Spring 2023 - Current Projected Roster

[NDIrish1988]

It's more about it being in poor taste to just plainly hope that certain kids leave, just because they aren't great players.

That’s the reality of college football today. Marist and Kizer have been sub par their entire careers. Baker was pitiful when he got PT last yr. The Soph Corners have been passed by true Frosh.

 

[Domina Nostra]

Update for Can Berrong departure.

 

[Crazy Balki]

That’s the reality of college football today. Marist and Kizer have been sub par their entire careers. Baker was pitiful when he got PT last yr. The Soph Corners have been passed by true Frosh.

This is both untrue, and also still very much in poor taste.

Just because the reality is that kids are more likely to move on and Freeman is going to be upfront with these kids' status on roster, doesn't mean we should just flat out hope kids leave.

 

[Domina Nostra]

KA-BOOOOOM! Updated for transfer kicker. (Actually looks like a big upgrade…)

 

[Domina Nostra]

Updated for EE's.

 

[Dale]

 

[Dale]

Salerno coming back, another that was not expected

 

[Domina Nostra]

Salerno coming back, another that was not expected

Do we think Salerno and Sherwood will keep their ships? My guess is only if they are available.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Salerno coming back, another that was not expected

With Edwards and Bowen decommitted, someone has to fair catch every punt now.

 

[Dale]

Do we think Salerno and Sherwood will keep their ships? My guess is only if they are available.

I would assume yes they keep them. They wanted Salerno back the last intel said he was gonna turn them down.

 

[Reaper97]

Do we think Salerno and Sherwood will keep their ships? My guess is only if they are available.

Why not?
They are in the 85 on the team next year.
Other players will be better, and pass them up, but in ‘23 they are top 85.
Salerno earned his spot & surprisingly so did Sherwood.
Every program needs a couple guys like them you can always count on.

 

[zbikowski88]

More fair catches!!!!!! Honestly though good for him!

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

I would assume yes they keep them. They wanted Salerno back the last intel said he was gonna turn them down.

Both deserve them
RP3?
Nah

 

[SouthSideChiDomer]

Well there's the big news Loy was talking about!

 

[NDMatt91]

The question is will Freeman, Rees, and Chansi play him over more talented WR's for the second straight season?

 

[Dale]

The question is will Freeman, Rees, and Chansi play him over more talented WR's for the second straight season?

Salerno played on 43 passing snaps last year, a quarter of which were against BC and UNLV. He had 4 targets in non garbage time, 3 of which were catches.


He wasn’t playing over anyone. You’re basically talking about a TE.

 

[NDMatt91]

Salerno played on 43 passing snaps last year, a quarter of which were against BC and UNLV. He had 4 targets in non garbage time, 3 of which were catches.


He wasn’t playing over anyone. You’re basically talking about a TE.

Thanks, Dale.

 

[Domina Nostra]

Updated for today...

 

[Old Man Mike]

Probably the wrong time to question this to the group, but with the talk of Hartman maybe coming here, one cannot but consider if ND becomes a genuine national threat. On offense we lose two very good linemen and the heart of the passing game. Coach Harry has so many STUDS to pick from that It's hard for me to believe he won't create another superlative OLine "in his sleep." That leaves the irreplaceable Mayer, but we're loaded with talent there and with Hartman slinging it to them, how NOT good even without our great TE? It seems to me that if Hartman actually comes, we are REALLY good offensively.

But what I'm asking is: what about the defense? The corners seem poised to be outstanding. Is anything else? Most importantly, how's the DLine? We've been pretty much Bully Boys for several years. And on another issue, can Bertrand become a consistent helmet-cracking (well not literally) terminator? What's the crystal ball say here? Was our miss on the WMU DLineman a big deal for us? etc.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Probably the wrong time to question this to the group, but with the talk of Hartman maybe coming here, one cannot but consider if ND becomes a genuine national threat. On offense we lose two very good linemen and the heart of the passing game. Coach Harry has so many STUDS to pick from that It's hard for me to believe he won't create another superlative OLine "in his sleep." That leaves the irreplaceable Mayer, but we're loaded with talent there and with Hartman slinging it to them, how NOT good even without our great TE? It seems to me that if Hartman actually comes, we are REALLY good offensively.

But what I'm asking is: what about the defense? The corners seem poised to be outstanding. Is anything else? Most importantly, how's the DLine? We've been pretty much Bully Boys for several years. And on another issue, can Bertrand become a consistent helmet-cracking (well not literally) terminator? What's the crystal ball say here? Was our miss on the WMU DLineman a big deal for us? etc.

I think the defense will depend on safety and vyper. The return of Brandon Joseph would be HUGE.

 

[irishff1014]

I think the defense will depend on safety and vyper. The return of Brandon Joseph would be HUGE.

I think Joesph could find some NIL money he probably stays. He was good this year but I wouldn’t say great. He has something to prove as well.

 

[IrishLion]

Probably the wrong time to question this to the group, but with the talk of Hartman maybe coming here, one cannot but consider if ND becomes a genuine national threat. On offense we lose two very good linemen and the heart of the passing game. Coach Harry has so many STUDS to pick from that It's hard for me to believe he won't create another superlative OLine "in his sleep." That leaves the irreplaceable Mayer, but we're loaded with talent there and with Hartman slinging it to them, how NOT good even without our great TE? It seems to me that if Hartman actually comes, we are REALLY good offensively.

But what I'm asking is: what about the defense? The corners seem poised to be outstanding. Is anything else? Most importantly, how's the DLine? We've been pretty much Bully Boys for several years. And on another issue, can Bertrand become a consistent helmet-cracking (well not literally) terminator? What's the crystal ball say here? Was our miss on the WMU DLineman a big deal for us? etc.

