Hopefully you enjoyed our overview of the 2021 Notre Dame recruiting class with recruit grades and some thoughts on the class. We started a deeper dive on each position group with the offensive backfield (and shoehorned the kicker into it), then we moved on to the guys whose main job is to catch the damn ball, then checked out the hogs up front. Now we move over to the other side of the ball to review the front seven.
As a reminder, here’s our standard grading scale for this exercise:
95-100: Truly elite prospect with All-American potential
90-94: Multi-year starter with All-conference level potential
85-89: Eventual starter with chance to play as underclassman
80-84: Raw prospect with decent potential but a couple years away from impact
75-79: Likely a backup
70-74: Reach by the coaching staff
Signees
| .9474 | 92 | Gabriel Rubio | St. Peters, MO | 6-6/305 | DT | * | * | * | * | * |
| .9367 | 94 | Prince Kollie | Jonesborough, TN | 6-1/210 | LB | * | * | * | * | * |
| .8714 | 78 | Devin Aupiu | Oxnard, CA | 6-5/220 | WDE | * | * | * | * | * |
| .8713 | 84 | Will Schweitzer | Los Gatos, CA | 6-4/220 | WDE | * | * | * | * | * |
| .8709 | 83 | Kahanu Kia | Honolulu, HI | 6-2/220 | LB | * | * | * | * | * |
| .8689 | 78 | Jason Onye | Warwick, RI | 6-5/260 | SDE | * | * | * | * | * |
DT Gabriel Rubio
18S Average: 92.0
Brendan: 92
Rubio committed so early in the cycle that I think a lot of people kind of lost sight of how good he is. He’s a borderline top 100 DT who has the build (6-5/305) and skill set to possibly crack the rotation early. He has everything he needs – power, quickness, active hands, ferocity – to be a very disruptive presence at 3-tech. He was a four-year two-way starter; he played left tackle on offense and all over the line on defense. That tells you a lot there.
Eric: 92
He gets off the line quickly which is always my biggest issue trying to scout interior defenders, especially for taller linemen. Rubio’s able to penetrate immediately against high school competition and doesn’t have a problem using his speed to make plays. He looks a little clunky after his first few steps but that’s natural for someone his age with such a huge frame. Physicality shouldn’t be a problem at all. I think he offers flexibility to play on the inside or outside which could be huge for his career. He’s probably able to reach his greatest potential as a tackle but it’s possible he’s a very good strong-side end who can play the run and get after the quarterback equally well.
Tyler: 92
Rubio has excellent mobility, good burst, a great work ethic, and an early understanding of hand technique — all in the kind of frame that makes every defensive line coach salivate. He’ll get game reps in 2021, and ultimately has early draft pick potential.
LB Prince Kollie
18S Average: 94.0
Brendan: 95
Notre Dame went all out to hold onto Kollie after Clark Lea left, reportedly going head-to-head witih Alabama, Georgia, and LSU. Kollie was a low four-star when he committed to the Irish in August and a borderline top 150 player by the time that drama unfolded in December. He also took home the high school Butkus Award while Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah took the college award. Foreshadowing? Kollie’s senior highlight reel is just an endless string of murders. The way he tackles, I’ll bet a good amount of money he made some kids reconsider their life choices. He’ll be a front-line player before too long and a very good one.
Eric: 94.0
Probably the best pure athlete in this Notre Dame class. I can’t remember seeing a linebacker who could also be considered maybe the best wideout recruit in an Irish class in the past, too. I love the Tennessee connection with Clark Lea who would’ve surely be salivating at the prospect of getting Kollie on the field in the middle of the defense had he stayed here. Excellent form tackler with sideline to sideline speed. He looks very comfortable in coverage, as well. Once he commits to playing linebacker exclusively his ceiling could be scary high. If he was a little taller he’d be close to a 5-star prospect in my mind.
