ND Offense

[jiggafini19]

Removed.

 

[jiggafini19]

Mattes is keeping that spot warm as far as I'm concerned.

Sam Young, your table is waiting.

 

[Handlebars]

Mattes had PT...

Mattes had PT...

against both Stanford and Ohio State. Seems like a vote of confidence to me. I, too, think mattes will be the "new" face. I am hopeing for a rotation this year inside and outside. I think we have the horses, and the coaches, to get it done. Overall, I think the Offense will be on of the very best this year.

 

[Aerosmith777]

w/ all these position battles, my gut feeling is this is not a year we're gonna see any under-experienced guys (i.e. Young) coming out of nowhere to win a starting spot, especially on offense. I think Charlie realizes this year is his first chance to really go for it all w/ it being Brady, Samardzija, and McKnight's last season, not to mention a few O-linemen, and he's not gonna wanna waste it by going through the growing pains of true freshmen and sophomore first-time starters if he can avoid it. I think he'll roll the dice and go for it all this year, possibly at the expense of the playing time of guys who will be starting in '07 & '08 b/c that's the kind of coach he is.

And w/ that in mind, I know I'm gonna get crucified for saying this, but assuming he doesn't win a starting spot this year I wouldn't mind it too much if they red-shirted Young this season, and then gave him 4 full years at LT when Harris graduates.

 

[BigIrish]

I think he'll roll the dice and go for it all this year, possibly at the expense of the playing time of guys who will be starting in '07 & '08 b/c that's the kind of coach he is.

this mentality is reminiscent of the previous regime. weis has demonstrated (schwapp at fb, grimes/hord at kick return) that he will play a kid when he's ready, regardless of age or experience level.

 

[Aerosmith777]

this mentality is reminiscent of the previous regime. weis has demonstrated (schwapp at fb, grimes/hord at kick return) that he will play a kid when he's ready, regardless of age or experience level.

the key word's there being "when he's ready." Just because a kid (again i.e. Young) is a tremendous talent, it doesn't mean he'll be ready to play as a true freshman over a more experienced counterpart. Weis does't discount experience over natural ability. if he did, then he'd have some 'splainin to do over why Mike Richardson is still starting.

Don't forget where Weis comes from. He's off that whole Parcells/Belichek tree, and if there's one common thread between all those coaches its that they strive to have the smartest players (not necessarily the "best") on the field at all times in order to eliminate mistakes. The fact is, if you play a true freshman at any position, its highly likely you're gonna go through some growing pains b/c he's gonna make a some mental mistakes, probly a good number of them. Some years that's ok, and you can live w/ it b/c you know the experience will benefit the player down the line, like w/ Brady his freshman year. But I don't think next year is one of those years. I think Weis is going for it all, and is gonna put the smartest team on the field, and that likely means guys w/ experience who don't make stupid mental mistakes in spring practice will have an edge over guys who may be more talented but have no or much less experience in games. Don't get me wrong, if the young player actually does that in spring I'm sure he'll get the job. I mean, if Sam Young plays great while Mattes get a ton of false start penalties in practice or something like that, I'm sure Young will be the starter. But if the battle pans out like I expect most battles between true freshman and guys w/ some experience like Mattes/Duncan/Turk do, I don't expect to be seeing Young much next year.

 

[Handlebars]

Agree

Agree

Remember, playing on the o-line, or the D-line for that matter, is not the same as playing RB or receiver. It pretty crushing along the line - play after play. "If he's ready" is the key....just seems a little harder to BE ready on the line.

 

[jiggafini19]

I like Schmidt, Young, Jackson, Walls and McNeil to see the field as freshmen.

