ND <t>Well the 5* RB for the 2014 class(Hood) just de-comitted. go figure. Every year it happens. No matter what they say or how sincere they sound, they are not ours till the get to fall camp, put on a uniform and hit the practice field. <br/> <br/> Now days I look at a little differently...I actually feel sorry for him. If your not smart enough to figure out what a $300,000 ND education can do for your life, maybe you don't belong at ND. <br/> <br/> good luck to you Mr Hood. I'm sure ND will find a RB to take your place in this class who will be just fine and appreciate what he has been given the chance to earn.</t>
Nobody knows what the "incident" was, and maybe it's just a bunch of BS. Maybe they decided that they wanted to put blame on Kelly and ND just like Vanderdoes. But no matter he's done. Remember he's the kid who made a youtube video where he flushed the Alabama offer letter down the toilet. Maybe he met his RB competition and decided that he might not play immediately and that was the incident. Good luck to him.
Hood clears up the rumor that he supposedly had an incident on his last trip. Tweeted this: @EHood34: People have misinterpreted my dads comments its through no fault of Notre Dame or anyone there that I left they did everything the right way
I gave up a long time ago worrying what an 18 year old is going to decide...And find it amusing in those that do...
ND <r><QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> I'm not interested in nor do I worry about what the average 18 year old is going to do either. I'm only interested in those 18 year olds who could possibly play football for ND.</r>
Tidbits from Brian Kelly's Press Conference: -DL Tony Springmann out for 2013. Had a dislocation and severe ligament damage that requires surgery. BK: Springmann's injury alters our depth a little bit. We're going to have to play Isaac Rochell this year probably. -George Atkinson won the kickoff return job, while TJ Jones will handle punt returns. Re: T.J. Jones: "He's got a passion and desire to do it. That's a good thing for us," Brian Kelly says. -BK: Rees can push the ball vertically. ... He can get the ball to exactly where we need to get it. BK on Rees: I don't think the story is written. -BK: Hendrix is no longer a niche quarterback for us. He can run our offense. We don't have to turn the offense inside-out to put Hendrix in the game. -BK: If we do it like we did it last year, we're going to be an 8-5 team. I like the last statement. He's pushing the team not to rest on its laurels from last year and to strive to be better.
Rees' vertical capability is counter to the reports from the BGI beat writers. He remains our best bet but because he cannot run he has got to be pinpoint and be able to stretch the field. Of course I would not expect Kelly to say " Tommy Rees is accurate up to 30 yards. After that its a jump ball at best. God, I hope we can run the ball " 8)
OK, let's talk about this concern about Rees' passing. Can anyone tell me our average yards per throw last year? Are you ready? It was 7.5 yards per throw. How about average yards per catch? Answer? 12.8 yards. Can Rees throw an average distance of 7.5 yards per pass? I think so. How about rushing? Golson rushed for a net of 298 yards (Of course, this includes negative yardage for sacks, as it would with any QB), an average of 24.8 yards per game, roughly 13% of our total 189.4 rushing yards per game. His longest run was 27 yards. There's no question that Golson's presence on the field provides an extra running threat. However, let's not inflate the value of his running game to our total offensive output as a means to denigrate Rees. I would like to believe that our O-line can block effectively enough and our deeper cadre of RBs can run hard enough to make up for the loss of Golson's 25 yards per game. Think what you will. I'm not at all concerned about Rees' ability to lead this team and his ability to get the ball to our receivers. Our passing game should be every bit as effective as 2012, if not more so, as long as our running game is at least as successful as 2012, if not more so.
It's not the average YPP that matters, it's the ability. If we don't show the ability to stretch the defense at will, the defense will load the box to stop the run and leave a 2 deep (often tampa2) defense in coverage with a heavy push to jump routes short. The corner doesn't have to guess the coverage, he's going to know what's coming. It's either quick off the snap in a 2 count pass (which you can disrupt with bump coverage and often make a pre-snap read on), or in 5 count coverage (the old 5 step drop and look in the backfield rule which is now changed due to the shotgun). What softens coverage is the fear/risk that IF the DB jumps that route and the WR takes him deep to the cone, or the post. At that point in time, it's now a foot race between the ball and the safety to the spot and that's a bet that no defensive coordinator in the world wants to take on even a semi-regular basis. You don't give up 1st downs doing that, you give up TDs. For as much as I've bitched about Rees, I assure you that none of us has ever prayed/begged harder for Rees to be ability to accurately stretch the defense with zip on it. The ball can't hang. It has to be accurate within 12 inches. In the past, when he's gotten the ball deep, it takes forever to come down because he's throwing it as hard/far as he can. Maybe he's developed that ability, but I sincerely doubt it. Now, there's one wildcard to this.. The ability to pound/run the ball. If you can bang 3 to 4 yards against a 9 man box, OR IF THE QB IS MOBILE ENOUGH TO ACCOUNT FOR, then that keeps the safeties tight in line and will give you some wiggle room in terms of the type of deep ball you can throw.. This also opens up underneath coverage because the chase LB in motion or safety responsible for cleanup has to keep tight coverage because a 7 yard pass can now go to the house since everyone is so close to the LOS. The problem is, we haven't had a real 'pound it out' run game in a long time (although we may have one this year) and Rees has not shown any ability to run effectively aside from the occasional blown coverage QB keep that goes 6 yards for a TD. We can't count on blown coverage. We play too many good defenses for that.
I guess I wasn't clear in making my point. Corey, as much as I disagree with your assessment, I respect your opinion, and I simply repeat that I am not at all concerned with Rees' ability to lead this team and to perform at the highest level.
I watched the trailer for the program "Strong and True - Building Bonds" to air tomorrow (Sat., Aug. 24) at 3:00 pm on NBS Sports. I mention this because there were two shots of GAIII in practice running north/south and powering into the tackles. Encouraging.
I think that's fair Sid. I haven't seen any evidence in 4 years that Rees can either run, or throw the deep ball with any sort of zip or accuracy. Without those 2 components, in my opinion, it'll be tough against the better defenses.
Amen. The stronger the running game, the more effective the passing game. It's not rocket science. We all want the same thing.....to win.
ND <t>I agree with everyone on the run game. You have to believe that Rees will not be as interception and turnover prone as he was 2 seasons ago and if Amir Carlisle and the other RBs can give us quality games we stand a good chance of having a pretty good season.</t>
Zach Martin, TJ Jones and Bennett Jackson are the ND captains. I thought maybe Tommy Rees would be a Captain this year, maybe Kelly thinks it's too much for Tommy. But it seems like he's a big time leader and has the respect of the whole team.