Tyler: 93
Prince dished out an absolutely dominant senior season and flew up the rankings as a result. The Wu comparisons have already been making their way around the internet and it’s not hard to see why. If the rover position is going to continue to exist in the Notre Dame defense under whoever is the next coordinator, then the Irish have landed the perfect prospect for it. But he’s the type of guy who you find a spot for, regardless.
WDE Devin Aupiu
18S Average: 78.3
Brendan: 81
So hard to project the Cali kids this year… The former UCLA commit’s junior film features good athleticism – I lost count of how many times he chased down a QB outside the pocket – and also not much of an idea of what he’s doing in pass rush. Supposedly the staff is drooling over that athleticism. I think Aupiu has potential because of his physical tools but it’s probably going to take a while to see it on the field. Being an early enrollee helps, certainly. How much? We’ll see.
Eric: 76
This is a big kid who should fill out and be pushing 290 pounds when it’s all said and done. My biggest concern is that he’s quite slow off the ball. It’s possible that he grows into his body and adds more explosiveness. I think his size and length keeps him from being a reach but I think he’ll be a long-term project for the Irish.
Tyler: 78
He’s got a really great frame. Probably not twitchy enough of an athlete to stay at Vyper — at least based on junior film — and it might take him some time to get to where he needs to be physically to play the strong side. I’m interested in seeing how he has developed during spring ball.
WDE Will Schweitzer
18S Average: 83.7
Brendan: 83
Schweitzer is yet another kid who’s hard to predict, both because he didn’t have a senior season and because he mostly played a diferent position than he will at Notre Dame. Schweitzer was predominantly a MLB, although he did take plenty of snaps at DE. He projects as a WDE for the Irish, with – stop me if you’ve heard this one – plus athleticism but an uncertain ceiling due to the scope of the unknowns. I think his tape shows some promise; like Aupiu, I think Schweitzer could be something but I have no idea what yet.
Eric: 84
He has the burst and quickness to play defensive end which was my first area of focus. Reminds me of a bigger Jack Lamb coming out of high school. I really like his athleticism and ability to grow into his body. I’m guessing he’ll get up to 260 pounds pretty quickly and turn into a quality defensive end.
Tyler: 84
I hadn’t watched Will’s film since he committed back in August, and I forgot how athletic he is. Most of his film to date is at middle linebacker, but his high school team does utilize him as a defensive end in certain situations. His twitchy athleticism really pops in those clips and I think he has a bright future as a Vyper once he grows accustomed to playing defensive end full-time.
LB Kahanu Kia
18S Average: 83.3
Brendan: 84
Kia looks like a true diamond in the rough, a kid who didn’t get as noticed this year because it was hard for people to leave the mainland. He’s really athletic, he’s active, and he hits like a Mack truck. The staff fought hard to get this double Utah legacy, and reportedly the Utah staff was really bummed about bigger programs getting involved with him. He could end up as an athletic linebacker or a super athletic edge rusher. The main question for me relates to his LDS mission; if he takes it after his freshman season, as he has said in the past, it becomes very hard to guess how and when he’ll be able to make an impact. But better to have him in the fold!
Eric: 82
I’ve learned not to underestimate any Notre Dame commits from Hawaii nor do the same for players who Clark Lea thinks should play linebacker for Notre Dame. I definitely see Kia as a middle linebacker while playing for the Irish. I don’t see the same length, twitch, or speed like Marist Liufau but I think Kia can be a useful Mike linebacker in the mold of Bo Bauer.
Tyler: 84
Great instincts. Plays like his hair is on fire. Hawaiian kids are just built different, man. Pretty much every time I watch a Hawaiian kid’s film I come away impressed with his attitude and physicality — Kahanu is no different. He’ll find his way onto the field at Notre Dame.
SDE Jason Onye
18S Average: 78.3
Brendan: 79
We once again have only junior film to go off, so his game could be different now. What I see on that film though is a big-framed kid (6-5/250) with some decent movement, and a whole lot of rawness. He’s a developmental project for sure; whether he’ll develop into Ade Ogundeji or Kofi Wardlow, I don’t know. Way too hard to project anything with certainty here.
