I'm scratching my head on this one. Hype is like paint, it can cover a lot of sins. Samardzija on the other hand is well deserving. NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Notre Dame senior tandem of wide receiver Jeff Samardzija and strong safety Tom Zbikowski earned second team All-America honors, announced today by the Walter Camp Football Foundation at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show. The award earns Samardzija and Zbikowski a trip to New Haven, Conn., where the official awards will be handed out in at Yale University in January. Samardzija, a first team All-American in 2005 and Biletnikoff finalist this season, has put together another stellar year in 2006. He leads the Irish with 70 receptions and 958 yards. Samardzija is on the brink of becoming the first Notre Dame player to ever post multiple 1,000 receiving yard seasons. He is just the fourth to ever eclipse the 1,000-yard barrier and first to ever accomplish the feat twice. Samardzija will close his career as the most decorated Irish wide receiver of all time. He owns the school record in career touchdown catches (26), receiving yards (2,534) and receptions (171). Zbikowski is in the midst of yet another strong season as he ranks third on Notre Dame's defense with 69 tackles despite missing one game due to an injury. He has also tallied one tackle for loss, one pass break-up, two quarterback hurries, forced one fumble and returned a fumble 25 yards. Zbikowski has also excelled as a punt returner, returning one punt 52 yards for a touchdown against North Carolina. The touchdown was his third punt return for a score and seventh touchdown in his Notre Dame career. The Walter Camp All-America team is selected by the head coaches and sports information directors of the 119 Division I-A football schools and certified by UHY Advisors, a New Haven-based accounting firm. Walter Camp Football Foundation President Allen Jackson was pleased with the voting participation.
Quinn didn't make the squad? That's odd. And don't go bashing TommyZ he's just doing what the coaches asked, that is to stay in the box and play the run. That is what Gene Chizik at Texas asked his safties to do, and Charlie Weis even said that Tommy would be perfect for a NFL defense that likes to walk their safties up into the box for run stopping. If he'd been asked to be primarily a Cover 2 safety he'd have lead the nation in INT's....word.
To me... <t>Z is not deserving at all. He was awful this year. Sorry, but he is always out of position and seldom ever makes a play. This certainly has not gone unnoticed on the other Irish boards. Just being honest here.</t>
You guys are going to be eating crow for a long time with regards to Tommy Z. That kid is a player, will be a 10 year guy in the League. I hope he comes back for his 5th year.
We all know, George, that TZ will never measure up in your eyes, but I have always liked him and will miss him. One thing we haven't seen much of with him at safety is breakaway long TD runs. In fact, I don't recall too many long runs from scrimmage over the past couple of years. Some, of course, but not many. Yes, our pass coverage sucks, but that is a system problem, not the fault of one player. Please, Godfather, do not interpret this as disagreement with you. I have profound respect for your opinions.
TOK, Not quite as odd as leaving their chosen player of the year off the squad, don't ya think?! :wink: btw, fwiw to my Irish friends, I see Zibby as a first round draft pick...maybe top 15. What he has, can't be taught. What he lacks, can be learned, imho. I see John Lynch with greater speed and athleticism....that ain't too bad.
So.......? Please Larry, don't start sounding like MCG by inferring that bulletin board opinions are relevant. Look at my post above for a contrary assessment of TZ's play. You and George need to know that there is a very large contingent of Irish fans, including Terry and me, who feel different from you and George about TZ and who hope he comes back for a 5th year, although he probably won't.
Sid, I respect your opinions as well. The only games I can recall big plays made against the Irish were the big games :wink: I see him as a special teams player of some magnitude. Nothing else. FWIW, I found myself in a live chat room on an ND site with former player Jason Sapp. I asked him about TZ returning. He said that TZ has "outgrown" ND and will almost certainly move on. We'll see...
Terry... <t>I always consider you a sharp eye on football. How you can tell me Z has done anything this year to me is amazing. I like the kid and hope he does not come back but he is just one of four guys in the Irish secondary that cannot cover me with my new knee replacement. What are they #81 in the countryas a group? I know all the stuff about how the pass rush helps the DBS etc but this guy is beat like a drum with regularity. We can and have to get better players in our secondary. Believe me when I tell you my opinion is not a voice in the abyss. <br/> I wish the kid well but he is average to poor at best in the secondary. Next subject?</t>
Troy was the Camp AA QB....you misinterpreted my comment. You suggested that it was odd that Quinn was not the QB. My comment was that if Quinn HAD been selected the QB, it would have been extraordinary that they selected Smith their player of the year, but did not include him on their AA squad.
