MGoBlog ND Preview

[BGIF]

I think the writer has a point that there is nothing a high D1 program will fear in our receiving core without Floyd. No one has proved much of anything. Still it is being pretty stingy to project us in the bottom 20-40% of D1 schools, considering Jones, Riddick, and Eifert were all essentially newbies last year; improvement should be expected as Kelly is good with receivers; and their are some other coveted guys on the roster with talent.

Where did he say ND was in the bottom 20-40%?

As noted previously he used a simple ranking system for ONE TEAM on a 1 to 5 Scale. He didn't rank 120 teams. This is NOT on a percentile basis.

 

[BGIF]

I don't see anything wrong with these evaluations. They're actually pretty fair.

Although I think they're seriously underrating Tyler Eifert, especially when you consider how Kyle Rudolph dominated last year. They'll have new linebackers and their safeties are garbage, so I'm thinking Eifert will have a huge night.

Probably so. I though Eifert was through when he had a back injury in HS and again when he had a problem as a freshman. He jumped in last year and did well. I don't recall how many minutes he logged versus Rudolph but Eifert's production was comparable. Eifert's average catch amazingly outgained Rudolph's 13.0 to 11.7. Rudy only average 8.6 ypc without the 95 yd TD play. I don't know how much of that was Rudy's hammy and how much was the QB problem but Tyler moved the chains further.

I also think he's a better blocker than Rudolph was at the same stage.

Steele notes about Eifert, "... he should be ND's next great TE."

 

[BGIF]

2010 Receiving Stats

2010 Receiving Stats

RECEIVING  GP  No.  Yards  Avg   TD  Long  Avg/G  
Floyd, Michael  12  79  1025  13.0  12  80  85.4  
Riddick, Theo  9  40  414  10.4  3  37  46.0  
RUDOLPH, Kyle  6  28  328  11.7  3  95  54.7  
EIFERT, Tyler  11  27  352  13.0  2  39  32.0 
Jones, TJ   12  23  306  13.3  3  53  25.5  
Wood, Cierre  13  20  170  8.5  2  23  13.1  
Allen, Armando  8  17  138  8.1  0  24  17.2  
Goodman, John  13  15  146  9.7  0  30  11.2  
Toma, Robby  8  14  187  13.4  0  26  23.4  
Kamara, Duval  9  11  112  10.2  3  26  12.4  
Hughes, Robert  13  7  67  9.6  0  37  5.2  
Ragone, Mike  12  3  32  10.7  0  12  2.7  
Gray, Jonas  7  1  13  13.0  0  13  1.9  
Total..........  13  285  3290  11.5  28  95  253.1  
Opponents......  13  274  2796  10.2  11  58  215.1

 

[NDinL.A.]

I also better blocker than Rudolph was at the same stage.

Normally, I'd say that's not saying much since Rudolph wasn't that great of a blaocker, but for YOU, an IE legend, to be a better blocker than a 2nd rd draft pick, and the top college TE taken in the draft??? All I can say is, WOW!!! BGIF, you're a stud!!!

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I cannot speak for anyone else. I liked their ratings. I always prefer being underrated. It makes the look of surprise so much more precious.

I did not like the response of the fans, however. They clearly were not buying the party line. They were uneasy about this years game with the IRISH. A few mentioned their out and out contempt; however I was intrigued with how many "well loosing to ND won't be the end of the season" comments there were. I listen for things like that.

 

[Blaise]

I thought it was fair....

I know we love Woods, but most the country wants to see it first.....

It was a Michigan guy giving his opinion... I don't expect in depth knowledge

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

Notre Dame's secondary is led by three-time Zibikowski Memorial White Notre Dame Safety Award winner Harrison Smith, who was the Irish's second-leading tackler last season.

Thought this was pretty funny..

All in all I think it's a fair assessment from an outside, rivaling observer.

Our WR depth is mediocre at best without Floyd. TJ Jones, Riddick... then??? Then its a bunch of questions. How productive can Goody really be? Will Daniel Smith emerge as a threat? What in the hell is Deion Walker doing with that 6'3" 200 lb 4.5 skill set?

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Toma - Not many teams he couldn't play a role for; and don't forget about Deon Walker. And how many teams can get as big as we can? Forget about the freshmen; (he did.) Also, the end of everyones point is not to address the number of big tight ends we have that can move. (Last year we had a one-legged tight end who outran their entire secondary.)

Here is one of my spot on, out-my-***-predictions: Luke Massa will surprise everybody this year. Write it down; take it to the bank and deposit it. Period.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

Toma - Not many teams he couldn't play a role for; and don't forget about Deon Walker. And how many teams can get as big as we can? Forget about the freshmen; (he did.) Also, the end of everyones point is not to address the number of big tight ends we have that can move. (Last year we had a one-legged tight end who outran their entire secondary.)

