AllTimeIrish
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I know we have individual recruiting threads for players, and yearly recruiting threads for overall classes, but this subject felt distinct from both of those. So I am posting it as a new thread.
The one area of the team that I am concerned about this weekend against OSU is the defensive line, and specifically the DTs. And to a lesser degree, the DEs. I will explain below.
2024
Using Rivals rankings (because I think they are most consistent year to year), the 2024 class does have a 4-star DE, a 4-star LB slated for DE, a 3-star LB slated for rush DE, and a 3-star DT whom is encouraging to me only because of his size listed on Rivals as 6'2" and 300lbs. It's nice to recruit real size at DT for once, for example. Overall not bad, but good enough to make up for lack of bodies, and high-end talent, from the previous classes? (see below)
These players look good enough, to my untrained eye, to get into the rotation, but I am not sure any are game changers. Please correct me if I am wrong. Sevillano may end up being a solid 1-tech for us and Loghan Thomas an above average end, but the LB/DE guys are going to be projects for a couple of years to develop into full time ends. Who knows, sometimes those guys end up being studs for ND, but statistically speaking, the success rate is not super high that it will happen. Though we could definitely get some good rotation out of this class and contributions overall.
2023
The last few recruiting classes, have been somewhat thin overall on DL talent. 2023 brought us 4-star DT Devan Houston, who is not listed on the depth chart for the coming game. Which isn't hugely alarming since he is a freshman, but the issue is more with who is ahead of him based on previous year's recruiting (which I will get to in a moment).
We did get a couple of solidly-rated DEs in Boubacar and Brenan Vernon, again neither listed on the current depth chart given they are freshman. Vernon, in particular, was highly rated so I have hope he contributes a lot in coming seasons.
Overall this class could turn out solid, if lacking in total number of bodies given previous season's success (or lack thereof). Time will definitely tell on these guys, so we reserve judgement for now. Let them get in weight room and classroom and let them develop into solid young men.
2022
In this year, we have Hinnish at DT who is 3rd on the DT depth chart at both positions this week. He is undersized, but looks to be productive due to sheer tenacity and work ethic. I don't hate this given his brother's success here, but this isn't exactly the guy that you compete at the highest level with as a starter. Good rotation option in certain sets I am sure.
Tyson Ford is listed at 6'4"ish and 274 on the ND Athletics web site, but also not on the depth chart for this week. I am not sure what he is going to give, but I sense some disappointment in his progression given his recruitment ranking.
Aiden Gobaira (love the name!) has added weight and listed at 6'5" and 256, but again not on the depth chart this week. Not sure where he fits into the scheme of things, but we haven't been hearing a lot of noise around his name in the off-season or so far this year.
Former LB Josh Burnham has been listed as 3rd string Vyper, which gives some hope that this class will contribute something positive to the DL. But I guess color me somewhat underwhelmed with this class of DL players so far. I suppose another year on campus will tell us more about each of these players. And to be fair we need to give them one more year of development before passing any sort of final judgement.
Let's keep going.
2021
This year brought us a crop of players that seems scattered, at best, to me. Let's summarize.
Gabriel Rubio is not listed on the depth chart this week at DT. Hinish, I suppose, has surpassed him in that regard. The previous year on the field, he had a few tackles but not a lot of production overall. That is disappointing, given his 4-star rating coming out of high school.
Schweitzer, listed as a DE recruit on Rivals, is listed as a LB on the ND Athletics website and he is not on the depth chart for this week.
Jason Onye, a 3-star DE recruit out of Rhode Island, is listed as backup DT behind Rylie Mills. That's a good thing, I suppose. He is up to 294 lbs and was one of the guys ND was high on coming out of camp as a DT with size which we certainly need. He had 13 snaps against Central Michigan, mostly playing the run. That seems about average for the other games this season based upon the sporadic data I can find for him. Perhaps a player to make a sizable contribution next year after some older guys leave? We can hope.
Devan Aupiu transferred to UCLA. Enough said on him.
