ndomer4

Great analysis and I couldn’t agree more. QBs are drooling at the opportunity to play under Lincoln Riley, Sarkisian and Day. I definitely don’t think I can say the same for Tommy Rees. I feel like we are just treading water with Rees. This is freaking ND! We should be able to attract a top 5-10 OC any season. The Gator bowl was probably the best called game I’ve seen from Rees and gives me a slight glimmer of hope. There was more motion, misdirection, various formations, creativity, etc.. but still, he makes that call on 1st and goal. If we lose that game, I’m not sure he’s here next year. You can line up and run it straight at a Boston College or Syracuse, but you can’t vs OSU or USC. Heck, our version of pulling out all the bells and whistles was a fu cking tight end sneak… really? You have all day to come up with ideas and that’s it? This is the prove it year for Rees and he can’t use Pyne as the scapegoat anymore.

This is what I think needs to happen for ND to be elite next season. I am predicting a transfer from Styles, Lewis and I think both Ademilolas are leaving? QB-Hartman, Buchner. RB- Diggs/Estime, Price/Love. TE- Evans , Staes. WR- Merriweather, Smith. WR- Colzie, Greathouse. WR- Thomas, James. T- Alt, Baker. G- Kristofic, Schrauth. C- Correll, Coogan. G- Spindler, Chan. T- Fisher, Carmody. DE- Mills, Nana, Ford. DT- Cross, Onye. NG- Rubio, Keanaaina. Vyper- Botelho, Burnham. WLB- Prince Kollie, Marist. MLB- JD, Junior. Rover- Sneed, Kiser. CB- Benjamin Morrison, Mickey. S- Watts, Walters. S- Henderson/Barnes, Shuler. CB- Hart, Gray. There are some projections here, but it’s a really solid roster. If Kollie and Sneed can develop then this team has the potential to be scary good. Same goes for guys like Rubio, Mills, Ford, Burnham, Nana and Botelho. We lack depth and talent on the d line and that is the spot that is going to determine if we win 8 games or 11. I am really high on Botelho, he’s a dude and I think he can get 10+ sacks. Rubio needs to get stronger at the point of attack and we need another pass rusher to emerge. I’ll predict either Ford or Burnham.

While OP was overly critical, ND no doubt needs better QB play than what Buchner has provided in his short time. Riley, Day, Meyer, etc.. seem to have stud after stud and ND hasn’t had a true Heisman contender at QB since Quinn and even then… None of the elite QBs struggle with simple things like footwork, throwing mechanics, ball security, pocket presence and accuracy. Buchner is nearly horrific in all of those and at this stage, I’m not sure it’s entirely fixable. Maybe I’d be more confident if Riley was coaching him, but he isn’t. Sam Hartman is ND’s only hope for a playoff run next year.

I think he is referring to this: https://247sports.com/Season/2022-Football/CollegeTeamTalentComposite/ For reference, ND has more 4 star commits for 2023 than TCU currently has on their roster. TCU obviously has a coaching advantage over ND. Dykes and Company clearly outcoached Harbaugh, and we know he’s a really good coach. What TCU is doing is capitalizing off of a senior laden team. In the NIL and portal era, ND is gonna need to recruit like they did in 2023 and hope that every 2-3 years, they have a senior laden team with a bunch of experience. TCU has this, along with a Heisman contender at QB (ND sorely needs this… looking at you Sam Hartman!). TCU is also much bigger on the defensive line than Notre Dame currently is. The defensive line will make or break ND next year. ND had two teams in the Kelly era that I think could have legitimately won a national championship. 2015 and 2018 were both missing one piece, an elite QB. Put a Trevor Lawrence, Bryce Young, Caleb Williams, CJ Stroud, etc… on those teams and I think they win a title or come really close. Whether it’s recruiting or coaching or development or a mix of the three… I don’t know. What I do know is ND better figure out the QB position and do it quickly.

Pretty much agree with everything you said here. I think we will continue rotating safeties next year. Henderson has shown some range, maybe they move Lewis or Barnes or Riley if they all stay? During His first training camp, I kept reading that Justin Walters was an interception machine. Haven’t heard a peep about him since.

Smythe is making plays as well. Imagine if Eifert didn’t have his career cut short due to injuries. I wonder how productive Brock Wright would have been if he had a more featured role here. I think he was a five star recruit, wasn’t he? Regardless, he’s turned into quite the player for Detroit.

We recruit tight end better than almost anyone and we have some dudes at linebacker, we just need them to develop by next year. We have some really talented receivers as well, just didn’t have the QB to utilize them. Watts and Henderson are probably two of the better athletes we’ve had at safety, but are inexperienced. This could be a concern but I think they will be fine. I could also see Barnes cross training at safety. D line is a concern but we’ve seen flashes from Mills and Botelho. Who do you think will emerge on the defensive line?

