Rockne's Roundtable

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NDFan76 said...

If this is the Gronkowski/Jimmy Graham effect and Niklas can provide that, sign me up. I do think its funny that we as posters view this move as a negative against the TEs and not a positive that we just have a lot of expendable talent at the OLB/DE positions. Me included!

With what seems as a number of capable bodies at TE this year now, seems ND will continue to focus on running the ball and possibly producing two 1,000 yard rushers or maybe Wood gets 1,500. I love running out of the spread formations, Oregon is a thing of beauty, guys then seem to come wide open on play action passing routes.

Is Jarret Grace an ILB or OLB?

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coachcft said...

That'd be me Sir. Thanks for remembering...

And I dont think we've seen the end of him on Defense by any stretch. We'll see plenty of 2 and 3 TE sets(Eifert out wide in the red zone) and Troy has to know what he's doing.

What I also like about this is that I sure HOPE that this is an indication that Williams and my boy Ben Councell appear ready and primed to have good years.

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Gringo Mafia Director of Recruiting Analysis // POTW --> 5-16-11 / 5-30-11 / 3-5-12 / 12-30-12 / 2-24-13

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mramire9 said...

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.

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Tsulliv08 said...

Wow. Incredible forsight coachcft. I missed the thread a couple weeks ago, and hadn't even thought about the possibility of moving Niklas to TE. However, I completely agree with your logic. While, all we can do is speculate at this point, I think we can make some educated assumptions based on this decision:

1) Our staff likes our OLB depth: I don't believe that we would move a contributing player if we didn't like what else we had there. So, this bodes well for Councell and Williams; and/or

2) We will see a lot more of the hybrid S/OLB role: This was pretty common last year, especially against spread/option type teams. Also, we've added a couple players in the 2012 class that seem to fit this hybrid role (Shumate & Barratti); and/or

3) We will see a lot of multiple TE sets: We used some in the first two years of the BK Era. However, rarely did you see multiple TEs running routes. Usually, Eifert ran routes and the other blocked. Call it the Gronk Effect, if you want. But I think a lot of teams, not just ND, are realizing the types of mismatches you can create with multiple TEs.

I think this is also a byproduct of Martin taking over OC duties. [Note: This is an assumption I am basing off comments made publicly by Martin, or public comments from recruits whom have spoken with Martin about the future of the offense.] I believe Martin wants a more physical, run-oriented offense. Adding more athletic, bigger bodies to the lineup will accomplish that. And if you don't lose anything (or maybe even gain some) in the area of passcatchers, it seems like a no brainer. Coachcft (again, mad props) pointed out that this staff will put the best players on the field. I think the staff thinks, at least, 2 of our best 5 skill players are TEs. We won't know until we see it on the field, but I am encouraged by the staff's willingness to be creative in an attempt to create the best, most productive offense possible.