 

[BigIrish]

the key word's there being "when he's ready." Just because a kid (again i.e. Young) is a tremendous talent, it doesn't mean he'll be ready to play as a true freshman over a more experienced counterpart. Weis does't discount experience over natural ability. if he did, then he'd have some 'splainin to do over why Mike Richardson is still starting.
Don't forget where Weis comes from. He's off that whole Parcells/Belichek tree, and if there's one common thread between all those coaches its that they strive to have the smartest players (not necessarily the "best") on the field at all times in order to eliminate mistakes. The fact is, if you play a true freshman at any position, its highly likely you're gonna go through some growing pains b/c he's gonna make a some mental mistakes, probly a good number of them. Some years that's ok, and you can live w/ it b/c you know the experience will benefit the player down the line, like w/ Brady his freshman year. But I don't think next year is one of those years. I think Weis is going for it all, and is gonna put the smartest team on the field, and that likely means guys w/ experience who don't make stupid mental mistakes in spring practice will have an edge over guys who may be more talented but have no or much less experience in games. Don't get me wrong, if the young player actually does that in spring I'm sure he'll get the job. I mean, if Sam Young plays great while Mattes get a ton of false start penalties in practice or something like that, I'm sure Young will be the starter. But if the battle pans out like I expect most battles between true freshman and guys w/ some experience like Mattes/Duncan/Turk do, I don't expect to be seeing Young much next year.

good explanation. good post.

 

[kmoose]

I think he'll roll the dice and go for it all this year, possibly at the expense of the playing time of guys who will be starting in '07 & '08 b/c that's the kind of coach he is.

If the offense is as good as we all think it will be, and Weis turns it loose, these guys will get plenty of playing time. Maybe not in time that "counts", but they will get plenty of minutes on the field.

 

[Aerosmith777]

If the offense is as good as we all think it will be, and Weis turns it loose, these guys will get plenty of playing time. Maybe not in time that "counts", but they will get plenty of minutes on the field.

That's true. I wasn't accounting for garbage time in blowouts. Here's to seeing plenty of Evan Sharpley late in the 4th quarter of 48-13 games

 

[Aerosmith777]

I like Schmidt, Young, Jackson, Walls and McNeil to see the field as freshmen.

I definetely like Walls & Jackson , and likely McNeil to see action as freshman, and likely a good amount of it. My guess is the two corners and Lambert will be fighting for the Nickel corner spot (assuming ND acutally has a nickel package this year...) After that I think it depends for the other guys. If Schwapp takes a big step forward in his sophomore year, I think it might be hard for Schmidt to find the field. And w/ Young it depends mostly on Duncan, Turk, and Mattes & how much faith Charlie has in whichever 2 of them doesn't win the starting RT spot. If one of them does clearly better than the other 2, and the other 2 look bad in practice then I certainly think Young will get in a few games. But if its a really competive battle and all 3 impress, I think Young could spend the whole year on the sideline.

 

[jiggafini19]

I certainly think Young will get in a few games. But if its a really competive battle and all 3 impress, I think Young could spend the whole year on the sideline.

Sam Young is working more against time than these other guys. Once he catches on and gets some experience via practice time and maybe a little PT, it's over.

Young is better than these other 3 and sooner or later he'll overtake them. I think he'll do it in his first year. Just a question of when.

Duncan and Turkovich are going to be the keys here. They will be needed at some point or another before the year ends.

 

[Aerosmith777]

Sam Young is working more against time than these other guys. Once he catches on and gets some experience via practice time and maybe a little PT, it's over.

yeah, but I don't think Charlie's gonna waste a year of eligibility just to give him a combined 15 minutes of garbage time in the course of the season. If he plays, I think it'll be b/c he's better than the other two who don't start, and he has to be better not only physically but mentally as well. He's obviously better already physically, but the staff won't know where he is mentally until he gets in pad in a few months. We'll see I guess.

 

[jiggafini19]

Young, Walls and Aldridge are the top jewels of this group. I expect to see all three in some capacity in 2006. Young will win the right tackle job at some point in the year. Then he'll move to left tackle in 2007.

He might be an incoming freshman, but he's going to play beyond his age.

 

[scooper]

yeah, but I don't think Charlie's gonna waste a year of eligibility just to give him a combined 15 minutes of garbage time in the course of the season. If he plays, I think it'll be b/c he's better than the other two who don't start, and he has to be better not only physically but mentally as well. He's obviously better already physically, but the staff won't know where he is mentally until he gets in pad in a few months. We'll see I guess.

At the same time, if he's that good, it's not a bad idea to get him some time-any time- as a freshman, even if he doesn't start. If he's as good as advertised, there's a good chance he's not around for that fifth year after he graduates in four ala Fasano.