Offensive Line Thread

[rtrn2glory]

Yea, there is a lot of positions up for grabs this Spring. It'll be fascinating to see what gets worked out and when. What gets pushed to Fall Camp? Are there positions that get locked down in the Spring?

Specifically talking about the OL, they have plenty of talented bodies to choose from so that's the positive. The negative is, it will undoubtedly take a season of reps for them to gel together. OL, as much as any position, is a position of repetition.

Correct and with a first year qb I'm going to need to prepare to really tap the brakes on expectations especially early on. Game one may be frustrating just like 2016 in Texas simply based off of lack of experience offensively at so many positions.

 

[stpeteirish]

Lugg should be considered a returning starter. He has a half dozen over his career. Should be a solid RG or RT.

Tons of highly touted guys at the other 3 spots to duke it out. Can move Pattersonn to LT if Zeke is ready. No idea how it will shake out-could be anywhere from a 5th year guy (Gibbons) to a true frosh (Fisher or Spindler) at the open spots.

 

[allenm5333]

Unpopular opinion: Lugg has never impressed me. Correll and Patterson should have 2 spots for sure. At Tackle, you could see Kristofic, Baker, Carroll or Lugg. Lugg could also play inside. Don't count out Rocco or Fisher inside as well. Fisher could be interior to start, and then outside as he progresses...although his $ could come being interior fulltime

 

[ThePiombino]

Unpopular opinion: Lugg has never impressed me. Correll and Patterson should have 2 spots for sure. At Tackle, you could see Kristofic, Baker, Carroll or Lugg. Lugg could also play inside. Don't count out Rocco or Fisher inside as well. Fisher could be interior to start, and then outside as he progresses...although his $ could come being interior fulltime

Lugg played out of position this year. FWIW. There's obviously a reason he never earned a starting roll, but he's no slouch and would start on most P5 lines.

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[IrishFanJMercy]

Wasn’t Carrol gonna start last year before he got injured?

 

[BilboBaggins]

My guesses:

LT: Baker
LG: Patterson
C: Correll
RG: Lugg
RT: Carroll

Correll performance against Alabama should calm nerves. He will be fine. That means the staff can move Patterson around, I would guess they'd *want* to see if Baker can perform at LT given his massive frame. Assuming that's a yes, I think they put Patterson at LG because apparently G is his best position and it creates a pretty solid left side.

Kelly and Rees have some tough questions, what sort of offense do you run with a new OL but you still have outstanding TEs and RBs. I don't think they'll be leaning on 2 TE to one side and running that way, a lot has to go right for that to be sustainable.

 

[BilboBaggins]

Wasn’t Carrol gonna start last year before he got injured?

Over who exactly? Hainsey? I doubt it.

 

[Luckylucci]

Lugg played out of position this year. FWIW. There's obviously a reason he never earned a starting roll, but he's no slouch and would start on most P5 lines.

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Yea, I felt like Lugg pretty well to end last year at RT. And like I stated in another post, reps on the OL are extremely important. I think an entire offseason with Lugg working as a #1 will give him the reps he's been missing. Do I think he's the next 1st rounder on the OL? No, but I think he can work himself into a mid-late round guy and valuable starter.

 

[Luckylucci]

Wasn’t Carrol gonna start last year before he got injured?

No but the Rivals guys have talked about how impressive the staff thought he was leading up to his injury and his recovery thereafter. It seems like he's probably a front runner for one of those spots.

Without knowing who plays where, I'll just say my 5 names for starting are Baker, Patterson, Correll, Carroll, and Lugg.

 

[allenm5333]

Lugg is fine. But if we are looking at a slightly rebuilt OL, I would rather go all in for the future.

Yea, I felt like Lugg pretty well to end last year at RT. And like I stated in another post, reps on the OL are extremely important. I think an entire offseason with Lugg working as a #1 will give him the reps he's been missing. Do I think he's the next 1st rounder on the OL? No, but I think he can work himself into a mid-late round guy and valuable starter.

 

[ThePiombino]

Lugg is fine. But if we are looking at a slightly rebuilt OL, I would rather go all in for the future.

OL is not a position group you can just throw youth at and let it develop on the field. It requires much more than Xs and Os. Physical development is just important.

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[T-Boone]

The upside here is that BK will be less likely to rely on the running game than he would have been and so we need to push the WRs through and focus on getting KW and Tyree involved in that part of it.

 

[NDisme]

What about Cristofic? Anyone know what the staff thinks of him?

 

[zelezo vlk]

No but the Rivals guys have talked about how impressive the staff thought he was leading up to his injury and his recovery thereafter. It seems like he's probably a front runner for one of those spots.



Without knowing who plays where, I'll just say my 5 names for starting are Baker, Patterson, Correll, Carroll, and Lugg.

I like those 5 names. That's whom I'd choose as well.

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[Old Man Mike]

Kristofic was very highly spoken of, so I assume that he still is.

... and as a tackle.

 

[NDMIA]

I looked back at the recruiter rankings and looked at just the offensive line coaches and where they ranked among just their position coaching group.

2019-2021 Recruiter Rankings Composite
1) Jeff Quinn, Notre Dame
2) Robbie Caldwell, Clemson
3) Bill Bedenbaugh, Oklahoma
4) Josh Henson, Texas A&M
5) Will Friend, Auburn
6) John Hevesy, Florida
7) Herb Hand, UNC Charlotte
8) Kevin Carberry, Stanford
9) Chris Kapilovic, Michigan State
10) James Cregg, LSU
11) Ed Warinner, FAU
12) Justin Frye, UCLA
13) Scott Huff, Washington
14) Greg Austin, Nebraska
15) Brent Key, Georgia Tech

The takeaways are definitely interesting in the fact that obviously Quinn being #1 is really awesome. I always thought he was a solid recruiter, but he's been absolutely phenomenal since taking over for Harry Hiestand. Robbie Caldwell is another great one at Clemson and Bedenbaugh at Oklahoma is one of the best in recruiting no doubt. I know he lost Leigh this cycle to Caldwell and Clemson but he's still really really good at recruiting. The couple of surprising ones are that Herb Hand went down to UNC Charlotte and Warinner went to FAU. They are very very good OLine coaches, but maybe Warinner's career might be winding down going into his 60s and maybe he wants the lower stress and mid-major football life. Interesting list for sure and it makes me excited that Jeff Quinn is the OLine coach at ND.

