Starting Lineup for 2009

[fightinirish68]

short yardage use to be a breeze with brady and rpn

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

Too predictable before CW's first season ended. Time to evolve.

Misdirection.

 

[chyrspchuck]

I miss RPN, and Brady........I wish Hughes would play FB i feel like he could be so good at it.

 

[notredomer23]

I miss RPN, and Brady........I wish Hughes would play FB i feel like he could be so good at it.

I think if Hughes played full back he would be so good its not even funny. We would actually be able to hand it off to the fullback for a change, he would have pretty good speed for a FB so he can get out there and block on tosses or other types of plays, and quite frankly I dont like him at HB

 

[Honey Nut Irish]

I like Hughes but he worries me on short yardage. On those situations you have to hit the line at full speed, even if there is no real hole to speak of. All you need is that yard or so of forward progress, so go for it. It seemed to me this year that Hughes would stop and try to find a gap and get stuffed, instead of lowering his shoulder and plowing ahead at full speed. Especially in those third quarters where we were trying to burn clock. Hughes and Aldridge both try to do to much sometimes instead of relying on their size and strength.

 

[fightinirish68]

i think i read once somewhere the charlie weiss told hughes that he wouldnt move him to fb or only put him in to block. we have paskorz. hes not much of a power back but does allow more athleticism on the field. goal line/red zone. play action run up the middle and just have him float out to the flats. its always open. plus he has more speed tban an average fb i would imagine.

 

[chyrspchuck]

yeah CW promised but I think most of us here wishes or hopes Hughes is offered the switch. The backfield is very crowded in 09,10 and we could use RH at FB

 

[GOLDENISTHYTATE]

The rb battle should be an interesting one to monitor in the summer. Realistically, I do not see Aldridge or Hughes getting much playing time next year. I think it will be a battle between Gray and Allen, and Wood and Riddick will get their shot as well. I think Riddick might be a darkhorse only because he is faster than everyone except Allen but is by no means a scat back. Should be fun to watch.

The other battle to watch is the TE one. Rudolph is in no way the automatic starter, Ragone was a highly touted TE who is faster than Rudolph and from what I have read, a much better blocker. It also will be nice to see what happens with Fauria. I hope that kid put 20 pounds of muscle on that 6'7 frame.

 

[fitz_bu47]

I think Paskorz has potential to make a lot of us happy at the fb position.

 

[Irish 83]

The rb battle should be an interesting one to monitor in the summer. Realistically, I do not see Aldridge or Hughes getting much playing time next year. I think it will be a battle between Gray and Allen, and Wood and Riddick will get their shot as well. I think Riddick might be a darkhorse only because he is faster than everyone except Allen but is by no means a scat back. Should be fun to watch.

The other battle to watch is the TE one. Rudolph is in no way the automatic starter, Ragone was a highly touted TE who is faster than Rudolph and from what I have read, a much better blocker. It also will be nice to see what happens with Fauria. I hope that kid put 20 pounds of muscle on that 6'7 frame.

I'm not sure how you already know that Riddick is going to be faster than Cierre, or Gray. They all look to be very close in speed when you look at their tape. However I do agree that unless Aldridge or Hughes has a spectacular camp, these younger guys will be taking the majority of the pt.

 

[Brown]

I think Ragone and Rudolph will compliment each other quite nicely, granted that Ragone recovers and is able to perform at the same speed and strength pre-injury.

But I think Rudolph is the clear fav. to go into '09 as the #1 TE on the depth chart. He played outstanding as a true FR.

 

[NDOM]

I say there will be 11 on offense and 11 on defense.

 

[irishandy]

Thank you Goldenisthytate for mentioning Cierre Wood. I think he will compete for the starting job at rb with Allen. Hughes should move to FB and Aldridge should sit. I think there will be some competition also at TE, but Rudolph will win the starting job (although there is nothing wrong w/ having 2 TE's on the field). What about Shaquelle Evans, does anyone think that he could have an impact year like Michael Floyd did?? I am eager to see what Deion Walker will do and I think Duval Kumara could sit on the bench right by Aldridge. As far as our defense we will be young.