2020
Aidan Keanaaina was a 300LB, 4-star DT from Denver who is listed as a backup to Howard Cross this week. He has 3 tackles on the year in limited snap counts, progressing early season from about 4 a game to 11 for Central Michigan. Honestly at this point, I don't see a ton of progression here for this player. Which is disappointing given both his size and age.
I feel like we all know Rylie Mills has developed from a DE prospect into a starting DT, which is nice. He has added weight and tantalizes us with occasional flash plays. Long considered the potential homerun player of the DL group in this class, I would say he is somewhat disappointed. He was a decent 4-star prospect out of high school with position flex that hasn't excelled anywhere really. He does have 11 tackles and a sack this year which is some production, but maybe we anointed him the next great ND defensive lineman too quickly.
A. Ehrensberger retired home to Germany, earning an astounding 2 degrees in his short time at ND and is now attending medical school. I won't say anything negative here as this young man found his path, which happened not to be football. It was a bit of a longshot anyway, given where he came from, and I congratulate him wholeheartedly on his academic accomplishments. Way to go, young man!
Jordan Botelho, recruited as a LB, is starting at DE now and was the great hope for a pass rush from the edge for the Irish this season. Well his is not exactly killing it with 9 tackles and a sack, but the potential is still there. That is the problem with this player, though, is that while being athletically gifted, has not quite translated that into consistent production on the field. I still have some hope for him, but honestly we probably know what he is at this point. To be fair, he is playing much more now and he could be a late bloomer sort that surprises us the second half of the season. I am just not counting on it.
I didn't mention JJB who transferred via the portal, but looks honestly like the most solid player of the current starting group. He is a 1 year rental, I believe, so in the grand scheme of figuring out the future potential of the Irish DL, doesn't seem to have much of a role in it after this season.
Whew.. so with all that, my concern is a gap in talent until our young guys have more seasoning. I suspect that MFMF is going to build more consistency in this group, being a defensive-minded guy. But I am a little concerned 2024 didn't see us finding more DT depth in particular, given the state of the roster.
Did I miss anyone? I love the team overall, but the lines are where wins are built. The OL always seems to have the next group of talent lined up, but DL has been more of a project for the Irish in recent years. DT, in particular, always a bit shy of where we want them to be.
Talk me off the ledge and tell me where I am wrong!
The one area of the team that I am concerned about this weekend against OSU is the defensive line, and specifically the DTs. And to a lesser degree, the DEs. I will explain below.
2024
Using Rivals rankings (because I think they are most consistent year to year), the 2024 class does have a 4-star DE, a 4-star LB slated for DE, a 3-star LB slated for rush DE, and a 3-star DT whom is encouraging to me only because of his size listed on Rivals as 6'2" and 300lbs. It's nice to recruit real size at DT for once, for example. Overall not bad, but good enough to make up for lack of bodies, and high-end talent, from the previous classes? (see below)
These players look good enough, to my untrained eye, to get into the rotation, but I am not sure any are game changers. Please correct me if I am wrong. Sevillano may end up being a solid 1-tech for us and Loghan Thomas an above average end, but the LB/DE guys are going to be projects for a couple of years to develop into full time ends. Who knows, sometimes those guys end up being studs for ND, but statistically speaking, the success rate is not super high that it will happen. Though we could definitely get some good rotation out of this class and contributions overall.
2023
The last few recruiting classes, have been somewhat thin overall on DL talent. 2023 brought us 4-star DT Devan Houston, who is not listed on the depth chart for the coming game. Which isn't hugely alarming since he is a freshman, but the issue is more with who is ahead of him based on previous year's recruiting (which I will get to in a moment).
We did get a couple of solidly-rated DEs in Boubacar and Brenan Vernon, again neither listed on the current depth chart given they are freshman. Vernon, in particular, was highly rated so I have hope he contributes a lot in coming seasons.
Overall this class could turn out solid, if lacking in total number of bodies given previous season's success (or lack thereof). Time will definitely tell on these guys, so we reserve judgement for now. Let them get in weight room and classroom and let them develop into solid young men.
2022
In this year, we have Hinnish at DT who is 3rd on the DT depth chart at both positions this week. He is undersized, but looks to be productive due to sheer tenacity and work ethic. I don't hate this given his brother's success here, but this isn't exactly the guy that you compete at the highest level with as a starter. Good rotation option in certain sets I am sure.
