Dontie Allen & Ronald Johnson?

[IRISHMAN]

now that top CB prospect gary gray is headed to USC, ND will probbly be hard after allen and johnson. what are the chances that ND can go into michigan and sign both of these players?

 

[jiggafini19]

They've discussed playing together. It might be my disappointed hangover talking, but I'm going to say it is slim ND will get either one, let alone both of them.

I hope they continue to press these guys because they've already lost out on some high quality defensive talent.

 

[IRISHMAN]

well if ND can't land dontie allen or ronald johnson i don't see what talented CB will come to ND. ND will bring in a couple of CBs but right now i feel that they won't be top notch.

 

[BigIrish]

They've discussed playing together. It might be my disappointed hangover talking, but I'm going to say it is slim ND will get either one, let alone both of them.
I hope they continue to press these guys because they've already lost out on some high quality defensive talent.

jiggs, your depression is killing me. the 2006 high school football season hasn't even started yet. there's a TON of talent out there for the taking. we're not even through the spring evaluation period.

 

[IRISHMAN]

jigg how would you rate our chances with these's CBs?

dontie allen
ryan broyles
ronald johnson
donnie evege
cederic everson

 

[jiggafini19]

I'd say 50-50 with Johnson, Allen and Everson. I don't see them leaving the state unless Michigan completely collapses...and even then, they'll be looking at early PT. Broyles likes ND, but he might be waiting on OU to offer him. Evege is pretty stuck on Ohio State.

I am simply assuming at this point that everyone, including Clausen, is wide open. I still like Trattou and Ragone as strong leans, but Clausen, Tyler and Benn are down a notch in my book. Too many other sharks swimming in the water around them.

Morrice Richardson has a teammate named Addison Williams. 4.36 40 time, 5-9, 170 and a 3.7 GPA.

There are players like Miles Stroter, Myles Wade and Kyle Jackson who are high on ND but don't have offers yet. These guys aren't chopped liver. I like that they're going after lots of players in Florida and Texas, but a lot of them seem to be long shots. Hopefully spring ball and summer will yield some verbals like it did last year. Ole Miss and Texas are almost done recruiting already, at least half way. I hope ND is in that situation by September.

 

[loweND]

In an IE article about a month ago, I remember them saying that NDs two top targets at CB were Gray and Eric Berry. I'm not sure what's going on with Berry - on his scout profile he doesn't even have ND listed as a school he has interest in. But it is still early.

Remember: with got 2 very good CBs last year. If anything, it's one of the only spots that I think we can afford not to get a top-flight player at.

Also, before everybody here lets their spirits drop too much, the Blue and Gold game is coming up quickly and there's a good chance that good things could come out of that.

 

[IRISHMAN]

I still like Trattou and Ragone as strong leans, but Clausen, Tyler and Benn are down a notch in my book. Too many other sharks swimming in the water around them.

i think trattou and ragone will be ND bound eventually. if clausen commits to ND and he will i think benn and possibly greg little will follow him to ND. right now i've penciled marc tyler as USC bound.

i like eric berry but i don't see him leaving the south.

 

[OhioIrish3]

jimmy clausen!!!!!!!will commit around the same time of the blue and gold game....i dont know why everyone is startin to worry know...its jsut one guy and we have pretty all spring to find other guys

 

[jiggafini19]

I hope something is being orchestrated behind the scenes right now. There are a handful of guys who are excited about Notre Dame and most (Little, Stroter, Wade) don't have offers yet.

Berry has named UGA, tOSU, Tennessee, Miami and Texas to his top five. I love how Texas is the hot girl in school everyone loves right now. That class will be filled up before any of the attention spans of these 17 year olds can change their minds to another school anyway.

I've heard Clausen could verbal at the Blue and Gold Game, but at this point I believe nothing until I see it.

 

[IRISHMAN]

I've heard Clausen could verbal at the Blue and Gold Game, but at this point I believe nothing until I see it.

i wouldn't put it past CW to have clausen commit to ND while standing on the 50 yardline at the B&G game in front of a group of elite playmakers.

i feel JCs commitment to ND will bring along benn, little and maybe mark barnes. all three of these players talks frequently with JC and have said they would like to play with him.

 

[irishwavend]

1.) I still don't think Gray is entirely out of the picture...Mostly out of the picture, but not entirely.

2.) I thought most of our O-line last year were long shots.

3.) Why the long face, guys? So we lost one... No need to be pessimistic. There is a long recruiting season and we have Weis, Ianello, & Haywood...All great recruiting gurus. We will be fine.

 

[jiggafini19]

I've been getting mixed reviews about Barnes. Some say he's an academic risk, others say he's fine. He reportedly has an offer, so if that is the case I can't imagine he'd be that much of an admissions long shot.

Momentum is down right now. Andre Jones and Gary Gray taking a pass hurts me because they are both high quality players on the defensive side of the ball.

 

[IRISHMAN]

Momentum is down right now. Andre Jones and Gary Gray taking a pass hurts me because they are both high quality players on the defensive side of the ball.

i agree, with these two going else where it feels like the sky is falling. we need to get some kind of recruiting boost going. hopefully it'll pickup in the next couple months.

 

[IRISHMAN]

JIMMY CLAUSEN TO NOTRE DAME!

since john david booty hurt his back in practice he'll miss the rest of spring practice most likely. so if mark sanchez takes over at QB he'll be the starter for 4 years and it wont matter how good clausen is cause there will be no way JC could beat out sanchez. so right now im 100% that USC is out and ND is in.

 

[jiggafini19]

Yeah, saw this earlier this morning. Enter the Mark Sanchez era. I hope Booty was actually going to class and getting an education.

However, if Sanchez struggles Clausen can still go there and compete for the job.

I'm hoping for great prospects across the board, but Clausen plays offense and not defense.

 

[IRISHMAN]

“Florida State is in my top two with Michigan,” he said. “I want to attend their junior day and I want to go out of state.

this quote by dontie allen doesn't sound very promising. ND needs at least one highly touted CB in this class to go allong with walls and mcneil, im hoping it'll be johnson.

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

you're right irishman. not too promising. and waterboy touched on the walls/mcneil pick up from last year. some people go strictly by star ratings, but these kids play each, go to camps with each other, etc. they know how good they all are and who ranks where. just bc walls and mcneil werent 5 stars doesnt mean cb's this year aren't intimidated by the path to earning a starting job at ND.

hopefully a high calibur player is willing to step up and challenge walls/mcneil & co. for the next couple years. most of the players we picked up last year are willing to compete. smart, confident, talented players are rare but weis will find the guys with the full package. maybe gray wasnt quite there and weis didnt push as hard as the others.

cheer up everybody. everyone will be smiling when the commits start rolling in about midseason (a billion light years away seemingly) and we're #1 in the country. '06 ntl chmps baby

 

[jiggafini19]

I think the early playing time bit is getting to be an overdone cop out by these guys.

You should WANT to come in behind an All American and compete. You should WANT to be pushed by those around you in practice each and every day. Look at Miami back in the day....those guys knew if they got hurt, they lost their job because two guys were waiting in the wings behind them. Depth should not be an issue for these guys. In this information analysis age, if you're good enough they'll find you. And if you do as you're supposed to, you'll get on the field.

No one seems to want to earn anything anymore. They want to step right in and play right away. The recruit should not mention playing time as a selling point to the schools, the SCHOOLS sell playing time to the RECRUITS. If I'm a coach and a kid tells me he wants to play right away, I'd wish him luck and see my way out of the room.

And I am starting to buy the "I want an education" thing even less. If that were true, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Rutgers would haul in top ten classes every year and the Ivy League would be a BCS conference.