Which two 2014 DTs do you want?

[NDPhilly]

Assuming we can only take 2 more DTs this cycle, which two would you like Notre Dame to get out of Cage, Mokwuah, and Sawyers?

 

[Rack Em]

This really is a win-win proposition assuming we land 2 DTs. Mokwuah has the most upside according to the staff, so I would want him included. Beyond that, I would just want whoever wants to be here the most of Cage and Sawyers. They both look like great prospects to me!

 

[GBdomer]

Sawyers for sure
Then Mokwuah because you can't teach that size

 

[dublinirish]

Mokwuah and hopefully Springman and Jones can hold things down while he redshirts

 

[Irish Man3]

Mokwuah- Kid has the size. Academics are obviously really important to him more than just saying it.
Sawyers- I like his film more then Cage.

I will say that I would be thrilled to land any of the three. That's a huge pull late in this class. Really would be a successful class as far as filling the holes at LB and DT. Great job by the staff.

 

[Domina Nostra]

I'd be very happy with any combination of the three.

I like Sawyers look, Cage's attitude, and Mokwuah's size.

 

[Irish#1]

I'd be very happy with any combination of the three.

I like Sawyers look, Cage's attitude, and Mokwuah's size.

Then it's Cage and Mokwuah, because nobody is going to win a game on looks! lol

 

[Luckylucci]

Mokwuah and Sawyers for me. I think Mokwuah has a little more upside than Cage and Sawyers brings something a little different than the other two. Reminds me of Sheldon Day. Shorter than the prototype but quick, uses his hands well, and comes from a very good program which means he's probably well coach. I also think he'd be great at DT in the 4-3 getting pressure.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

What a great poll! Good idea. Mokwuak because he is still growing, he has an incredible upside, and he seems to be a stable "anchor" kind of guy. You know interested in education, has a good moral system working, shows real positive character . . .

The other two are almost a tossup and as long as we get Peter I am okay with either other. I say cage because he may be slightly bigger and faster, BVG seems to like him, and he is from Ohio, therefore his competition is better known to me, and is good.

 

[Wingman Ray]

I want guys who want to be here. For that, Im not sold on Sawyers at all. The fact that he cancelled the visit tells me ND isnt for him. ND is more than just putting on pads. I thought he was a shoe in being committed to Vandy and the assumption that academics is important made me think ND was a natural choice. Now Im thinking he just wants to be on the south.

Im not sure if any of them are real starter material. Could be looking at three depth builders and place holders for better players from 2015. I dont see a big difference here between any of these and like a Kona for example.

 

[Jackalope1977]

Mokwauh, Cage, then Sawyers. Or all 3!!!! Seriously though, from where we were at DT a month ago I'd be happy to get any of them. I agree with what's been said about Mokwauh's size and if BVG likes him then I like him. Our staff can make him a stud.

 

[Huntr]

I want guys who want to be here. For that, Im not sold on Sawyers at all. The fact that he cancelled the visit tells me ND isnt for him. ND is more than just putting on pads. I thought he was a shoe in being committed to Vandy and the assumption that academics is important made me think ND was a natural choice. Now Im thinking he just wants to be on the south.

Im not sure if any of them are real starter material. Could be looking at three depth builders and place holders for better players from 2015. I dont see a big difference here between any of these and like a Kona for example.

Sawyers is visiting on the 31st. It's in his thread.

 

[BeauBenken]

What I've read on Mokwuah as of late makes me want him to be part of this team. Before, it would have easily been Cage and Sawyers.

What I've read on Cage and Mokwuah have both been really positive, whereas Sawyer has gotten some down play.

I'd like to take all three if we could, but I don't think we can. We'll probably only take two. And I think those two would be Cage and Mokwuah. ALTHOUGH, Mokwuah seems like the educated and thoughtful type and may not want to quickly flip from Rutgers. This is how Sawyers would have an opening to commit if he so chose.

 

[#1rish]

Cage and whoever else, just so we can have an excuse to post Nic Cage pictures and gifs for the next 4 years.

 

[Wingman Ray]

Sawyers is visiting on the 31st. It's in his thread.