Eric: 76
By far the most raw prospect in this class and maybe of the last few classes. Given the layout of the roster and in this 2021 class I think he’s absolutely pegged to play defensive tackle. Most expect him to add considerable weight anyway and I’m not sure he has the skill-set, speed, and burst to stick at strong-side defensive end. I don’t see many pass rushing skills anyway, so I’d move him inside as soon as possible and develop him that way.
Tyler: 80
I don’t think there’s any doubt that Onye is the most raw prospect in this class of 2021 commits for Notre Dame. He hasn’t been playing football for very long and he’s mostly succeeding based on size and raw athleticism against weaker Rhode Island competition. He’s bulked up to 260 pounds this year, and it’s possible he ends up bulking up enough to shift inside. I like his potential but he’s going to take some time to get game-ready.
Kind of a disappointing haul, especially considering how good our defense has been the past few years, no? Someday we’re going to have to get one of those elite, can’t miss pass rushers if we’re truly going to compete for National Titles.
Well… We signed one of those guys in 2020 in Jordan Botelho and we have a commitment from one in the 2022 cycle in Tyson Ford. Who knows, maybe we got one on this class too; I don’t know how much stock to put in the 2021/22 ratings because there were a lot of kids nobody got to see.
I think Kia, for example, has potential as a plus pass rusher on the weak side. Same for Schweitzer. And I think Rubio can be very disruptive on the interior. I get it, believe me, and I wish we had landed somebody like Dallas Turner (#8 overall, Alabama), but on the other hand we’ve done a pretty good job of finding and developing defensive ends lately. So the staff gets a bit more leeway from me, on this position at least.
Yeah, it would be nice to have some guys who are elite and obviously high-end future NFL high draft picks, but it seems like the depth and quality of the ND lines are good enough to compete.
So I wouldn’t turn my nose up at better pass rushers or better players anywhere, but I also wouldn’t say based on the last two ND/Clemson and ND/Bama games the takeaway was “wow ND needs better big guys”. They’ve pretty much evened the odds there. Notre Dame needs more Waddle’s and Devonta’s and Amari Rodgers’ and Trevor Lawrence’s for skill players as 1st round QB/WR types to really take the next step more than anything else.
I don’t think we’ve come close to evening the odds there. We haven’t had a DE that would make anybody concerned in years. Nobody was gameplanning to take away Julian Okwara or Daelin Hayes.
Although I do agree we have bigger concerns at QB and WR. But I don’t see us competing for a title without a stud DE, QB, WR, and probably CB all on the roster at the same time. Kelly has built up a base in recruiting that should keep us good to very good every single year. But in my opinion, to compete for a title, he needs to supplement that base with at least 1 five star at each of those positions every 2-3 years.
I think you are correct, we can’t punch through where we are now without significantly upgrading the offensive skill positions and cornerback.
Who was our last great pass rusher? Tuitt I guess? Tillery as an interior guy, OK, but our 2018 line (which also included Okwara) was nowhere near the 2018 Clemson line.
It’s possible we were further away than Bama or Clemson at WR than defensive line last year, sure, but that’s just relative. We’re really not close at almost any position other than tight end and offensive line. Almost all of their guys would start almost all of our guys if on the same team.
Okwara was certainly a great pass rusher when he was on, 8 sacks the one year.
Clemson’s only had a 10+ sack guy once in the last 3 years, Bama none. It’s not like they’re churning out players with way better stats, ND is lesser but if they have Okwara/Kareem/Hayes/Ade players that is not a huge, huge gap IMO to the pass rushers of the elite teams by the time Notre Dame has senior DEs.
I disagree with the DE part of the statement “But I don’t see us competing for a title without a stud DE, QB, WR, and probably CB”
Who was LSU’s DE’s? No one knows or cares. Upgrade the skill players in a major way for Notre Dame and they’re making competitive games against the best teams.
