Yeah, the 18-42 thing is well known, not sure I had heard the pointed towards the dome thing, but that sounds legit too.
You call yourself fans?! I, of course, knew all of that information. I'm happy you could educate these subpar Notre Dame fans. I literally had never heard that.
I’d rather have a potentially good freshman start over a definitely not good 5th year in most cases, but at A&M week one is a different beast
If Knapp truly did win out, it’s likely because he won it and Baker didn’t flat out lose it. Because at least with Baker I’m sure the coaching staff figures he has a decently high floor.
Frankly, the Pendleton thing surprises me more than Knapp. Again though, I’ll believe this when we see it. This could really just be the media jumping on something small they see in the tiny bit of practice time they’re privy to.
disagree. If ever there were a situation they were going to give the 5th year senior the benefit it’s here. But time and again, year after year he’s passed by younger guys. This isn’t a one off situation where a young phenom is just too good to keep off the field. The writing has been on the wall for a while now and even in the most extreme and dire situations he’s flat out not good enough.
If one is consistently better in practice, especially against our defense, that's the one I want taking the field August 31 regardless of experience.
While this is 100% true, Baker at least showed his ability to be serviceable in the bowl game. So with that in mind, Knapp had to have gone at least a bit above and beyond that already to win the job for game 1. Again, assuming this is actually happening.
I simply do not know enough about the progress of these kids but I am now decidedly more nervous for that game against Aggie
II offense practice Spoiler Notre Dame's work-in-progress offensive line remains its work-in-progress offensive line. That much remained evident Thursday morning inside the program's Irish Athletics Center, where a light rain and a forecast of impending storms brought Notre Dame indoors. While the Irish, barring another setback, are locked in from center-right on the offensive front, their left brigade remains in flux. Ashton Craig at center, Billy Schrauth at right guard and Aamil Wagner are going to be starters in 16 days when No. 7 Notre Dame opens its season at No. 20 Texas A&M. Beyond that? The battles remain ongoing and the workloads remain part of the competitive landscape, which sees true freshman Anthonie Knapp continuing to push at left tackle while redshirt-freshman Sam Pendleton is surging at left guard. Both Knapp and Pendleton worked with the opening offensive unit during the early portion of Notre Dame's Thursday work, with each player remaining with the No. 1 offense throughout the tempo period. Tosh Baker worked with the No. 2 offense at left tackle, Rocco Spindler was the No. 2 guard, Pat Coogan continues to get work as the team's backup center and Sullivan Absher continues to emerge in the mix for perhaps the No. 3 guard spot. Guerby Lambert has continued his climb and worked at the No. 2 right tackle spot. But Knapp and Pendleton weren't just with the Riley Leonard-Jeremiyah Love backfield that opened tempo for the Irish; even as Notre Dame shifted to various drills and stations throughout the IAC, Knapp and Pendleton continued to feature with the aforementioned trio of starters. Pendleton is only five pounds slimmer than Pat Coogan. Even if he might lack some of Coogan's power, he's much more agile. During individual drills, the interior offensive lineman worked on pulling to the left or right side in sets of two. Craig, Coogan and Joe Otting still snapped the ball, but Pendleton, who was paired up with fellow offensive guard Sullivan Absher, did not. Craig and Schrauth worked together in this drill. Both exploded off the snap, got to top speed quickly, and blocked with authority. Those traits fit with an emphasis on a more athletic offensive line. It's evident this coaching staff is heavily repping offensive linemen trying to find the best five to give the Irish a chance to return to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020. Notre Dame essentially wraps up the camp portion of its preseason work this weekend and then shifts into full-scale game-prep for the Aggies. It's also move-in weekend at Notre Dame, where classes resume next week. For Knapp, he's remaining in the mix because he's handling everything thrown his way – not to perfection, but constantly learning and growing, sources tell Irish Illustrated. Additionally, the staff loves his physicality, power and athleticism. Even though he's only around 300 pounds, Knapp has good strength and uses his hands well. Pendleton's long been highly regarded by the Notre Dame staff, especially for his tenacity and rugged mindset up front. A consensus four-star member of the Irish's 2023 staff, he's also shown a willingness to work anywhere the coaches need him. In the backfield, Love seems to be creating some modest space as the team's starting tailback, with Jadarian Price still very involved and rookie Aneyas Williams continuing his surge. Quarterback drills saw Leonard continue to flash nice accuracy and velocity; CJ Carr seemed to really thrive in some footwork drills where quarterbacks had to navigate a potential collapsing pocket while keeping their eyes downfield. Carr also had a really nice deep throw-and-catch to Micah Gilbert. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock continued to drill down on every element of a play, halting one pass-skeleton drill where all four quarterbacks work to find every receiver on the route tree. Denbrock yelled "Details! Details!" and then paused to coach up the offensive unit, particularly the skill-position players who were motioning and running routes. In early special teams work, Mitch Jeter continued to look very solid as the Irish placekicker. The staff had great confidence in Jeter when they landed him from the NCAA Transfer Portal, but he's further bolstered that belief this camp, Irish Illustrated has been told.
