Playing field corner in man coverage has to be the hardest thing to do in football. Some of you are way too hard on Gray.

Agreed. In the context of the last 15 years, there are only a handful of corners at ND that are actually better than him. He played excellent for a sophomore. We're spoiled by Moore and Morrison having instant impact as freshman.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

All he had to do was turn his head. Or push the receiver OB before he came down. Instead he did neither.

Damn... I forgot all about this.... thanks for ruining my day bruv.

 

[jprue24]

All he had to do was turn his head. Or push the receiver OB before he came down. Instead he did neither.

I was RANTING when roundtree caught a ball he never should have.

Damn... I forgot all about this.... thanks for ruining my day bruv.

I think about it almost every time I see a decent pass get broken up in the endzone.

 

[irishknight35]

This guy is solid, no doubt he's made strides and willl close down his side of the field #STLstrong

 

[ulukinatme]

Counting Down the Irish – No. 16 CB-Christian Gray

Counting Down the Irish – No. 16 CB-Christian Gray

247sports.com

At first I thought ranking Christian Gray 16th was very low, but looking at the names likely ahead of him... this team is just loaded.

Gray needs to be more consistent, but he looked damn good last year at times. Definitely a loaded roster with him being on the bottom half of the starting 22.

16th feels fair. Gray needs consistency, absolutely. He's a bit feast or famine, got picked on a lot against USC before he came up with the Pick 6. The Pick 6 was nice, but there were a lot of completed catches before he sealed the game and we probably blow USC out if he broke up a few more passes earlier. I still think Leonard should have been the one on Smith in the title game too, but that's a tough ask for any corner.

 

[irishu]

Yall really think Gray is ass because he had a bad game against USCs receivers, who may be 2nd best behind OSU. It’s hilarious honestly

Name one other game he had a bad game, excluding singling out the play he had Jeremiah Smith with no safety help

 

[ulukinatme]

Yall really think Gray is ass because he had a bad game against USCs receivers, who may be 2nd best behind OSU. It’s hilarious honestly

Name one other game he had a bad game, excluding singling out the play he had Jeremiah Smith with no safety help

There were a number of big plays during the OSU game. I was just rewatching the highlights, to name a few there were a couple big catches to Carnell Tate, the Smith TD where he went unguarded into the endzone...but there's questions on that one as it seems like Gray either thought he should have the Slot or someone else screwed up. I was going to say Louisville, but I think he was injured for that one. I don't have time to go back through them all. Nobody is saying he's ass, but I wouldn't say he's as solid as Morrison was or Moore. It's hard to be compared to a couple studs like that though. He's had some big INTs, but that's the feast or famine aspect.

 

[General Colon Bowel]

There were a number of big plays during the OSU game. I was just rewatching the highlights, to name a few there were a couple big catches to Carnell Tate, the Smith TD where he went unguarded into the endzone...but there's questions on that one as it seems like Gray either thought he should have the Slot or someone else screwed up. I was going to say Louisville, but I think he was injured for that one. I don't have time to go back through them all. Nobody is saying he's ass, but I wouldn't say he's as solid as Morrison was or Moore. It's hard to be compared to a couple studs like that though. He's had some big INTs, but that's the feast or famine aspect.

Freeman actually talked about this play with Pete Sampson earlier this off-season. They had scouted Smith's footwork pre-snap, and noticed he ran a reverse any time he lined up the way he did on this play. So Gray was supposed to meet Smith on the other side of the reverse - except OSU apparently self-scouted this tendency and faked the reverse, hence why Smith was so wide open. That one is hard to pin on Gray - more the result of cat and mouse between Chip Kelly and Golden

 

[arrowryan]

Gray is a very good corner and sometimes flirts with elite status. I’d rank him 4th amongst 21st century Notre Dame corners; behind Moore, Morrison, and Hart.

He was basically perfect in 14 of their 16 games last year. But people won’t drop his two worst performances. The USC game, one of his “poor” performances, he still had a pick 6. It’s not his fault he was put on island and the front 7 couldn’t get pressure.

 

[Irish du Nord]

Gray is a very good corner and sometimes flirts with elite status. I’d rank him 4th amongst 21st century Notre Dame corners; behind Moore, Morrison, and Hart.

He was basically perfect in 14 of their 16 games last year. But people won’t drop his two worst performances. The USC game, one of his “poor” performances, he still had a pick 6. It’s not his fault he was put on island and the front 7 couldn’t get pressure.

What about Julian Love? KeiVarae Russel?

 

[Irish8248]

What about Julian Love? KeiVarae Russel?

Shane Walton and Vontez Duff deserve to be in this convo

 

[arrowryan]

What about Julian Love? KeiVarae Russel?

Julian Love is close, but I give the edge to Gray because I think he’s been asked to do a lot more in his defense and his athleticism is off the charts. I don’t think KeiVarae Russell would play much in this secondary, unless he is the nickel.