George and Larry, Have there been big plays vs. our secondary? Absolutely. Have 99% of the big plays been pass plays? Absolutely? Does our pass defense suck? Absolutely. Does TZ as a pass defender suck? Absolutely. That was not my point. My point was that our pass defense problems are a coaching/system problem, which can be addressed only through intense retraining and better coverage fundamentals. Until then, every pass defender in the secondary will suck even though they are outstanding athletes capable of better performance than we've seen. A pro coach will get hold of TZ and drill into him what he needs to learn to be a long-term successful NFL safety. He's not getting that at ND. My point also was that, while TZ has sucked as a pass defender, how many times has he made that tackle which prevented the ball carrier from breaking into the open for a TD or a long run? Those are the "big plays" that no one talks about because they happened in a crowd closer to the line of scrimmage. The bulletin board experts would prefer to focus only on what they can see in the open field after an opposing receiver has beaten the coverage. I agree with Terry that he has a great future in the NFL if he stays healthy.
Sid.. <t>We will have to disagree on Z as I don't see him having success in the pros at all. To small and not all that fast IMO. I hope I'm wrong as I want the ND guys to do well. Sorry I don't see it.<br/> I will bring it up in the future though for discussion.</t>
:shock: I must be watching some other games from some of you guys. This is the 2nd year in-a-row that Zbikowski has been named to the post-season All-American teams and for good reason: he's an All-American player. He's similar to former USC safety Troy Palamalu: he hits like a linebacker, but he can run with the WRs. He's one of the fastest safeties in college football according to Adam Wallace and his tackling ability is obvious. If the Irish teams that he played on had LBs like Penn State or USC...how many opposing WRs would have gone over the middle looking for the football? Not many... :roll:
The kid has skills and from a size standpoint - 6'0" 210 he's just about the prototypical NFL safety. Pro Bowl safeties Palamalu is 5'10" 212, Sanders is 5'8" 206 Ed Reed 5'11" 200, etc. Donte Whitner - rookie from Ohio State is 5'11" 205 went in the first round and is starting for the Bills and I think Zibby has much better speed, fwiw. From what I've seen, I don't think he has great ball skills, but not bad for a safety imo. I'll let you Irish guys continue this debate. My only request is, "Can we borrow him on Jan 8?" :wink:
You can borrow him January 3 if you want him :wink: . It's amazing how differently we view this guy. I see a player with "straight ahead" speed but very little anticipation to the ball. I see an average tackler with poor coverage skills. On the other hand, I see a player who has a penchant for making a big play now and then and is a very good punt returner. To me, he has special teams wriitten all over him. The smartest thing he did was to box that tomato can in the offseason. It got him national attention, cover stories in all the mags and a lot of pre-season hype. No one here can make the case that his year this season was as good as his junior year yet he is an AA. Go Figure.
It's just that it's well known that unless our DB's make 4 or 5 int's a game and totally shut out the opposition passing game, you are unhappy and rant about how bad they are. Tommy Z plays the role he's given, he's been asked to be a run stopper first, that's what he does. It's not his fault that the Irish haven't been able to generate a pass rush, or that our LB corp this year was esp bad in pass coverage, and were too light to be great run stoppers and needed safety help. He doesn't have the luxury of being a centerfielding type of safety in our defense. Straight ahead speed? You're the only guy who can somehow make that a liablity for a safety, he's a safety....not a RB!!
No need to be cranky. My expectations for the Irish D-Backs have been low since Lou Holtz left. I don't expect miracles. After all, they only had ten INTs in 12 games so you exaggerate my expectations. I wouldn't think it impossible to have a pass defense rated in the Top 50 though, which we are nowhere near. Until we do all the offense in the world won't overcome that weakness.
George, as loud as you beat the anti-TZ drum, I can beat louder the fact that our pass defense problems simply are not the fault of a single player. You cannot say that TZ is responsible for our low ranking in this dept. Until we get the kind of coaching that UCLA and MI have in our defensive secondary, we are going to suffer the "system" problems we've seen this season and last, TZ or no TZ. I'm not trying to change your or Larry's minds, nor does TZ need me to defend him. I'm just stating the facts as I see them.