Defense Spoiler Notre Dame, Ind. — Light but persistent rains relegated Marcus Freeman's Irish inside for practice today at least during the full five periods viewed by the media. Still sporting a boot on his left foot following surgery was nose tackle Gabriel Rubio, though the senior did work the exercise bike using mostly his other leg/foot at the outset. Today's first period was competitive, though not even thudding was allowed, but it did offer a look at today's edition of first- and second-seamers to begin practice. (Picture the opening skeleton 'Tempo' drill run by the offense, but in this case, there was a defense with a pass rush and live reps on the back end.) 1st DL: Jordan Botelho (Vyper), Josh Burnham (SDE), Rylie Mills (DT), Donovan Hinish (NT) 1st LBs: Jack Kiser and Drayk Bowen (Mike) Nickel: Jordan Clark DBs: Christian Gray (field), Benjamin Morrison (boundary), Adon Shuler and Xavier Watts at safety The highlight plays in this segment of five snaps were as follows: Adept outside-arm pass deflection despite turning down the left sideline by Adon Shuler Pass pressure applied by Donovan Hinish Pass defensed at the line by Rylie Mills Xavier Watts strong-side edge untouched pressure (QB Riley Leonard hit the check down to the boundary) Jaiden Ausberry subbed for Jack Kiser at Will NEXT GROUP 2nd DL: Boubacar Traore (Vyper), Bryce Young (SDE), Armel Mukam (nose), Cole Mullins (DT) 2nd LBs: Jaylen Sneed and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (Mike)( Nickel: Ben Minich DBs: Leonard Moore (wearing a red jersey to indicate no contact), Karson Hobbs (boundary), Rod Heard and Brauntae Johnson at safety Notable from the second segment of snaps: Both Luke Talich and Jaden Mickey did not rep, but both took part in the rest of the practice time we saw. We'll speak with Mickey today post-practice The same is true for RJ Oben (did not rep; but did the rest of practice) Junior Tuihalamaka subbed at Vyper and Jaiden Ausberry again at Will linebacker Brauntae Johnson made a nice diving pass defended on a crossing route Johnson broke up a deep ball intended for walk-on Matthew Jeffrey with some contact that sent the full speed Jeffrey to the ground. This was the most we've seen of Johnson in our brief media viewing periods. I had previously jotted this down regarding Johnson at the outset of practice: "Johnson—still built like a small forward—had Marcus Freeman engaged in a (joking) long chat during warm-ups. Freeman generally makes it to the bulk of the roster during this FSA stretch period. Quick look at Field Goal Block Unit 1: Christian Gray and Benjamin Morrison on the edges, Xavier Watts and Adon Shuler in the back, Jack Kiser, Drayk Bowen, Jason Onye, Rylie Mills, Jordan Botelho, and (notably) Bryce Young. Remember, Onye blocked three kicks last year—now he has the still-growing 6'7" Young alongside him. 2nd Unit (Field Goal Defense): Jaden Mickey and Leonard Moore off the edges, Rod Heard II and Luke Talich on the back end, Jaiden Ausberry ad Preston Zinter at linebacker with Howard Cross (official sighting!), Boubacar Traore, Josh Burnham, and Cole Mullins up front. The defense broke into unit work thereafter and one such drill was intriguing because it showed safeties passing off a wide receiver running an over route — basically from the right hash to the left getting more than 15 yards downfield. Underneath that deep over route running from right hash (field) to left (boundary) is a boundary hook route, but I didn't pay much attention to that aspect because it was a staff member, not a player, who played "cornerback" in each instance. No passes thrown and with scout team receivers, but here were a few combinations of safeties working on this crucial zone coverage field-to-boundary communication and receiver exchange. Ben Minich (field) to Kennedy Urlacher (boundary) Luke Talich to Xavier Watts Taebron Bennie-Powell to Adon Shuler Tae Johnson to Rod Heard After multiple reps, a