If ND gets Hartman, I see no reason they can’t be a playoff team next year. We return practically everyone on offence next year and the one hole there, the receiving core, wasn’t fully utilized due to Pyne locking onto Mayer and his inability to see down the field. Our top 3 guys are massive humans, We have 3 top recruits coming in, a transfer and Styles (who looked great in 2021… did he have an undisclosed injury?). I think Hartman will show the country how good these guys are. The corner situation is as good as it has been in years, safety is a revolving door but Watts and Henderson are capable. It’s going to come down to the front seven. Can JD, Marist, Prince and Sneed take another step? We have a bunch of guys who will rotate on the d line, who is going to replace Foskey? Justin Ademilola? Ford? Gobaira? Nana? Onye? Botelho? Vernon? I think this years team with a solid QB could have beaten any of those playoff teams, minus UGA. So what are your question marks and who do you feel answers them? QB? Hartman LB? Kollie and Sneed DE? Botelho

Will he even get drafted? Wish him all the best, but I’m not sure he put enough on tape to go any higher than rounds 5-7.

I really hope Ohio State wins. I’m sick of the SEC domination and I hate UGA. College football is way too regionalized and I’d love nothing more than watching OSU play TCU. It’s going to be tough for OSU without Treveyon Henderson. Still, UGA struggled with LSU’s passing game, imagine what Stroud and company might do to them.

9-4 won’t cut it next year. The losses vs Marshall and Stanford will not be tolerated moving forward.

So Freeman was 4-2 vs ranked teams this year at game time. At the end of the year, ND is probably 2-2, with a win vs top 25 South Carolina and top 10 Clemson. Two road losses to top 10 teams, one to a playoff team and another to a team likely one play away from a playoff. ND showed up in big games this year, which was encouraging to see from Freeman and a welcome change from the Kelly regime. Freeman made great strides this year and many showed up in this game, such as half time adjustments, strategic use of timeouts and the special teams call (which likely swung the game in our favour).

Ian Book baby!!!!

This is a harsh post... We are talking about a guy in his third start who hadn't played in over three months due to a serious shoulder injury. Embarrassing he was recruited to be a QB here? Only one team put up more points against South Carolina (Georgia with 48). The offence accounted for 558 total yards and Tyler accounted for 5 touchdowns for ND. No MAC QB is putting up that showing vs South Carolina. Sure, they had guys out, but so did we. That's a wash. Noodle arm? Not quite. His throwing mechanics and footwork are atrocious, if he can work on that he has a chance. How many DIV 1 Qbs make that throw to Lenzy? That was a 50 yard dot, with a man in his face while fading back in the pocket. Besides the accuracy and throwing/footwork mechanics, he also doesn't have a great feel for the pocket and can be reckless with the football. I think he needs to learn under Hartman, but anyone who thinks he is the saviour needs to take off the rose coloured glasses. To be clear, I called for Pyne all offseason because I knew Buchner would struggle if teams forced him to throw from the pocket. He can be lethal with the zone read and definitely has some potential. Can Rees develop him? Likely not. The difference between Pyne and Buchner is Buch likely contributes to a few turnovers versus a Syracuse or Clemson and we lose those games. Pyne is not bringing ND back in that game, but he likely isn't tossing three picks. There was a big difference from the Buchner we saw vs Marshall to the South Carolina game. I saw a little more composure and less of the Hendrix-esque awkwardness in his movements. At the very least, he showed he might be able to improve enough to win the job in 2024.

I am probably in the minority on this, but I would like to see Lenzy come back for another year. From what people who went to the games have said, he was open A LOT. Pyne just couldn’t see him or get the ball deep. He is lethal on the jet sweep and really stretches the field. I don’t see anyone on the roster who is a straight burner. I think he could really take off with Hartman at QB. I hope he decides to come back and Freeman welcomes him.

Man, is this guy a conundrum or what? The deep ball to Lenzy… fading back in the pocket and throws a dime to Lenzy on his back foot with a man in his face. Pyne can’t make that throw. He threw a beautiful crossing route on third down with a man in his face. The two TD runs were Wimbush-esque. The first pick was tipped, but I think the reason it was tipped was because of his wonky throwing motion (boy, is it ugly!). As others have mentioned, he pushes the ball and it greatly impacts his accuracy. This isn’t comparable to Phillip Rivers as he is throwing the ball and just releases it sidearm, I’m not sure Buchner’s motion is fixable at this point in his career. I actually thought Thomas or whoever he flipped it to on the second INT should have caught it. Third pick should have never happened, a terrible decision from Buch and an even worse call from Rees. I think Tyler should stay at ND, get his degree, back up Hartman (fingers crossed he comes here) and learn from him. I think he might be able to develop and win the job in 2024. If not, I still think he can play a big part in the zone read game next year.