 

[jonesman]

NDOM,
You have the best analysis so far. We will have to wait and see what happens in the spring and again in fall practice. The one thing that excites me more than anything is that we have, OPTIONS. Remember 2-3 years ago when we had one player per position and crossed our fingers and prayed for no injuries. I would say that we are deeper than we have been in many years.
GO IRISH

 

[chyrspchuck]

Cierre will sit, I'm almost positive. There are too many guys ahead of him. Out of high school many of our running backs were considered to be just as good as him, I think some of you forget that.

There is no way imo that Ragone or Fauria start ahead of the kid that basically owned all last year, he had a great freshman campaign. I think he's the next John Carlson.

I think Deion is great and I think Duval could sit in place of Deion.....I don't see Shaq getting on the field at all this year.

Again it's only opinion.

Oh and ARod stopped taking Steroids in 2003 my balls.....

 

[NDOM]

NDOM,
You have the best analysis so far. We will have to wait and see what happens in the spring and again in fall practice. The one thing that excites me more than anything is that we have, OPTIONS. Remember 2-3 years ago when we had one player per position and crossed our fingers and prayed for no injuries. I would say that we are deeper than we have been in many years.
GO IRISH

touche'. It's just too early to start thinking about lineups.

 

[chyrspchuck]

NDOM I agree 11 on Offense and 11 on Defense......On Offense though if your counting Sammy Young it might be considered 11.5......

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

. ..

Um... Maybe "touche'" not quite necessary. Study the word.

Jonesman, you seem to know some stuff.

 

[NDOM]

NDOM I agree 11 on Offense and 11 on Defense......On Offense though if your counting Sammy Young it might be considered 11.5......

Word. Young is HUGE. But he's a wimp in my opinion. Dude just has no motivation. He's weak for as big as he is.

 

[NDOM]

]Um... Maybe "touche'" not quite necessary. Study the word.[/B]

Jonesman, you seem to know some stuff.

The word touché is often used in "popular culture" and general conversation—for example, in an argument or debate. If one person presents an argument and another delivers a clever or apt response, the first person may respond with "touché" as a way of acknowledging a good response.

Ummmm. I believe I used the word correctly.

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

The word touché is often used in "popular culture" and general conversation—for example, in an argument or debate. If one person presents an argument and another delivers a clever or apt response, the first person may respond with "touché" as a way of acknowledging a good response.

Ummmm. I believe I used the word correctly.

He was agreeing with you.

Touche' is more often used as a hit. From your same website that you quoted, but left out the first paragraph...

"In fencing, touché (French: touched, Pronounced Too-shay) is used as an acknowledgement of a hit, called out by the fencer who is hit."

He was agreeing with you, not hitting you.

Just having some fun my good friend.

 

[NDOM]

He was agreeing with you.

Touche' is more often used as a hit. From your same website that you quoted, but left out the first paragraph...

"In fencing, touché (French: touched, Pronounced Too-shay) is used as an acknowledgement of a hit, called out by the fencer who is hit."

He was agreeing with you, not hitting you.

Just having some fun my good friend.

Oh I know. it's all good. Someone on here recommended that I pee around the perimeter of my crop so you dont eat my stash. lol

 

[no.1IrishFan]

I think they will move aldridge or huuuuuuughes to fullback

I hope it will be Huuuughes, hes the best one imo.

I also like the little through the legs thing he does with the ball after a carry. Looks kinda cool.

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

Oh I know. it's all good. Someone on here recommended that I pee around the perimeter of my crop so you dont eat my stash. lol

That would be TMQ10. I ate an apple this week. And an unshaved carrot.

 

[jonesman]

Guys,
Since it seems you are all dying to get football season started. I will give you the obvious in the starting line-up. I will not take big guesses about the LB situation. So here is the obvious to figure out.

OFFENSE:
QB - Clausen starting, Crist back-up. I do think that Crist will push Clausen, but Jimmy is just too experienced

RB - Allen, Aldridge and Hughes. They will all share duty, but I believe Allen will take the most snaps. Gray will get some time, but upper class depth is too great.