LSU put together the greatest offense in college football history. A roster that had 14 draft picks, including 5 in the first round (including 2 first rounders from their defensive front 7, I might add). Sure, if we do that, I will admit we can win championships.
I’ve been beating the drum here for years that we need to upgrade our offensive skill positions. I don’t debate that for a second. But we just aren’t close to them in terms of sacking the QB, no matter what you say. In our losses to Clemson/Alabama, we were outsacked 8 to 3. Since 2016, we have had one season where a player exceeded 6 sacks; Clemson has had at least 2 guys over that number every year since 2016, except 2020, the year they lost 2 games. Alabama has had at least 1 guy over that number every years since 2016, and they’ve even had 4 guys crack that number in a single season.
Clemson had 3 D Linemen taken in the first round of the 2019 draft, and 4 D Linemen in total drafted. Since 2016, Alabama has had at least 1 D Lineman drafted in the first round, and at least 3 members of their front 7 drafted in total.
Clemson DL had 22.5 sacks in 2020. Alabama DL had 20.5 (including the pass-rushing OLB in their 3-4 D). ND DL had 23.5. The entire Clemson D had 46 (Venables does love to send people), entire Alabama D had 35, entire ND D had 31. So not only did the ND DL lead Clemson and Alabama’s DL in raw numbers, they were also well ahead as a percentage of the overall team’s performance.
How long did the DL have to get to Jones in the playoff this year? Alabama receivers had something like 250 yards after the catch because Bama schemed up a ton of quick hitters, both to counter our deep coverage and our pass rush. How long did they have to get to Lawrence in 2018 after Love and Okwara went down? (With both in the game, btw, Lawrence averaged about 4.5 yards per attempt.)
DL is a strength of this team. I agree we could use a dude or two on a regular basis, but the DL talent is good enough to compete. I agree with Hooks that the gap is narrower than people think and that the DL is not what’s holding us back. Would better raw talent make it a better unit? Sure! But I don’t think it’s an obstacle to a title.
We were outsacked 10-5 in the 3 games against Clemson and Alabama, 8-2 if you ignore the game where Clemson played with a backup QB.
I’m looking at the matchups in the games we actually played head to head with our national title contenders. Look at the pass rushers who are being drafted by NFL teams. Great, we got 8 sacks against a Louisville team that finished 4-7. Getting 5 sacks against a GT team trying to learn how to pass again is also good. These types of results are how you raise the floor of a program, and I have no doubt that we have a good d line.
But that good pass rush only showed up in 1 big game last year, against UNC. Against the teams that are truly our competition for National Titles, we could not pressure the QB.
Perhaps part (not all) of that sack difference was our QB’s reluctance to throw the ball and from having to throw the ball due to the score. Upgrading at DL is needed but that position group would rank somewhere in the middle if we were to rank position groups on which had the biggest need of improvement.
Going down respective depth charts for Clemson and ND last year:
LT – Eichenberg vs. Jackson Carman – Edge: ND ++
LG – Banks vs. Matt Bockhorst – Edge: ND ++
C – Patterson vs. Cade Stewart – Edge: ND ++
RG – Kraemer vs. Will Putnam – Edge: ND +
RT – Hainsey vs. Jordan McFadden – Edge: ND ++
TE – Mayer vs. Braden Galloway – Edge: ND +++
WR – Austin vs. Cornell Powell – Edge: Clem ++
WR – Lenzy vs. Amari Rodgers – Edge: Clem +++
WR – McKinley vs. EJ Williams – Edge: Push (McKinley had much better production, albeit as a #1)
QB – Book vs. Trevor Lawrence – Edge: Clem +++
RB – Williams vs. Travis Etienne – Edge: Clem +
Our OL/TE were waaaay better than theirs. Their QB and WRs were waaaay better than ours. RB was much closer to even than we would’ve thought preseason.
DE – Hayes/Foskey vs. KJ Henry – Edge: Push (Essentially equal production)
DT – MTA vs. Tyler Davis – Edge: Clem + (Gap is narrower than you’d think)
DT – Hinish vs. Bryan Bresee – Edge: Clem + (Likewise)
DE – Ogundeji vs. Myles Murphy – Edge: Clem + (And again!)