 

[Old Man Mike]

We can't expect to have the best guy at every coaching position nor at every playing position, but sometimes we DO have that coach or player. The fact that number-ones keep popping up for us here and there is a tribute to one guy --- Coach Kelly.

This is another data point that tells me that if Coach had taken a lesser calling at one of the power program factories, he'd have won a few NCs already. Thankfully, he is here.

 

[Trait Expectations]

Quinn has to dig himself out of the hole he and Hiestand made together. Hiestand's last year with us was 2017, meaning his final class was 2018. That's the year we signed one, top 400 OL - Patterson. The others in that class: John Dirksen, Luke Jones, Cole Mabry.

2019 - Correll, Carroll, Kristofic, Olmstead

2020 - we signed two OL - Baker and Carmody

2021 is a shot in the arm but we are dealing with some very poor class returns by ND standards. Normally we have 2-3 starters or depth pieces/class.



2018 - gave us one player - Patterson
2019 - Correll so far, TBD for Carroll and Kristofic
2020 - TBD: Baker seems close, guessing Carmody is still a year away
2021 - Super high potential, 4-5 potential starters down the road. 2 already poised to take snaps in '21

Really hope Lugg can get his back issues sorted and can give us a full, healthy season.

 

[Huntr]

Gibbons transfer is a little surprising, but that's ok. That is a hella competitive group and it's a testament to how well Spindler is doing.

 

[arrowryan]

Here is what I'm hoping for come September

LT- Blake Fisher
LG- Rocco Spindler
C- Jarrett Patterson
RG- Zeke Correll
RT- Josh Lugg

If Zeke is the center...

LT- Blake Fisher
LG- Jarrett Patterson
C- Zeke Correll
RG- Josh Lugg
RT- Tosh Baker

I would feel much more comfortable with Baker if his feet weren't made out of concrete.

 

[Dale]

Zeke is the C. BK was frustrated with him after one practice that happened to be a day BK met with the media but next time spoke pretty matter of fact that Zeke is C

 

[arrowryan]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/1390332102848126979[/TWEET]

In regards to the tail end of Pete's tweet. Technically, yes, he is correct. But Notre Dame recruits the OL better than anyone else in the country. Gibbons probably saw the writing on the wall and realized it wasn't going to work in South Bend.

 

[Trait Expectations]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/1390332102848126979[/TWEET]

In regards to the tail end of Pete's tweet. Technically, yes, he is correct. But Notre Dame recruits the OL better than anyone else in the country. Gibbons probably saw the writing on the wall and realized it wasn't going to work in South Bend.

And to be fair, Gibbons' snapping really wasn't great. I think Patterson is the backup Center so Gibbons is probably 8th man in at this point.

 

[GoldenToTheGrave]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/1390332102848126979[/TWEET]

In regards to the tail end of Pete's tweet. Technically, yes, he is correct. But Notre Dame recruits the OL better than anyone else in the country. Gibbons probably saw the writing on the wall and realized it wasn't going to work in South Bend.

I wish nothing but the best for Gibbons but young players pushing out veterans who were legitimate contenders for starting jobs before spring camp is typically a good sign. In a similar vein Lugg being the designated backup rather than a starter would also be hearting news for the OL.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

Here is what I'm hoping for come September

LT- Blake Fisher
LG- Rocco Spindler
C- Jarrett Patterson
RG- Zeke Correll
RT- Josh Lugg

If Zeke is the center...

LT- Blake Fisher
LG- Jarrett Patterson
C- Zeke Correll
RG- Josh Lugg
RT- Tosh Baker

I would feel much more comfortable with Baker if his feet weren't made out of concrete.

I think it's in stone that Zeke will be at center. It would probably benefit everyone to have Patterson at guard in between Fisher and Zeke for obvious reasons, then work in Spindler like Hainsey did as a freshman

 

[irish4ever]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/1390332102848126979[/TWEET]

In regards to the tail end of Pete's tweet. Technically, yes, he is correct. But Notre Dame recruits the OL better than anyone else in the country. Gibbons probably saw the writing on the wall and realized it wasn't going to work in South Bend.

I'd say it puts a minor dent in the depth chart. I don't think that Gibbons was going to WOW anyone. But then again, he did have several years of "experience" and knowledge of the playbook. ND OL is still in good shape though (@ 14 OL I believe)! Opens another spot for the 2022 class to fill.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

So, back up center is Patterson?
I'm assuming the staff will go all in on continuing to develop Carmody at C. I would prefer if Zeke goes down we don't have to move Patterson (wherever he's playing) over and have him replaced too...Don't like the double switch for an injury. Prefer next man up.

 

[Dale]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/geoffschwartz/status/1393000928807202817?s=21[/TWEET]

Would love to see Liam, Q or McGlinchey etc on one of these, I’m sure Geoff would too (if they haven’t already)

 

[dublinirish]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/Rivals/status/1394821858537709569?s=20[/TWEET][TWEET]https://twitter.com/MitchSchwartz71/status/1395006893056266244?s=20[/TWEET]

 

[BobbyMac]

Is there talk on the paid boards that Quinn may take a GT?