Here is one of my spot on, out-my-***-predictions: Luke Massa will surprise everybody this year. Write it down; take it to the bank and deposit it. Period.

I'd love it, but no way. He's destined to be buried in depth. DD will leap him this year and then Ferguson and Deontay roll in..

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I'll betcha. With Kelly/Molnar offense we need at least five more wr than we have . . . Anybody that hustles won't ever get burried.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

I'll betcha. With Kelly/Molnar offense we need at least five more wr than we have . . . Anybody that hustles won't ever get burried.

Hey, I hope your right.. He's got great size. I always root for the hustlers. Also look out for Danny Smith.. He's gotten some good reviews from the coaches.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I give the Michigan analyst a decent grade. I've read several evaluations of our team and he showed as much accurate information as any --- NONE were REALLY accurate as an IE "expert" would be.

As to our receivers: a). Floyd ... nothing more need be said about that position. But even there, there is a lot of reason to suspect that Daniels might understudy and emerge bigtime; his rating as a youngster was WAY up there, and his athleticism is beyond the *system.
b). Riddick is real good, and barring injury, no fair assessor could view it otherwise. In my minority opinion, Robbie Toma is an excellent tough gamer. As a back-up, he gives us the solidest position of the three WRs.
c). Tai-ler Jones. Here's the debate. Here's a young man who sufficiently impressed Kelly that he grabbed a starting position early. Kelly HAS to have seen more there than showed last year statistically. I believe that QB semi-incompetence hurt Jones' stats, as well as others. But an outsider would see none of that.
d). if one includes TE in the receiving corps, and with a Kelly offense why wouldn't you?, you would have to not be paying much attention, either to play or Coaching commentary, to see Eifert as anywhere near average. And back-ups? Who's got better?

Notre Dame has one great receiving position [Floyd], one near-great receiving position [TE], one extremely solid receiving position [Slot] , and one position in a wait-&-see state, but certainly not "weak". I would imagine that almost any coach in D1 football would like to work with that. But these are things that only professionals on staffs and IE experts know --- so pity the impoverished amateurs on the outside, but be kind to them.

 

[ryno 24]

I thought it was a fair evaluation there are things they didnt know but they are not nd reporters. I think they gave us a fair shake and are a little worried

 

[Old Man Mike]

On the topic of are they a little worried: reading the commentary, especially after the "first-in" typical brainless bravado, comments gave an undeniable impression of being worried. The comment that captured it best for me was something like "wow, it looks like they're where we want to be in two years". I have seen this game that way for a long time. Admittedly with a super-dangerous QB on his home turf anything can happen, but ND really SHOULD be a better team this year, maybe even a significantly better one. Fingers crossed but not, I think, eyeballs crossed.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Steele notes about Eifert, "... he should be ND's next great TE."

ND has between three and four great tight ends on this team.

Eifert is the man.

Welch is ahead of Rudolph and has always been, even in high school.

Koyack comes in faster than most wide receivers.

We still have Ragonne who seems to have his speed back, (everybody remembers him running down WSU's fastest guy. It wasn't even close.)

And then there is Golic who I have noticed runs really nice routes and can block really well. HMM. Maybe our tight ends should have been a 7 on a scale of five. At any rate there is all of them and Goody, Smith, etc, etc. If we run USF into the ground, and then pass over the heads of Michigan's small, slow defensive backs, don't be surprised. I think we could hang 40 in the outhouse. (I love that one BGIF!)

 

[IrishandColts]

‪Michigan vs. Notre Dame 2011 "Under the Lights" Trailer 9.10.11‬‏ - YouTube

 

[IrishMoore1]

funny how pretty much all the Michigan highlights were of Denard Robinson while the ND highlights featured several different players and contributors. Good video tho. Got me hyped!

 

[JughedJones]

The Mgoblog was one of the worst examples of writing I've seen in a while.

Terrible grammar, cliches all over the place...and just flat wrong a lot of the time. Probably a UofM grad.

 

[tommyIRISH23]

I think it was a fair write up. Our receiving corp has potential, but for that potential to be realized, Mike has to play and do what he does.

TJ did hit a wall last season as he fought a ankle injury I believe.

Theo Riddick, if he doesn't leave his ankle behind him when he cuts, should be up for a break out year.

But, as NDLA noted, how many times have we said SHOULD breakout, and been let down?

I think this team has the potential to do something great, especially if some of the breaks go their way. The schedule sets up nicely, if they can start out 3-0, then they'll be in a great position for the rest of the season.