I would describe the linebacker play as having been "adequate." Bertrand really came on late in the year, so hopefully that trajectory continues. If Kiser and Liafau can improve, or if the younger guys make a leap in year two and can supplant them, I think the linebacker position suddenly becomes a strength.

I honestly think safety is going to be okay, whether Joseph is back or not, because of the corners. Whoever starts on the back end will be helped greatly by BenMo's presence on one side, and the combination of Mickey/Lewis/Frosh on the other side. You could even move Lewis back to play safety in a timeshare with Watts/Henderson, depending on the type of offense you're playing against.

The DL is the question mark. We're going to learn a lot about Al Washington's developmental chops next year. Cross, Mills and Nana can be counted on as solid building blocks, but Washington needs to get a couple interior DL up to speed, and he NEEDS to find two or even three true pass rushers on the edge that can be consistent. Maybe Botelho is one of those, and hopefully between Gobaira and Burnham you can find another... but that's an awful thin rush group on third down, and is going to put stress on the DB's if they can't find some guys that can get home.

 

[Dale]

Hart is back as well ^

 

[NDFAN2008]

Heard Chance Tucker had looked great in practice he was a name brought up as a possibly guy who would transfer

 

[Irish du Nord]

Heard Chance Tucker had looked great in practice he was a name brought up as a possibly guy who would transfer

I hope he won't, would be nice to have him as a depth piece at the very least. He seems like he has lots of connections at ND as well (he's buddies with the Salerno's from HS), so I could see him being a program guy.

 

[Free Manera]

Probably the wrong time to question this to the group, but with the talk of Hartman maybe coming here, one cannot but consider if ND becomes a genuine national threat. On offense we lose two very good linemen and the heart of the passing game. Coach Harry has so many STUDS to pick from that It's hard for me to believe he won't create another superlative OLine "in his sleep." That leaves the irreplaceable Mayer, but we're loaded with talent there and with Hartman slinging it to them, how NOT good even without our great TE? It seems to me that if Hartman actually comes, we are REALLY good offensively.

But what I'm asking is: what about the defense? The corners seem poised to be outstanding. Is anything else? Most importantly, how's the DLine? We've been pretty much Bully Boys for several years. And on another issue, can Bertrand become a consistent helmet-cracking (well not literally) terminator? What's the crystal ball say here? Was our miss on the WMU DLineman a big deal for us? etc.

The wild card on offense will be at receiver. Hartman will fit balls in and throw guys open (he is elite at throwing the back shoulder) but the receivers will still need to show they can be big play threats. It is hard to win games against OSU and USC without a couple home run plays.

Missing on Fiske was a big deal because it is a position of serious need. ND needs pass rushers bad. Maybe there are some guys on the roster that will rise up, and maybe they will land a different D lineman in the portal as well. However as of now it looks like a weakness. Linebacker is also a relative weakness, and I think the 2022 linebacker corps is at its ceiling. However it seems like Snead and maybe Junior will displace someone which would improve the group immensely from an athleticism standpoint.

I would think with Hartman, ND will be favored against everyone except OSU and USC. Maybe they would be a slight dog to Clemson since it is in Death Valley.

 

[Old Man Mike]

One needs outstanding DBacks to fly down the field in coverage also.
So I'm all for a deep DB room whether they play defense in the games or not.
Still nervous about what I hear about the DLine. We've typically had THREE
sets of playable guys on our DLines for a long while now. Tackles, nose or
otherwise are tough to play too many snaps
(I used to notice that we'd have about 10 men in the rotations a lot --- do we have
ten guys who are at least Good at this level ? )

 

[Old Man Mike]

I watched Hartman a lot. He's really good. Not perfect, so IE would bitch, but really good --- Unitas Watch List after all.
Because of him and watching our WRs as the season progressed, I found myself thinking that these guys seem on the edge
of getting good, and in the case of Thomas REALLY good. Plus all of the potentially hotshot frosh are EEs. Get Hartman in and start slinging it to Thomas, Colzie, et al, and see who he likes. I'm betting that he'll like several of them.

This is a goofy odd position for me (being quite optimistic about an unknown) but Hartman plus our WRs has a good feeling about it.
(Sadly I DON'T have the same feeling about any of our other QBs and our WR corps.)

 

[317Irish]

I watched Hartman a lot. He's really good. Not perfect, so IE would bitch, but really good --- Unitas Watch List after all.
Because of him and watching our WRs as the season progressed, I found myself thinking that these guys seem on the edge
of getting good, and in the case of Thomas REALLY good. Plus all of the potentially hotshot frosh are EEs. Get Hartman in and start slinging it to Thomas, Colzie, et al, and see who he likes. I'm betting that he'll like several of them.

This is a goofy odd position for me (being quite optimistic about an unknown) but Hartman plus our WRs has a good feeling about it.
(Sadly I DON'T have the same feeling about any of our other QBs and our WR corps.)

You aren’t the only one on this board feeling optimistic about what the possibility of Hartman + our WR corp might look like. I wouldn’t say I’m pessimistic, but I really feel like we still need: none of Styles, Thomas, Merriweather, or Colzie to leave; Kaleb Smith/freshmen to make a big impact; health to be on our side at both positions (QB and WR) in order to fully feel the affect of what Hartman could bring.
On the positive side, I think if we have anywhere near the same run game as we ended the season with, then his job will be made much easier. Still feel like we need to see a lot more from the WR’s to expect Hartman to bring us to that top level.

 

[Domina Nostra]

Updated for the Jayson Ademiola...