How do you break it down?

[tedthehead]

It is June 1st and the Irish have 13 commits to date. depending on who you talk to, there is room for 6 to 10 more.(although I believe that it will max out at 9, unless someone comes along that we cannot say no to.)

I look at what we have already on the roster, and who we have commited to us so far, and see the framework for the rest of the class as:

1 OL, has got to be a tackle ( would love to have Forst, but I like the thought of Pocic too)

1 LB, I would guess it would be OLB (Brown, Filer, Sabino.. anyone of you... please??)

2 DB,anyone that can bring the wood ( Blanton, Slaughter, McCarthy, any chance Mr. Hill?)

1-2 DL, still need depth( Goebel, Fortson of course, Who else is likely here?)

2 WR, need one burner still ( Floyd, Baldwin, J. Brown)

1 RB, Not a dire need if we can lock-up some big names instead (Carlton Thomas, line one).

obviously it is still very early in the process, and there are some great players out there, that we do not know about yet that will blossom in thier senior season, but it is fun to try and predict.
btw, my first thread, hope that is was readable.

 

[Irishknight1023]

It looks like their may be a QB transfer, maybe this year and maybe even next year so with transfers (like every year) will happen and open up schollies. Also, it depends on which 5th years return which I have seen anybody who shows they want to be there and be serious Weis will award them that 5th year. I would probably say we'd take around 21,22 this year.

RB) I don't think we should take a RB at all this year, but it appears we are and if it is I only want Carlton Thomas or bust but thats just me.

WR) Floyd is a Must for this recruiting season at WR. Brice Butler would be great to get, but I have a USC feeling on him. Jeremy Brown says he's being recruited as a CB by colleges, but doesn't rule out WR so he looks like he'd be a DB here (We are in his top 2 with UF.) There are a lot of Baldwin rumors that we are now in his top two with Pitt, but I don't really beleive that and he's going to take his time so I don't really seem him here. Odoms is a good shifty small receiver, but he wants to wait till NSD and by that time I seriously doubt a schollie will be held for him then. I would like to see two more WR's taken this year.

OL) Well Art Forst seems to be our best shot right now and that's hard to beleive for me. I see him in love with Schiano and Rutgers and going there, but there is always a chance. He's very raw and doesn't play against the greatest of teams, but definently no pushovers. He would pretty much lock down our O-line recruiting this year as far as I'm concerned. Next, would be Ken Page who I would think would be a perfect guard here at ND. He has a deep and sick list of offers, but he is in SEC land and we all know how that works. Don't know his timeframe for a decision, but I see us in his top 5. Matt Patchan would be the homerun OL commit. His upside is the best out of anybody and would be a huge pickup for this year. I think he'll have us in his top 5 as well and maybe make an official visit, but when it's all said and done I see him at Miami in his fathers footsteps. I think we take only 1 more, but I don't know If I see any of these guys coming here to be honest.

DL) Goebel, Goebel, Goebel would be our biggest priority on the D-line. He would play DE in in our 3-4 defense and be a nasty tagteam with Cwynar at the ends. Newman will be manning the middle with MAYBE Hafis, or Hafis will be on the outside. I think we are in Goebels top 3 and he is looking to commit this summer. I'd say our biggest competition for him would be OSU. Omar Hunter is a bad man on film, but I expect him to commit to UM by the end of the week after back to back trips from ND to UM. Theres always a shot when somebody visits, but unlikely this time. Marcus Forston our dream D-line recruit. I could see us holding a schollie for him on NSD and having a very legit shot at him. I see us in his final 3, but the Miami factor is just too much for us to overcome in this one I think. Ethan Johnson is a mystery so far because he hasn't visited yet but as of now it appears USC, and ND are out ahead of everybody else. The good thing is he has visited USC and has them up there, but hasn't visited to ND and we are a favorite. He'll be visiting this summer and we'll definently get a better feeling where he stands after that visit. Kapron I see not leaving the state of Texas and most likely going to A&M. Same with Chauncey with Texas.