Rov/Sam – JOK vs. Mike Jones – Edge: ND +++ (LOL)
Mike – White vs. James Skalski – Edge: ND ++ (White blows Skalski out of the water in production)
Will – Liufau/Simon vs. Baylon Spector – Edge: Clem ++ (Spector is a fantastic player)
CB – Lewis vs. Derion Kendrick – Edge: Push (Lewis has better numbers, and Kendrick was a WR two years ago who has a rep for avoiding contact)
FS – Crawford vs. Nolan Turner – Edge: Push (Production essentially the same)
SS – Hamilton vs. Lannden Zanders – Edge: ND +++ (HAMILTON!)
CB – McCloud vs. Andrew Booth – Edge: Clem ++ (Booth is really good)
What jumps out for me in this exercise is that the gap is narrower across the board than people tend to think, especially if they can move past the eye-roll at the notion that, say, Kurt Hinish is actually a good football player. And also that the gap at QB and WR is enormous.
More great players is *always* a positive. I’m not saying we wouldn’t benefit from recruiting better across the board. I do think that we’re good enough in a lot of spots and need just a couple of guys – maybe 2-3 more top 100 guys, 1-2 top 50 guys, 1 five star – per year at key spots to push us over the top.
Oh, and I used Austin and Lenzy in the WR comparison to be fair about the talent recruited to campus. Although come to think of it, in that case I should’ve swapped out EJ Williams for Joe Ngata and given the edge to Clemson there. But that reinforces the overall point about skill position talent deficit.
Also also… I’m comparing who these players are right now. Bryan Bresee will very likely end up as a more productive player than Kurt Hinish at similar points in their careers, but that’s not the question under consideration. This is a balance sheet, not an investment prospectus.
Agreed, our skill position talent deficit is massive, and I started this discussion by noting we need upgrades at QB and WR on the offensive side of the ball.
Your very first comment was “Someday we’re going to have to get one of those elite, can’t miss pass rushers if we’re truly going to compete for National Titles.”
And that’s probably not untrue since obviously it’s better to have better players anywhere.
But really, the “can’t miss” type of player Notre Dame needs is a Heisman finalist QB. That is pretty much what wins the majority of playoff games in recent history, unless you are Bama and have a machine (even though they also had a Heisman finalist QB).
Wait now I’m extremely confused. Your roster breakdown essentially agrees with what I’ve been saying; they’re better than us across the D Line, we’re basically even at DB, and if we could bring in 1 5 star pass rusher, we would be right there with them defensively, the 3rd best team in the country last year. Right?
No, you’re saying Clemson is massively better than us across the DL and I’m saying the gap isn’t as big as you think. I was actually close to putting Davis/MTA as a push, and Ogundeji and Murphy aren’t that far away from each other either. I really think the quality of the DL has very little to do with why we couldn’t hang in the ACC CG or the playoff semi.
Mac Jones attempted 31 passes in the semifinal game. *25* of them were within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. Why do you think that is? Partly it’s because Lea played a lot of two deep safety to avoid us getting torched long, but that doesn’t explain the extent of it. We had shown ability to rush the passer all year, so Sark drew up a game plan based around quick hitters.
Alabama attempted one pass longer than 20 yards – the one Hamilton almost picked off early, which made them stay away from him for the rest of the game.
The other deep shots they dialed up, pressure generally got to Jones and made him move but he dumped it off before they could get home. Yes, would be great if they get home, but this idea that the DL was completely ineffective is just not aligned with what actually happened.
We got torched by Alabama – just like Ohio State did, let’s not forget – because they have Najee Harris (#2 overall recruit), Devonta Smith (#62 overall recruit), John Metchie (#275 but played to a better rating), Jahleel Billingsley (#308, same) and an extremely accurate QB. I mean Smith won the Heisman and he wasn’t even the best WR on the team – that was Jaylen Waddle (#39), who missed most of the year with a broken leg.