FB - Paskorz. This was a tough one since we have Paskorz and ummmm Paskorz. This is unless Luke has recovered from concussions which I doubt.

WR - Floyd, Tate start. Third receiver is a free for all. Kamara, Walker, Goodman, Parris and Shaq. WOW what talented depth.

TE - Rudolph, Ragone will dominate playing time. Fauria gets some snaps. Freshman get time to grow.

OL - Young, Big Stew, Wenger, Olsen, Robinson all will play for sure. LT is the question mark. Many people are thinking that TRob will move to LT. I think this is possible. If not, Romine or Duncan. Nice to be two deep across the board.

DEFENSE -
NT - Ian Williams. Not many options here. Hafis or Brandon could play some.

DT/DE - Ethan Johnson will start. He is on his way to stardom. KLM looks to be a player because CW spews compliments his way every chance he gets. There are several guys along the DL who could be playing next season. Kerry Neal, Cwynar, Mo Richardson and maybe even the freshman Stockton. We will just have to see.
LB - Brian Smith is going to be the leader here. Fleming was impossible to keep off the field as a freshman, so I would say he will be on the field alot. Beyond them, nobody knows crap. That even includes the coaches. I think we will see multiple combinations depending on who we are playing, field position and tendancies. On the inside, we have McDonald, Toryan, Calabrese. On the outside we have Fleming, Motta, T'eo. Can you say talented depth. Be afraid, very afraid if you are a ball carrier.

CB - Walls, McNeil and Blanton. This one is easy. Gray appears that he may miss a year like Darrin. Slaughter will get some experience. No freshman playing here.

Safety - McCarthy and H. Smith along with some Sergio. Dan McCarthy may even get a few snaps.

So, this is the preliminary thoughts. These are the basics with no major suprises. I will not expand on LB until spring is done. This one is really up in the air. GO IRISH!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

Guys,
Since it seems you are all dying to get football season started.

There you go with that "Guys" thing again. I am dying because I am dying. But back to football... Great post as usual. Not a touche' post. lol.

NDOM

 

[fightinirish68]

in a debate if someone gets a good point on u. u can say touche and it be accepted.

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

in a debate if someone gets a good point on u. u can say touche and it be accepted.

Pun intended: What's your point?

Agreement = No touche'

 

[Brown]

I have very little doubt that Brian Smith will be taking Mo Crum's position, and Te'o will take over Smith's position.

McNeil and Walls at CB, with Blanton in on Nickel packages.

Smith and McCarthy at Safety

The big question marks are the two other LB positions while in the 3/4, and the entire defensive line. It seems there are quite a bit of hybrid defensive ends/outside linebackers, so it will be interesting to see how that all plays out.

On offense, Claussen is the clear #1 QB.

I don't think the Irish will be in many formations that require a fullback, so I'm not too worried about the lack of a true FB at this point.

Mostly run out of 3 WR sets, with Armando Allen getting a large majority of the snaps.

Frankly, the team never moved the ball with Hughes and/or Aldridge with any amount of efficiency. Even when their only job was to get a tough yard on short yardage situations, they showed a general lack of explosion.

Cierre Wood is a very talented running back with more upside than just about anybody who has came through the institution at the position. I'm excited to see reports out of camp about his performance.

 

[NDFan537]

Frankly, the team never moved the ball with Hughes and/or Aldridge with any amount of efficiency. Even when their only job was to get a tough yard on short yardage situations, they showed a general lack of explosion.

Now before you get your panties in a bunch, read my post and you will see I agree with all other statements in your post. The reason Allen will be starting is because he is Charlie's boy. For some reason Charlie loves him more than James or Robert. Maybe he feeds him who knows. C'mon though I seem to remember moving the ball very efficiently against Washington.(The only game Allen didn't dominate the carries) It also wasn't until Allen went down with a vaginal disorder in the USC game that we even got a first down. We have 3 backs on our roster, not including Cierre, that are better than Allen. He will start though and that will be a mistake.

In a side note Allen was the featured back as a Fr.. but it wasn't until his SO year he even scored a rushing touchdown. It is one of those pride things with Charlie. He told the world about his precious jewel Armando Allen.