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Niklas moving to TE?

  • Per UHND, Niiklas going to move to TE. He apparently is already working out with the current tight ends.

    Penick44

  • Interesting move....and relatively surprising, to me. Perhaps BK isn't too pleased with the development of Koyack?

    My luck with the Irish: 2-4, 3-time POTW

    NYDomer310

  • Penick44 said...

    Per UHND, Niiklas going to move to TE. He apparently is already working out with the current tight ends.

    Dude could be a beast at OLB/DE. I hope it works out for the team if they follow through.

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    tommyd44

  • My guess is they want him on the field as quickly as possible, and this is the route to maximize that opportunity. I don't think they'd move him here to be 3rd team, since he would be competing for time on the other side of the ball. They are somewhat deep in his prototype on defense, so it makes sense if they think he can leapfrog most of the current tight ends. Interesting development to watch.

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    HamOnWry22

  • He is going to be good wherever!

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    IrishBob

  • But also strange considering we let McNamara go, and now have to switch niklas when he could be a beast at olb and continue developing there. The way they rotate, it's not like he wouldn't get playing time there

    Jpidel10

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    Irish legend CMC Quote Master and Director of Football Related Discussions 5 Time POTW & 2 Time WPOTW Winner Joined 09/17/05

    Hodges

  • Just a guess, but I think you may see Eifert at wideout, opening up a spot at TE. We seem to have a lot of LBs but Niklas also seemed to be challenging for playing time. It doesn't make sense as a 'stand on its own' move, to take an LB on the verge of starting in the near future and make him your #4 TE. There have to be some dominoes in motion.

    psdo51

  • I like the idea of having a 6'7" receiver in the redzone. Definitely looking forward to watching him play.

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    AtlasND

  • Jpidel10 said...

    But also strange considering we let McNamara go, and now have to switch niklas when he could be a beast at olb and continue developing there. The way they rotate, it's not like he wouldn't get playing time there

    ND must not of liked McNamara because he wanted to come and there were spots available. Not sure why they had him visit though. This was a head scratcher for me.

    NDFan76

  • Jpidel10 said...

    But also strange considering we let McNamara go, and now have to switch niklas when he could be a beast at olb and continue developing there. The way they rotate, it's not like he wouldn't get playing time there

    Letting MacNamara go and then doing this...does anyone think this makes sense or just another miscalculation...you never have enough defensive line players or tight ends..

    BORGHI

  • On the surface I absolutely hate this move. Niklas was playing some significant minutes at LB, and I had him slotted to start at Dog LB this season. He was also potentially growing into a DE, which we ALWAYS need. Look at the SEC, the one admirable thing they do is move all their best athletes to the defensive side of the ball. I agree with psdo51, why would we move a starting defensive player to the fourth TE? Don't get me started on the McNamara "offer", he wanted to come here but we never made it commitable. With the likely shift toward Kelly's spread, you'd think the TE is going to become less utitlized. Eifert will get majority of the snaps this year, and we have Koyack, Welch, and any recruit this year waiting in line.

    On to the good - Niklas could be an unstoppable force at TE, and he played some in high school. This could also mean we will still keep multi-TE formations and continue to run the ball. At LB, perhaps the coaches really like Councell and Spond (assuming Shembo and Ishaq are at Cat LB) and were looking to move Niklas into his best possible role. Bottom line, the coach's livelihoods are on the line and I accept whatever DCEing they do is putting Notre Dame in the best position to win.

    PS What poster on here mentioned Niklas to TE about a month ago? I know he got railed pretty good, and although I didn't post on the topic I kind of thought it was stupid to even mention. Well played, sir.

    MinnyGriff08

  • When we slow played McNamera we still had Darby, Greenberry, and Decker. We also had legit shots at the Armstead's and Poole. Most of the discussion was centered on which valuable 5th year we would turn away.

    scriptcomes1st

  • This move would destoy Eifert's draft potential and as he is a good blocker would just be bad altogether. Eifert might split out but would not be a wide reciever.

    jfkoehl

  • That would be an interesting move. I hope it works out if true.