LB) With 3 great LB's in the fold with McDonald being 1 of the best 3 MLB's in the country IMO(seriously no bias, watch his film and compare it to those of Sweats and others and I feel he's on another level against tough competition.) I feel ND needs another OLB alot more then a MLB. Sabino is huge for us on the outside, but like his position we have an outside shot. I don't see him leaving the area, but see him visiting and being in his final 5 so anything can happen and hopefully CB sways him to SB. Arthur Brown promised CB a visit this summer and we'll have a better feel for him after that visit. He's the best LB in the country hands down and can play whereever he desires, but probably MLB. We have a shot here, but me being a realist and holding back by bias in this writeup I'd say we'd be in his top 5 but he goes elsewhere. Last, but not least Steve Filer. Our best shot at LB i'd say and has a couple of friends who are going here. He's probably going to let the process drag out for a while and since the beginning I have had a very iffy feeling on him going to ND. I say his choice comes down to us and somebody else so I hope he'll choose us at the end (If the spot doesn't fill up first!)

DB) Well from everything I have seen, heard, confirmed I feel very good about a possible Blanton commit later this month. He is a great DB and would give us breathing room heading into the season with a DB commit. Next, Slaughter another who is favoring the Irish at this point and from the sound of it sounds like he might move up his decision to later this summer which indicates another ND commit. Dan McCarthy is more a mystery then what I would like to beleive. From what I've seen he doesn't want to compete for PT with his brother and may want to make his own life in football somewhere else. I see Stanford being a major player here as well as OSU. His family bleeds Blue and Gold and in the end I think it's a tossup between us and one of those other teams. Thankfully saftey is not a depth concern right now so we won't have to panic. Will Hill, nobody knows and nobody probably will for a little while, but I don't see him coming here at all.

------Like I said I expect us to take around 21-22, but it all depends on transfers and 5th years. This class so far has the makings of the best class yet, and we've had two top 10 classes in a row. It's a good time to be an ND fan.

 

[IrishCalves]

Very readable, no worries.

I think we'll have to see how the Frazer thing plays out, but if he or any other Irish players decide to pull the plug on their ND careers and transfer, then we might see more scholarships getting handed out in this class. Something to keep in mind, since there is usually 1 or 2 transfers per summer.

Your #'s are pretty solid - my only differences are matters of opinion:

1 OL - I'm actually okay if we bring in a G. Considering two of our four starting guard candidates "naturally" play different positions (Wenger = C, Turkovich began his career at T), I'd be more than pleased to see Kenneth Page hop on board at G. Now, if the staff thinks Clelland is a G, then thats another story...

2 WR - I'm a little worried about overloading this position #'s wise, but I'm not the recruiting coordinator here. Weis is going for 2 more - and he's going to get them.

1 LB - Ditto ted's sentiments. Not sure who it will be, but at this juncture, 1 makes the most sense. I think there will be 4 LBs and 4 DL no matter what, with debate as to which position would get a 5th recruit. Right now, I say DL wins, and gets two more, but it will largely depend on the caliber of recruits left available, as well as the odds of getting them. But right now I see us putting our eggs in the DL basket, which would if nothing else open up the possibility of some recent DL switches moving to O (Stewart, Nuss, Nwankwo all being possibilities)

Now, if we don't see any transfers/departures from ND this summer, I think we see 1 less commit from the following #'s. If I had to guess, I'd say we'd ditch the RB scholarship, but its still too close for me to comfortably say one over the others.

2 DL - Weis has said they're gunning for 5 total DL commits, and I don't believe that has changed. My best guess for our next commit - and thats at any position for that matter - is Goebel (I think he beats Blanton to the punch). Could be wrong, but if we get him, we can sit and camp out for the likes of Aghayere, Lewis-Moore, E. Johnson, or even Forston (I think Hunter = Michigan, hope I'm wrong).

3 DB - All signs point to Blanton as Irish. He went to the Michigan camp 3 years running - but opted to skip out on their camp this year in favor of an ND visit. With that in mind, I really cant see a scenario where we say "no" to one of Dan McCarthy or Jamoris Slaughter. And if J. Brown is our fall back option, who could also be a WR... I think we prepare ourselves for the possibility of losing 3 starters after this year, and take a 3rd DB recruit.