Tyson Ford is listed at 6'4"ish and 274 on the ND Athletics web site, but also not on the depth chart for this week. I am not sure what he is going to give, but I sense some disappointment in his progression given his recruitment ranking.
Aiden Gobaira (love the name!) has added weight and listed at 6'5" and 256, but again not on the depth chart this week. Not sure where he fits into the scheme of things, but we haven't been hearing a lot of noise around his name in the off-season or so far this year.
Former LB Josh Burnham has been listed as 3rd string Vyper, which gives some hope that this class will contribute something positive to the DL. But I guess color me somewhat underwhelmed with this class of DL players so far. I suppose another year on campus will tell us more about each of these players. And to be fair we need to give them one more year of development before passing any sort of final judgement.
Let's keep going.
2021
This year brought us a crop of players that seems scattered, at best, to me. Let's summarize.
Gabriel Rubio is not listed on the depth chart this week at DT. Hinish, I suppose, has surpassed him in that regard. The previous year on the field, he had a few tackles but not a lot of production overall. That is disappointing, given his 4-star rating coming out of high school.
Schweitzer, listed as a DE recruit on Rivals, is listed as a LB on the ND Athletics website and he is not on the depth chart for this week.
Jason Onye, a 3-star DE recruit out of Rhode Island, is listed as backup DT behind Rylie Mills. That's a good thing, I suppose. He is up to 294 lbs and was one of the guys ND was high on coming out of camp as a DT with size which we certainly need. He had 13 snaps against Central Michigan, mostly playing the run. That seems about average for the other games this season based upon the sporadic data I can find for him. Perhaps a player to make a sizable contribution next year after some older guys leave? We can hope.
Devan Aupiu transferred to UCLA. Enough said on him.
2020
Aidan Keanaaina was a 300LB, 4-star DT from Denver who is listed as a backup to Howard Cross this week. He has 3 tackles on the year in limited snap counts, progressing early season from about 4 a game to 11 for Central Michigan. Honestly at this point, I don't see a ton of progression here for this player. Which is disappointing given both his size and age.
I feel like we all know Rylie Mills has developed from a DE prospect into a starting DT, which is nice. He has added weight and tantalizes us with occasional flash plays. Long considered the potential homerun player of the DL group in this class, I would say he is somewhat disappointed. He was a decent 4-star prospect out of high school with position flex that hasn't excelled anywhere really. He does have 11 tackles and a sack this year which is some production, but maybe we anointed him the next great ND defensive lineman too quickly.
A. Ehrensberger retired home to Germany, earning an astounding 2 degrees in his short time at ND and is now attending medical school. I won't say anything negative here as this young man found his path, which happened not to be football. It was a bit of a longshot anyway, given where he came from, and I congratulate him wholeheartedly on his academic accomplishments. Way to go, young man!
Jordan Botelho, recruited as a LB, is starting at DE now and was the great hope for a pass rush from the edge for the Irish this season. Well his is not exactly killing it with 9 tackles and a sack, but the potential is still there. That is the problem with this player, though, is that while being athletically gifted, has not quite translated that into consistent production on the field. I still have some hope for him, but honestly we probably know what he is at this point. To be fair, he is playing much more now and he could be a late bloomer sort that surprises us the second half of the season. I am just not counting on it.
I didn't mention JJB who transferred via the portal, but looks honestly like the most solid player of the current starting group. He is a 1 year rental, I believe, so in the grand scheme of figuring out the future potential of the Irish DL, doesn't seem to have much of a role in it after this season.
Whew.. so with all that, my concern is a gap in talent until our young guys have more seasoning. I suspect that MFMF is going to build more consistency in this group, being a defensive-minded guy. But I am a little concerned 2024 didn't see us finding more DT depth in particular, given the state of the roster.
Did I miss anyone? I love the team overall, but the lines are where wins are built. The OL always seems to have the next group of talent lined up, but DL has been more of a project for the Irish in recent years. DT, in particular, always a bit shy of where we want them to be.
Talk me off the ledge and tell me where I am wrong!