Nickel defender was added to the combinations. In each case, the Nickel was Jordan Clark. Separate from the group above were a collection of five players working in pass rush (vs. air): Jack Kiser, Xavier Watts, Jaylen Sneed, Jordan Botelho, Cole Mullins, and Boubacar Traore Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Loghan Thomas, Bryce Young, Jaiden Ausberry, and Josh Burnham (The logical assumption is that there would be five defensive backs playing behind the quintets above in a blitz package.) At one point this group repped together: RJ Oben, Jordan Botelho, Jaylen Sneed, Cole Mullins, and Jack Kiser. One note for the final segment we saw (7-on-7 defense vs. a skeleton/scout offense): — Pick out the surprise name here going left to right: Christian Gray (field), Xavier Watts, Preston Zinter, Jordan Clark, Rod Heard (S), Adon Shuler (S) and Benjamin Morrison (boundary) — Jaiden Ausberry and Jaylen Sneed subbed into the package. Now, to be fair, the other linebackers (Kiser, Sneed, KVA, Ausberry) were working with the blitz package detailed above…but it's worth pointing out that Zinter wouldn't rep here—on the penultimate day of training camp, as John Brice points out—if he weren't part of the backup package. Finally: It appears Cole Mullins, formerly #42, is now wearing injured linebacker Kahanu Kia's #43.
This should help. As worried as we are about our OL, theirs is probably going to be worse. It was bad last year and their camp reports aren't promising.
I dunno, feels like they're just testing shit out, weren't there weird combos last fall too? On the optimistic side, we kind of know what Baker is at this point - he's a negative WAR player and probably always will be. If the staff thinks Knapp is better than him, then I'm ready to roll with the devil I don't know
All that money from Bontrager Pools has to go somewhere now. (I looked up a random pool supply store in South Bend for this comment)
The swimming thing is wild considering... 1. Last year was their best team ever and this next year should be better 2. Chris Giuliano is likely the #1 option for USA in the 50/100/200 free in 2028 + just got a gold medal in Paris 3. Their coach was just on the Olympic staff I have heard from good source that this is a bit of a smokescreen to justify cutting Men's Swimming entirely as the school looks to consolidate NIL money around key sports in order to compete with the top of P5. Reading the "suspended for *at least one year*" line makes me feel like that could be true but who knows
ND should not have to cut any sports i order to compete at the highest level on NIL. The money is there.
The instant analysis today is great. Sounds like this team like leanord a hell of a lot more than they like Hartman.
I thought Leonard Moore was VERY underrated as a recruit (same as BenMo)...he deserved a top 150 ranking IMO but Mickens always gets the last laugh
“This might be a stretch” is one of the best self propping statements I’ve ever seen while also giving a compliment
It's almost as if a whole industry built around projecting what 15-17 year olds who have been athletically superior to everyone around them since they were 7 do in a completely different environment as 20 year olds is a little garbage
Gonna tell my boss that this might be a stretch but the good analyst might leave here with better financial models than I built here
The Idea that these recruiting services can differentiate between #180 and #480 with any level of certainty is a foolish assumption. Especially when considering what different coaches are looking for as far as scheme fit. If we target an ol or cb early and aggressively that should always be remembered just as much as the composite rankings. The staff offered Moore in January signaling he was a pretty high priority.
I could easily be a recruiting analyst, just follow what the best position coaches offer. For a db if saban, mickens and lake offered give him a high 4 stars rating.