1 RB - We're deep there already - the recruitment here is a little bit like QB this year. We want to bring in a guy, but we aren't just going to get a guy in order to get "a guy". Carlton Thomas likes us though, so I'm starting to think he's becoming the pearl of our coaching staff's eye in this case.

Again, all of this is contingent on where we can maximize our value. If McCarthy picks Stanford, and Slaughter goes to Tennessee or something, the DB mix will look different. Same goes for if if Filer picks Wisconsin, Sabino picks FSU, and Brown goes to KSU. This is just a snapshot from today, through my camera lens.

 

[seniorle]

Why IK1023, that was IUBesque - I think that's the greatest compliment I can give

 

[Sureal]

It might sound silly but I remember the late 80's- early 90's where FSU didn't have a kicker and it cost them yearly. I am afraid that we won't have a reliable kicker in the next couple of years.

Do you recruit them early or do you wait until NSD and find whatever is out there?

Just a thought as to hearing reports about how suspect those guys looked during the spring game...

 

[Irishknight1023]

We have Brandon Walker coming in so we'll see how he does.

 

[wheeler418]

We should be fine at kicker right now, so I am not worried. One of the guys should step up and soon!!!

 

[IRISHDODGER]

We should be fine at kicker right now, so I am not worried. One of the guys should step up and soon!!!

Don't forget the NCAA just moved the point of kick-offs from the 35 yd line back to the 30-yd line. Don't plan on seeing many touchbacks....from any team's kicker. This will also turn every close game to a last possession nail biter b/c whoever gets the ball last will have excellent field position.

 

[GoshenGipper]

I believe that ND will only be taking 22, or 23 recruits this class, which leaves them with only 9 or 10 spots left. The following breakdown is a mix of what I think ND will do, and what I would like to see them do.

QB - 0
(Done)

RB - 0 or 1
(I can only see ND taking ND taking 1 RB at the most this year, and maybe none if they run out of room by taking an extra DL, LB, DB, or OL. As of right now ND only has offers out to three guys that they have a real chance at landing and my guess is they'll end up with either Thomas, C.Gray, or Williams, and at this point I would guess that ND is done offering RBs, unless J.Gray wows them at camp if he even attends, plus they would have to feel like they are going to miss out on the guys they currently have offered.)

WR - 2
(I think ND should and will take two more out of Floyd, Butler, Baldwin, Odoms, or possibly G.Robinson.)

TE - 0
(Done)

OL - 1 or 2
(It doesn't look like Pocic is going to get an offer so it as of right now the rest of ND's OL class will fill out with one or two more commitments from the group of Patchen, Page, or Forst.)

DL - 1 or 2
(I think ND will take at least one more DL, and possibly two. I think the bigger need is for a smaller DT/ larger DE that will line up at DE in ND's 3-4 look. These guys would include players like Gobel, E.Johnson, Lewis-Moore, Aghayere, or D.Jones. Then if they get one of those guys and they still have room, I would guess they would probably take Forston or Hunter if they want to come. I could see them taking two out of the first group as well if the players happened to be either Johnson, or Aghayere.)

LB - 1 or 2
(I looks like ND is going to land a great one if they get on or more LBs, because it looks as though they are done offering, but if they were to offer someone else I would guess that it might be Futch. Other than that they are down to Sabino (OLB), Filer (ILB), and A.Brown.)

DB - 3
(Even thought they haven't landed one yet in this class ND looks to be in very strong posistion with several top teir guys. I think ND will probably take three DBs this year two that can line up at CB, and one that will project as a Safety. J.Brown is the only true CB that ND has an offer out to, and has a decent chance at as well. The same is true for McCarthy except that he projects as a Safety rather than a CB. Slaughter and Blanton could fill the spots at CB or S, but they are both being recruited as CBs by ND. If ND were to send out another offer to a DB, I would guess that B.Leslie would be the next guy. Although it looks as thought he could only fill the Safety spot and not one of the CB posistions.)

K/P - 0
(None this year)

 

[Irishtat]

Big WR? Fast DB? Always need em

 

[ACamp1900]

How do you break it down?

I usually break it down near the end of the night when I have a few drinks in me and the ladies are least expecting it...