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    TDHND

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    PBeuerlein

  • I've posted this previously, but going into last year's recruiting cycle, ND was not set on taking a TE as they felt they had needs at other positions. Clearly, they had Kent Taylor at the top of their board, but also recruited McNamara as a 2nd option. However, from the get go they were very honest with him - his offer would have more to do with whether Eifert would come back or if a scholarship opened up by Jake Golic getting a medical redshirt. Neither of those happened, and McNamara wanted to make a decision in December rather than wait it out, so ND was honest and up front with him and let him make the decision to go to OU.

    At that point, ND still had Greenberry and Decker, and had a bunch of other prospects above him on the board (as script noted above). We did not feel TE was a position of need because of what we had currently on the roster, and that included Niklas being part of the equation.

    Niklas did see some spot time at the DOG position this year, but that's not where he was suited best - recall, the main reason he saw time there was because Shembo's father had the medical emergency and Danny Spond was injured, so we had no other options (even Filer saw time there that game). By the end of the year, his primary role was coming in at dime and nickel situations and rushing the passer. He was always a better fit at the CAT than the DOG, but we're most likely going to be moving Shembo to CAT this year. Ishaq Williams is versatile enough to play both OLB positions, and then you have Councell who the staff is very high on as a RS FR. Either way, whether it's at OLB, DE, or TE, we have a bunch of young talent to work with, so the staff thinks they need to put him where he not only fits best, but helps the team the most.

    Now go to the other side of the ball, and at TE you now have 4 very big, very talented, very athletic TEs in Eifert, Welch, Koyack, and Niklas. Eifert will be gone after this year, as well as Golic, leaving us with 3 TE's remaining for 2013. Each guy will have 2 years remaining after that, but Welch may not get a 5th depending on the production levels and scholarship distribution, so you have Koyack and Niklas for sure until 2014. With the shift in coordinators and potential change in offensive identity, this is a good move to at least experiment with. Niklas has really impressed the staff with his athletic ability since day 1, and they see an opportunity here for a large body to help out in the red zone (an area we struggled in), as well as give us a more physical presence.

    This post has been edited 2 times, most recently by mramire9 on 2/29/2012 at 9:27 AM

    mramire9

  • scriptcomes1st said...

    When we slow played McNamera we still had Darby, Greenberry, and Decker. We also had legit shots at the Armstead's and Poole. Most of the discussion was centered on which valuable 5th year we would turn away.

    Good point. It's always easy to second guess out of the rear view mirror. At the time, a lot of balls were being juggled in the air. My guess is that the staff wasn't as high on McNamara as some people here have been. The bottom line may be (and I say "may be" because we're all just guessing, here) is that they liked Niklas for a while as a possible tight end. This staff deals with prototypes of size and skill for positions, so they may like the hand their holding on defense, and see Niklas as a real difference maker and possible heir apparent to Eifert on offense. Let's sit back and see how this plays out. He may be back on defense by August.

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    HamOnWry22

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    dc irish

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    pingalli93

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    My luck w/the Irish 18-6...GO IRISH!!!

    simm

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  • I seem to recall last year when reading stories about niklas that Kelly was quoted as saying he's definitely a olb not a TE. Guess evaluations change after having him in the fold and simply wanting him to be on the field. Could definitely see him going both ways.

    Jpidel10

  • Love Niklas's physicality at TE. Obviously we already have three talented guys at TE but Troy may be a more ferocious blocker than any of them. And with his athleticism I'm sure he'll be a great receiver as well.

    People seem to be giving the staff a hard time for letting McNamara get away, but back in December I remember he was quoted as saying that early playing time was a major factor for him and that he would be less interested in ND if Eifert came back. Once Eifert did decide to come back, I think it was going to be tougher to pull him in anyway.

    Emcee77