There are two ways to beat a defense decisively. Get behind them or play over them. We were effective playing over defenders with JS and Stovall. I know beating a D long is exciting but watching your receiver go over a D back and haul in a TD is almost a much fun.
I think in college these days you are better off with big recievers who can jump. That made Stovall and JeffS very effective for sure, but it would have also been great to have a big reciever who can run and scare people when they line up. It's obviously not a guarantee of anything just because a guy is big and fast, but it seems like elite teams always seem to have at least 1 reciever who fits the big and fast description and can break a game at anytime. Big doesn't have to 6'5" but it does have to be 6'2" and above. I think of some of those great Mich recievers who always seem to be fast, USC the same, the Buckeyes have had their share as well, not to mention guys at places like FSU, Miami, Gators, etc. It just makes it tougher for the defense if inaddition to good recievers with hands and who run good routes you have that speed guy that gets into the other Defenses head. We haven't had one of those in a long time.
Well add Tyler Eifert into the Irish haul. This kid is from Sids backyard so I'm sure he's seen him play and he was a teammate of Irish freshman John Goodman who Sid had a lot of ..ahem ...Good things to say. I'll be interested in his comments on Tyler. He also fills the open slot on the roster for Germans!! To me he fits the same slot as Jeff S, big reciever with good hands. Seems a bit thin for college TE, said to be a possible safety but seems too tall for that. Terry
Eifert <r>I'm almost always enthused and excited with the majority of new ND recruits, even the Kickers!...but this one has me a little stumped. <br/> <br/> Hopefully I will eat a lot of crow over my comments on this kid but I don't know why CW wants him, especially at this point in the recruiting year.<br/> <br/> He appears to be a great kid and has a nice family and really wants to be at ND but the Irish seem to be the only major player to offer him. <br/> <br/> Hopefully the coaches know much more that me about this kid's potential. <E>:?</E></r>
I know what you mean Tim, but you know if he'd have gone to Purdue he would have come back to haunt us every year!!
Pete Sampson on Irish Illustrated has posted that things are looking very good for the Irish with regards to Chris Watt the #2 rated OG in the country by Rivals. It wasn't that long ago that everything I was reading was that Watt was a silent commit to Ohio State. I hope we get his verbal soon, that would be sweet. What would be even sweeter is if we could some how get Xavier Nixon in this class, that would be quite a coup. I don't expect it to happen, but if he holds off till after the season starts and we get off to a great start and our young OL looks good he might become more interested. With 3-9 hanging around Charlies neck he has a tough road to hoe this year in recruiting. It's amazing that he is doing as well as he is doing, a good year on the field should result in some good late commits. Well late by todays standards when teams are essentially through before the season starts. Texas and Ohio State are close to being full up and it's only July. Terry
One other thing!! I've finally got the group together for the ND game. We are going to do Purdue on Sept 27th. Any of you muggs going to be able to make that game?? Terry
Tyler Eifert is the son of Greg Eifert, who at 6'8" was an Indiana BB all-star and a 2-3 year starter for Gene Keady at Purdue. If someone would point to Greg and tell you that he was a TE in college, you'd believe them. I'm sure that Tyler's frame, good speed (not great, Terry :wink: ), excellent hands, and growth potential all were factors in the scholarship offer. I don't want to bore anyone touting the kid. It's exciting to have 2 kids in 2 years from our HS receive ND FB scholarships, but when he sets foot on campus next summer, he'll be like every other recruit. He'll have the opportunity grow and to learn and eventually to contribute to our great program. It will be up to him to maximize his potential.