 

[Dale]

I would take career Love over 2024 Gray easily, I don’t think it’s even close. We’ll see how much Gray progresses and if that changes

Reality is Gray struggled versus the two good passing attacks he faced. Didn’t play against Louisville. Was good against all the very poor passing attacks we faced. Tough to evaluate that. Gray has both thrived and struggled within the context of the scheme and opponent

 

[arrowryan]

I would take career Love over 2024 Gray easily, I don’t think it’s even close. We’ll see how much Gray progresses and if that changes

Reality is Gray struggled versus the two good passing attacks he faced. Didn’t play against Louisville. Was good against all the very poor passing attacks we faced. Tough to evaluate that.

So his “struggles” were against potentially the greatest college WR of all time and a game where he had a pick 6 and a 4th down stop on a WR screen. He was essentially shut down in the other 14 games. That’s an incredible season.

 

[Dale]

So his “struggles” were against potentially the greatest college WR of all time and a game where he had a pick 6 and a 4th down stop on a WR screen. He was essentially shut down in the other 14 games. That’s an incredible season.

Yes that is what I said. The other 13 teams also had predominantly awful passing attacks. Both are true and why I said tough to evaluate. Love was freaking awesome too lol.

You’re ranking him behind Hart who was a 5th round pick. Love was a 4th round pick for a playoff team that also had an incredible season. I mean he was a first team all American.

 

[Valpodoc85]

Really hard to have a good game when the qb isn't pressured. This is my worry with Miami their OL is legit

 

[arrowryan]

Yes that is what I said. The other 13 teams also had predominantly awful passing attacks. Both are true and why I said tough to evaluate. Love was freaking awesome too lol.

You’re ranking him behind Hart who was a 5th round pick. Love was a 4th round pick for a playoff team that also had an incredible season. I mean he was a first team all American.

Love was definitely awesome and is why I said it was difficult to rank Gray and Love.

Hopefully Notre Dame has two corners that can shut down their sides of the field and make it damn near impossible to throw against.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Yall really think Gray is ass because he had a bad game against USCs receivers, who may be 2nd best behind OSU. It’s hilarious honestly

Name one other game he had a bad game, excluding singling out the play he had Jeremiah Smith with no safety help

Bunch of Christrian Gray bedwetters am i right?

 

[NDFAN2008]

What’s crazy is as good as our DB depth is this year 2026-27 could be even deeper and better. You lose Stroman who is second string and Smith. I don’t see Gray leaving early maybe Schular spending how his year goes

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

The kid is really really good. We've just been insanely spoiled at corner recently.
Gray would've been the best CB on a lot of Irish teams the last 30 years.

 

[TheProspector]

Julian Love is close, but I give the edge to Gray because I think he’s been asked to do a lot more in his defense and his athleticism is off the charts. I don’t think KeiVarae Russell would play much in this secondary, unless he is the nickel.

Kei was a 3rd round draft pick who’s d coordinators were Diaco and BVG. I like Gray but I think you’re not giving Kei enough credit here. Frosh Kei who didn’t really play DB in HS locking down Marqise Lee in the 2012 finale was unreal.

 

[KMac151993]

Eh...we have had good/great corners just not pairs (or depth) of them over the past 30 years until recently.

 

[irishu]

Bunch of Christrian Gray bedwetters am i right?

Loads

 

[LifelongFan]

1. Morrison
2. Moore
3. Love
4. Walton
5. Russell
6. Gray
7. Blanton
8. Duff
9. Cam Hart

Idk, tough to rank. Morrison and Moore are tier 1 and then really the next 7 are tier 2.

 

[pumpdog20]

Unless Love, Russell, or Walton were playing field corner in predominantly man coverage, which they weren't, they don't sit above Gray. IMO

 

[Dale]

Unless Love, Russell, or Walton were playing field corner in predominantly man coverage, which they weren't, they don't sit above Gray. IMO

I feel like I’m going crazy lol. Julian Love was a consensus 1st Team All American for an undefeated football team and is a NFL Pro Bowler. We had one of the best defenses in the country and didn’t give up 28 points once until Love was hurt against the eventual national champions. He had 16 PBUs which was Top 10 in the country his last year, 20 the year prior which was second. That is the all time leader in ND football history.

It’s not knocking Gray at all to not have him clearing that bar already.

 

[allenm5333]

I feel like I’m going crazy lol. Julian Love was a consensus 1st Team All American for an undefeated football team and is a NFL Pro Bowler. We had one of the best defenses in the country and didn’t give up 28 points once until Love was hurt against the eventual national champions. He had 16 PBUs which was Top 10 in the country his last year, 20 the year prior which was second. That is the all time leader in ND football history.

It’s not knocking Gray at all to not have him clearing that bar already.

Is it fair to say that Love was the better college player but Gray could be the better NFL prospect? I feel like we all knew Love was a DUDE in college, but a move to safety was in the cards. I could see Gray staying at CB in the NFL