My mistake. I confused him with Griffin.

 

[#1rish]

My mistake. I confused him with Griffin.

Griffin cancelled his visit because admissions wouldn't let him in due to his lack of language requirement.

 

[Luckylucci]

So from looking at the results so far everybody clearly wants Mokwuah as the #1 DT and the decision is coming down to Sawyers vs. Cage. Great idea on the thread BTW.

 

[dwshade]

Mokwuah and Cage. Mokwuah is the big inside guy and I think Cage has more versatlilty and upside than Sawyers.

 

[woolybug25]

Hear me out here... what if we only took one or even none? Would it really be that bad?

Say we had NSD magic and we could land Quick, JuJu, McKenzie and Alexander. Would you trade one of those simply for a body at DT?

If we are going to more of 4-3 look, don't we have plenty of depth with guys like Day, Jones, Springman, Hays, Trumbetti, Rochelle, Dickerson, etc that could all transition into a 4-3 DT if need be? We also have guys like Ishaq that can always pick up some of the slack at DE if we need to move one inside?

Just wondering your thoughts, as none of the guys we are talking about seem to be elite recruits. Where does filling depth with "bodies" trump landing stud prospects like those listed above?

How would people feel if we, say... landed McKenzie, Quick, JuJu and Sawyers for instance? Would you sacrifice one of the other guys to fit a guy like Cage into the class? Seems like bizzaro-world where we pass on a guy like JuJu in order to take a 3 star DT we offered a week ago in desperation.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

How would people feel if we, say... landed McKenzie, Quick, JuJu and Sawyers for instance? Would you sacrifice one of the other guys to fit a guy like Cage into the class?

Would we take both McKenzie and Quick? Especially if Quick verbals first, since McKenzie has all sorts of red flags. Not to mention that in his four years at ND Kelly hasn't successfully utilized an explosive slot WR yet.

I'd probably take IM/ MQ + Mokwua, with his high upside at DT, over both IM + MQ and no Mokwua.

Seems like bizzaro-world where we pass on a guy like JuJu in order to take a 3 star DT we offered a week ago in desperation.

Wouldn't happen to Juju. Might happen to McKenzie, though.

 

[ShakeDown]

How would people feel if we, say... landed McKenzie, Quick, JuJu and Sawyers for instance? Would you sacrifice one of the other guys to fit a guy like Cage into the class? Seems like bizzaro-world where we pass on a guy like JuJu in order to take a 3 star DT we offered a week ago in desperation.

JuJu wants in, he's in. Doesn't matter if it's after we've recieved LOIs from IM, Sawyers, Cage, Quick et al.

 

[Irish8248]

First two that sign up are fine by me -- need the bodies and depth -- go balls deep for 2015 playmakers

 

[woolybug25]

Would we take both McKenzie and Quick? Especially if Quick verbals first, since McKenzie has all sorts of red flags. Not to mention that in his four years at ND Kelly hasn't successfully utilized an explosive slot WR yet.

I'd probably take IM/ MQ + Mokwua, with his high upside at DT, over both IM + MQ and no Mokwua.

I know i'm a broken record with this, but I really think that we will use IM like he was utilized in the UA game and how he is used in high school. Lining him up in the backfield and in the slot. We haven't had that kind of player at ND yet. We all compare him to Davonte Neal, but I don't think he is the same type of player. Just my opinion though.

So if we took IM/MQ and a DT (with the assumption of JuJu, Alexander), would we be done? If it worked out where everyone signed and that was the limit, we would only have 1 DT. How does that sit with everyone? I'm kinda okay with it for the reasons I stated above.

Wouldn't happen to Juju. Might happen to McKenzie, though.

Hypothetically speaking, what if JuJu's decision came last and we had to make a numbers decision on NSD. How do you think we would play that?

 

[Whiskeyjack]

So if we took IM/MQ and a DT (with the assumption of JuJu, Alexander), would we be done? If it worked out where everyone signed and that was the limit, we would only have 1 DT. How does that sit with everyone? I'm kinda okay with it for the reasons I stated above.