Same explanation behind why Clemson and Oklahoma got torched by LSU in 2019. Joe Burrow (#1 pick), Justin Jefferson (#22), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (#32), and Ja’Marr Chase (about to be a top ten pick). LSU’s DL was nothing special, certainly not clearly better than ours.
2020 Clemson was the furthest from winning a national title in recent memory. And even then, nobody would even pause if asked which defensive line they would prefer to have. Look at Clemson’s front from their last national championship team; ND couldn’t even match that group if you combined all of our best pass rushers from the past 5 years into 1 unit.
And yes, I understand our D Line was better than 2019 LSU’s. But again, we’re not going to recruit 14 NFL Draft picks. Comparing anything about ND to the greatest offense in college football history is crazy! We have no chance of putting together a roster of 14 NFL Draft picks; we do have a realistic chance to pull in 1 single game wrecking pass rusher.
If you want to build a national title contender at ND, which is how this whole discussion started, I don’t think there’s any chance you’re going to do it by replicating 2019 LSU, because there’s a 0% chance ND will ever be able to recruit that many stars.
One more elite pass rusher, while definitely a positive, would do very little to solve the problem of Devonta Smith running circles around our secondary (or OSU’s). Clemson’s so-much-better DL did less than that to stop Chris Olave from leaving scorch marks all over Kendrick.
One more elite pass rusher would have done absolutely nothing to solve the problem of Ben Skowronek and Javon McKinley’s inability to pose any real deep threat to Alabama. Just having Austin would’ve drawn some attention and at least opened up the middle of the field a bit more. Having Austin and Lenzy, who knows.
Our offense – and anyone’s really – is going to sputter against any talented team if we don’t have explosive play threats in the passing game. That’s the reality of modern CFB. It’s great that we’ve cornered the market on developing big-bodied power receivers, but we need to get and develop more speed guys. Austin, Lenzy, JJ, Watts, Styles are all that kind of receiver. We just need to get/and or keep them on the field and step it up further from that.
Again, coming back to the main point, I don’t think DL is close to the biggest problem we have in chasing a NC today. I think it’s good enough as is. I think we need better raw material at DB and WR and an elite QB, and then to catch some breaks.
Patented MOTS self-reply…
2018 Clemson: Trevor Lawrence, Tee Higgins, and Justyn Ross combine to torch ND by 27 and Alabama by 28.
2019 LSU: Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Justin Jefferson combine to torch Oklahoma by 35 and Clemson by a not-that-close 17.
2020 Alabama: Mac Jones, Devonta Smith, and John Metchie (and Najee Harris) combine to torch ND by not-that-close 17 and Ohio State by 28.
2018 Alabama, 2019 Clemson, and 2020 Ohio State all had more recruiting stars on the DL than 2020 ND. And all got smoked.
“Patented MOTS self-reply…”
Haven’t seen one of those in a long time!
Appreciate all your thoughts here.
Going to include more thoughts to your broader point in a longer reply below, but people absolutely gameplanned to take away Julian Okwara. Virginia chose not to in 2019 – they singled him – and he destroyed them. Same for Ogundeji this year. He drew attention for sure.
Okwara had 5 sacks in 2019 and was a 3rd round pick. I don’t see ND winning a national title with Okwara or Ogundeji as their #1 pass rusher.
They totally could, especially with an Okwara-type talent. His problem was injuries. The deeper issue is Clemson can replace an injured/suspended player and ND can’t to the same level, which is a real concern and difference. Clemson’s #12-24 (backups) are surely way, way better than Notre Dame’s right now.
But #1-11, as Brendan pointed out, isn’t a huge issue. Okwara had 8 sacks in 2018, a playoff year, which is right in line with Clemson and Bama’s leading sack players for the most part. It generally takes ND a while to develop and time their DE’s to get reloaded, and the powers do that quicker, but that’s a bit beside the point.