- I blame Rees for calling that pass, but Buchner is not without fault for that mind boggling throw. South Carolina could not stop our run game, I put that call on par with the Seattle INT in the Super Bowl. - Thunder and lightning. Diggs and Estime are a really good combination. Diggs has supreme vision, patience and balance. Estime is big but is really explosive. - The o line continued their dominance. I also thought Evans and Staes were great in the run game. - We will miss Foskey. I was surprised Boetelho did not start, thought he was much more productive than Junior. - Buchner was lethal in the run game. I do not trust him to drop back and throw when the game is on the line, but I think we could use him as a zone read QB and solid backup.

I wouldn’t mind keeping him and using him in the red zone and other situations with the zone read. When he really sold the fake, he was lethal. Hats off to Buchner, he played his heart out, but Hartman is the guy to lead this team. I just don’t trust Buchner when he drops back to throw.

At this point, I am not convinced until I see him run out of the tunnel in the blue and gold. I just have a feeling ND will be outbid for his services. I'm at the point now where I'm already thinking of ways to minimize this. Maybe Buchner shows up with completely different throwing mechanics and footwork, and beats the snot out of South Carolina? Maybe he runs for 100 yards and throws for 200 yards? Regardless, this is a massive open tryout for Tyler, whether it's for ND or a school he potentially transfers to.

Well in todays day and age there are way more decommits. I also looked mostly from about 2010-2020. I omitted recent flips as it’s too early to tell if they are going to turn into productive players. I understand your post and I can see how ND fanatics, like myself, can perpetuate this narrative. It is funny, but I would still argue that the majority of guys who flip (especially multiple times), rarely turn into really good college players, regardless of their choice of university or amateur team. My guess is these guys are easily distracted and lack discipline/integrity. I’d also surmise that they might be enjoying the benefits football brings to them off the field more than they enjoy the grind. If this is true, it makes sense for these guys to cash in ASAP. When I was being recruited in Canada (2010), I was a low to mid level recruit. The minute I committed to the University of Waterloo, I was done. The next day, the three other schools recruiting me called and I politely told them I had committed to Waterloo and thanked them for everything. I get this is a different level with the money, media coverage and NIL, but to me, a commitment is a commitment. Don’t commit if you’re not 100%. Some might disagree, but I think players who do this lack many valuable traits and that is why they rarely find success. Sorry for going off, this just irritates me. Rant done.

Well I just listed a number of guys who flipped from ND, the majority of them did absolutely nothing (13 busts to 4 stars). Here you are mocking the narrative, without providing any evidence. I've compiled a list of guys who flip flopped and the trend is that they are more likely to not pan out. You keep saying it is sour grapes, yet I have shown a trend. Go show me all the flips from ND who turned into something...

I wonder if any of the recruiting guys here can chime in, but I used to follow recruiting closely and I cannot recall many of these guys panning out, if any. Flip flopping between schools as leverage (this "NIL" crap has been going on for years) and transferring all over the place. I would be willing to bet the majority of these guys don't truly love the game, but love what it can do for them. Whether it's the publicity, money, or whatever. Once you get to college, everyone is uber talented, its just the guys who love the game put in that extra work in the gym or film room and that makes a huge difference. Off the top of my head: Tee Shepherd, Eddie Vanderdoes, Aaron Lynch, Gunner Kiel, Danny Mattingly, Elijah Hood, Deontay Greenberry, Deion Walker, Omar Hunter, Chris Harper, Knox, Robert Beal, Demetris Robertson. Fewer turned out: Alex Anzalone, Taylor Decker, Ronald Darby, Aaron Lynch. Help me out if I'm missing any.

Hartman is an accurate downfield passer and mobile enough to pick up first downs with his legs, as well as buy time if he needs. He doesn't have the strongest arm, but has a ton of experience and does a good job of protecting the football. Wake runs a quirky offence where they over exaggerate and extend the read option. I am confident in saying he will be running a completely difference offence here, but regardless, I think he will be deadly hitting downfield throws off play action. My biggest issue now is another school outbidding us. Welcome to College Football in 2022, a time where Sam Hartman is going to make more money playing his 6th year of college football than he would as a late round NFL Draft pick.

Tyson Ford

Truly disappointing. I actually think he’s the best tight end I’ve seen at ND since I started watching in 2004. What a shame his career got cut short due to injuries.