Boston College sets up to be a thorn in our side, as does Maryland.They're two tough teams that can be overlooked with the write amount of hype following the Irish.

Personally, I think Stanford will have a big drop off. They're going to have to rebuild their line, and I can't see Stanford reloading as, say, Alabama does. But, we'll see.

I can't wait to see this team grow, and BK come into his own here at ND. Should be special to watch

 

[GreatGolson]

ill keep posting this from time to time until gameday
<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/01Kz6Rw99Kk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[NDinL.A.]

Man, you are drinking some serious kool-aid. And that's fine, but how can you expect any non-ND fan (or even many ND fans) with half-a-brain to buy what you're selling? Allow me (again) to play devil's advocate:

Toma - Not many teams he couldn't play a role for;

Really? He has 17 catches in 2 yrs. I can name lots of teams he couldn't 'play a role for'. Trust me, I love me some Toma, and I think he can ball, but we're talking about what others see in our receivers. And there's not much to see so far in Toma.

and don't forget about Deon Walker.

Wait, who? Ohhhhhh, the guy with one catch in 3 yrs at ND? Is this a joke? Other teams are supposed to know about him?

Here is one of my spot on, out-my-***-predictions: Luke Massa will surprise everybody this year. Write it down; take it to the bank and deposit it. Period.

That's very bold, but how can he beat Deion Walker? j/k (kinda) Seriously, he's not playing by the Michigan game,that's for sure. Hope he does break out, but he's a redshirt freshman playing a position he's never played, behind several players on the depth chart. He'll need time, that's just the way it is. But it'd be awesome if you're right!

ND has between three and four great tight ends on this team.

Really? 3 or 4??? We don't even have one great one yet, much less 4. Eifert has the potential to be great, so I'll give you that one for the sake of argument. But that leaves you 3 short.

Koyack comes in faster than most wide receivers.

No he doesn't. Well, maybe MAC receivers, but not Michigan receivers and not ND receivers. But yes, he's very fast for a TE, and I'm excited about him. Still not great.

Welch is ahead of Rudolph and has always been, even in high school.

BULLSH!T!!! Based on what? A redshirt season you never saw? His high school ranking, which btw, was WAAAAAAYYYYY lower than Kyle's 5 star rating. Really weak dude. Rudolph was a beast, and ND fans should not be so quick to dismiss him, injuries or not. He had some phenomenal performances in his career. Welch has had zero so far. And no, he's not great.

We still have Ragonne who seems to have his speed back,

Great, that speed has gotten him exactly 10 catches and the same anount of TDs in his 4 yrs at ND as everyone on this board put together. Glad he's back, but he's a blocking TE along with an occasional catch or two in him. Def not great. That leaves you with 1 (maybe) great TE. And I won't even go into Golic Jr.

If you were being sarcastic, then I apologize in advance. If not, please don't repeat that post in public or on a rival's message board. It reeks of homerism bordering on craziness LOL. That would be cool if we were talking about a prediction thread or something, but on this, we're talking about outside perception. No way would ANY writer of another team, or even an ND writer, say what you said up above. But at least we know you love your Irish!

 

[Riddickulous]

BOOM

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

Some of the funnies from mgoblog's live blog.

DEVIN INTERCEPTION NEAR MIDFIELD
by itsseaboltsonan hour ago

And, game over.
by wafflesan hour ago

And banned <---- haha butthurt
by Brown Bear an hour ago

seriously where is all the razzle dazzle we saw last week against Iowa
by goblue81an hour ago

HOKE HAS THE HEADSET ON, **** GOT REAL
by itsseaboltsonan hour ago

Yeah well guess what Spielmen they aren't ****ing elidgeable because they cheated you ****ing asshat. **** sports **** this **** everything.
by funchmasterflexan hour ago

Unacceptable. We should be 11-1 right now. Fire Borges.
by soulfirean hour ago

if this day ends with ND winning to get to the NC game I may quit on football
by savoodoo42 minutes ago

 

[Rocky2820]

Some of the funnies from mgoblog's live blog.

Oh, this is so good! Reps for putting this together.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Some of the funnies from mgoblog's live blog.

WHERE'S ALL THE RAZZLE DAZZLE!?!?!?

 

[NDPhilly]

Apparently hoke fan off the field without shaking Meyers hand.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

Apparently hoke fan off the field without shaking Meyers hand.

I don't think he meant to do that but I'm not sure.. It looked like UM was looking for him and got pulled into an interview.. I think it was more of a crowd issue than Hoke taking his ball and going home.

 

[ulukinatme]

Apparently hoke fan off the field without shaking Meyers hand.

Yeah, his team has trouble getting across midfield in the 2nd half today too