Alabama just won the NC with incredible ease with 1 sack in the final and 2 sacks against ND. They had 7 total TFL in the playoff. Their defense was really good, and pass rush is important but wasn’t the cornerstone of their team. Nor LSU’s. That’s kinda what Saban has commented on too with his mindset changing that a really good defense isn’t what always wins in modern football. It’s the offense.
Honestly, if you put Clark Lea and the 2018 or 2020 ND defense with a real playoff offense, they will win the title regardless. You put Bama 2020 defense or even Clemson 2018 defense with any ND offense in recent years and I highly doubt that team is going to win an NC.
The 2020 ND Offense was more highly rated than the defense in FEI and I believe SP+.
ND offense FEI: 0.96 17th, (Alabama: 2.47, 1st)
ND defense FEI: 0.44 24th, (Alabama: 0.50, 20th)
Which really only supports the point I was making. The ND defense, strong but not elite. The ND offense is strong as well, but miles behind the elite teams’ offenses which is creating the true gap on the field.
Switch those teams offenses and defenses and the Bama O+ND defense is going to crush a team of the Irish O and the Bama defense.
The issue isn’t really improving Notre Dame’s defense as to what is keeping them from contending for winning playoff games.
Co-sign.
Got it, so you’re saying there’s no chance of ND ever winning a title? Because we’re never going to recruit a full offensive roster at the level of 2020 Alabama or 2019 LSU. It’s just never going to happen.
I guess my point is this, and then I’ll drop it: ND has to build a national title roster differently than the big boys. We won’t have a roster with potentially 4 offensive first round picks at skill positions, like Alabama this year. Instead, ND needs to try to win differently, and that has to, in my opinion, include an elite pass rusher.
If Kelly could recruit at the level of an Alabama, then sure, try to win the way those schools have. But it’s pretty clear to me that’s never going to happen. We aren’t going to have a Heisman WR be our 2nd WR taken in the first round of the draft. Obviously you disagree, but I don’t see a realistic path to a title, FOR ND SPECIFICALLY, that doesn’t involve a single elite pass rusher, simply because we can’t build a 50 point per game offense like Alabama/Clemson/OSU.
A difference of opinion is fine here, but I don’t think adding a few pass rush DE is how Notre Dame closes the gaps on the big dogs. (Also, tbh, I find it very unlikely that the high-end DE’s will ever come to ND en masse like they do for football factory schools that are usually better geographical and cultural fits for the general elite DE prospect).
However, one minor disagreement I do have, is that I *do* think ND can actually compete and build offensively in a meaningful way. Wimbush and Jurkovec were elite recruits, they just didn’t work out because not all players work out. Problem is, ND seems to get a top QB once every 2/3 years, the big schools get one every single year.
I also don’t see why ND can’t build better skill. Austin, Johnson, Lenzy, Watts, Styles, Colzie, Mayer — that’s not nothing! It just all has to come together. And they have to keep the talent coming in. It’ll be a long time before we’re talking 2 WR’s taken in the first round, but the 2022 offense could be really dynamic if Buchner is the real deal with some of the above weapons named if they pan out.
Not sure Notre Dame building different and around elite DE is how they win. Add great DE’s to ND but if they score 10 points in the ACCG and 14 points in the playoff quarterfinal, an elite DL isn’t going to win those games. tOSU is basically the best DL school with the best DL coach in Larry Johnson and Bama laughed them right out of the game since Saban had the best o-line and the absolute best weapons. An elite DL stood no chance.
In this day and age it is and arms race and ND is going to have to try and build to compete offensively with the best if they want to win a title. It’s a very tough mountain to climb, but it’s one that other very good programs (Georgia, Florida, pretty much everyone but Clemson/Bama/tOSU) are also in the exact same boat.
Nice argument there Hooks! That makes the point really clear.
Sure an extra stud DE sounds great (and who would argue with one) but really we are behind the elite teams is the O (QB+WR) and so getting a guy here or there that is elite at those positions would make a much bigger difference than the extra stud DE.