My preference would be IM/ MQ, Alexander, Sawyers and Cage/ Mokwua. Can't afford to gamble with DL #s (as we learned last season).

Hypothetically speaking, what if JuJu's decision came last and we had to make a numbers decision on NSD. How do you think we would play that?

I imagine Utupo would lose his 5Y to make room.

 

[Emcee77]

Hear me out here... what if we only took one or even none? Would it really be that bad?

Say we had NSD magic and we could land Quick, JuJu, McKenzie and Alexander. Would you trade one of those simply for a body at DT?

If we are going to more of 4-3 look, don't we have plenty of depth with guys like Day, Jones, Springman, Hays, Trumbetti, Rochelle, Dickerson, etc that could all transition into a 4-3 DT if need be? We also have guys like Ishaq that can always pick up some of the slack at DE if we need to move one inside?

Just wondering your thoughts, as none of the guys we are talking about seem to be elite recruits. Where does filling depth with "bodies" trump landing stud prospects like those listed above?

How would people feel if we, say... landed McKenzie, Quick, JuJu and Sawyers for instance? Would you sacrifice one of the other guys to fit a guy like Cage into the class? Seems like bizzaro-world where we pass on a guy like JuJu in order to take a 3 star DT we offered a week ago in desperation.

I feel like I just don't know enough about exactly where BVG wants to go to fully answer these questions, but I think if you look at overall DL depth, even taking into account that we will need a pure space-eating NT more rarely, we need two DTs.

That said, there is no way the bolded will happen. Juju has a spot. We make room if necessary. That's what they've been saying on BGI.

The rubber meets the road with the other 3, IMO. We need a playmaker who can return kicks and punts, but we don't need three of them. At the same time, I don't know who you turn away in this group. All 3 are different players who bring something different to the table.

As always, I think it will depend significantly on the timing.

And really, we can take a max of 5 guys. We have a max of 7 interested prospects. It will definitely be a stunner if we have to turn anyone away.

 

[Emcee77]

I imagine Utupo would lose his 5Y to make room.

I don't think it will even come to that. There will be one or two transfers/medicals before fall camp starts. Maybe Josh Atkinson, maybe Jalen Brown, maybe someone totally unforeseen.

 

[Luckylucci]

My preference would be IM/ MQ, Alexander, Sawyers and Cage/ Mokwua. Can't afford to gamble with DL #s (as we learned last season).



I imagine Utupo would lose his 5Y to make room.

I've been assuming that if the right 5 want in, Utopo wouldn't get his 5th. I think that Utopo would get pushed out for any of the prospects still left on the board.

Cage, Mokwuah, Sawyers, Alexander, Juju, Quick, and Mckenzie. So if somehow we are able to get any 5 of these six I think we do it. Now if we are on the verge of getting all six we'd most likely tell our least favorite DT, no thank you, and take the rest. But those would be some first world problems for the ND recruiting staff, haha.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I don't think it will even come to that. There will be one or two transfers/medicals before fall camp starts. Maybe Josh Atkinson, maybe Jalen Brown, maybe someone totally unforeseen.

That's a great point. Assuming he's willing to be in limbo until fall camp, that's an effective way to combat our inevitable off-season attrition.

 

[ACamp1900]

Whichever two we can get

 

[irishog77]

I brought it up before, but I'm not totally sold on Alexander. I think he's a fine prospect, but DT and KR/PR/Playmaker/Differencemaker seems like such a bigger need than CB. I mean I wouldn't be upset if ND landed him or anything though.

I know it's been mentioned that Alexander could be a return man as well. But in the mold of MQ or IM? Would he ever have as much of an impact as Juju on the defense and in the secondary?

We're discussing above a potential numbers crunch. In the hypothetical game, I'd take Juju, MQ, IM, and any combo of the DT's before Alexander. But a lot of that opinion is just based on the way the team is currently constructed and its current make up-- the roster needs all those other players. I'm not sure the roster "needs" Alexander.

Of course it's highly doubtful Juju, IM, MQ, 2 of the DT's AND Alexander all will pick ND, but since we're playing the "what if" game...