transcript
Speaker 1:
[00:03] Welcome to Irish Illustrated Insider, the Blue Gold Game Preview Edition. I'm Tim O'Malley joined by Tim Prister of Irish Illustrated, John Brice of USA Today. We are two days away, about 49 hours from the start of the 95th Annual Blue Gold Game, two o'clock Saturday afternoon Eastern Time in South Bend, Indiana, which means the 2031 edition's gonna be a lot of fun, guys. That'll be number 100. But first, we are going to talk about this one. And also John Brice just mentioned off of the air that it was National Jellybean Day yesterday. Big fan of those. Today is actually National Talk Like Shakespeare Day of Tim Prister, if you want to do that a little bit. When you give us your review of new Notre Dame commit, John Gay, and we will get of course, to the de-commit of Khalil Terry as well.
Speaker 2:
[00:42] I think he's a real solid player. I think it's kind of hard for me to talk about John Gay without bringing up Khalil Terry, because there's a correlation there. And I think Notre Dame, for lack of a better way of saying it, is the one that's the better fit for Notre Dame. Now, don't get me wrong, I thought Khalil Terry will knock you into next week, man. Really, really physical football player. So I thought that that was a loss in terms of on-field ability. But John Gay, I think he's a combination of a guy that is strong on run support. I think he's an in-the-box, he's a nickel or in-the-box safety. But he can also turn and run with some fast receivers. I think the combination of those two plus he obviously, when he came to campus last weekend, really impressed Notre Dame and Notre Dame jumped on the opportunity. So certainly a loss at Kalil Terry. I'm not in the camp of when a guy decommits, it's not that big of a deal anyway. It was. He's a powerful hitter. But I think the combination of everything with John Gay is going to work out. Well, I like him at nickel, he's listed as a safety. I would imagine he can play safety. But the film that we see of him in the box, defending as well as defending the pass, as well as supporting the run, I think is really, really impressive.
Speaker 3:
[02:05] Yeah, I think I was just going to say, I think he's a natural fit. I know this staff is incredibly high on him. Talked with some people on campus earlier this week when it seemed that this move was imminent. They believe there's a tremendous amount of upside there. I mean, it's another guy that they really like his physical features, the length and things that he brings to the table in that regard.
Speaker 1:
[02:27] You know, when you lose one and get one, but the one you lost knew you were recruiting multiples anyway, they did want both as Prister, you're kind of pointing out it's not choosing one or the other. You have to choose one or the other now because he only got one of the two. I asked three people that I thought would very much know because we had a question actually directly on it. Which of the fall from Maltese Irish, which of the falling to believe was the biggest factor in Cluel Terry's Z commitment and none of them would give a biggest factor. They all said confluence of events, kind of this is what happens. The options were position coaching change, yes. Desire to stay out west, yes. The Irish recruiting another safety, yes. They always plan on recruiting another safety. As usual, what do we say? It's more than one thing because that's usually what it is. When you recruited this level of safeties, I guess we're in a new world where this is not a Mickens Commit, but I liked this film too, Prister. I made sure I jumped in because it wasn't a Mickens Commit. I wanted to see what you're looking for. Honestly, it won't be about John Gay, but we have a nickel question later that makes this a very important get because you do have to recruit nickels these days. This is not safeties and corners. There's guys that can just be better at the starting position. They used to be a linebacker of nickel.
Speaker 2:
[03:41] Terry Benedict asked the question in the second segment about that. I think it's a very good one. It's a very specialized ability. At corner, you can drop and you have time to adjust to the route as a defender. There's very little time to adjust to anything when you're pressing at the line of scrimmage on a guy lined up in a slot. I may be stepping over to the question in segment two. It's very specialized. It's very difficult to do. I really like the way that John Gay plays the pass but also again very aggressive and not as physical as Terry. I think a little Terry is really physical but a guy that can definitely support the run as well.
Speaker 1:
[04:27] There is an NFL draft tonight, guys. We talked a little bit about it on Monday. Let's just get into I think the thing that every Notre Dame fan will know by Monday. Not where everybody goes in the third, fourth, fifth, seventh and free agency rounds but where Jeremiah Love ends up in this draft because he could be one of the higher picks in recent memory and if Judarian Price can sneak into that spot in the first round because John Brice, when you sneak into a first round spot, you usually go into a much better spot than when you're one of the highest draft picks in Notre Dame history.
Speaker 3:
[04:57] Now, there's no question and obviously the Seattle Seahawks lost their running back Kenneth Walker to the Kansas City Chiefs in the off season, and we talked to an agent in New York yesterday or Tuesday. The days run together as I'm traveling this week, but he did not think that Jeremiah Love would dip below the number five spot. He wasn't as sold on the Arizona Cardinals at number three, but he felt very strongly that there was zero chance. His words, not mine.
Speaker 2:
[05:26] We had VB Dipp.
Speaker 1:
[05:27] I would say he's in the La Port area, which always knocks all of my solders out before I go back and forth.
Speaker 3:
[05:33] If a team is to go with a running back light, then Jenarian Price is the guy, and he's done nothing but assist, help his stock with his workouts and his meetings.
Speaker 1:
[05:44] Prister, I don't know if you have an opinion of where he'll go. I just have a guess that he will go into the early second round.
Speaker 2:
[05:49] I think, yeah, like we put in our staff picks, I think they're staff guesses, pretty much. You know, I think all along, we've talked about Tennessee Titans. And I just don't, now that it's D-Day, I don't think he's going to go there. I think he's going to go number five to the Giants. I agree that he doesn't slip past number five. You know, I mean, the Titans would be a good fit. You've got your quarterback of the present and future, and there's your running back. But I just don't think the Titans are going to go in that direction. My prediction slash guess at this point is it's going to be the Giants at number five.
Speaker 1:
[06:26] Well, it's number five. Ronnie Stanley and Quentin Nelson were number six in recent drafts, so Jeremiah Love would join that select group. As you know, my feeling just don't end up on the Rams or something like that, where I have to watch and root against Jeremiah Love two times a year, because that's the selfish world we live in now with Love. That is, there's not a lot of guys that I just like. Kyron Williams hurt a little, but in five rounds, that's not that's everybody's fault. Right. They all made that mistake that they didn't pick up Kyron Williams. I just want to be able to root openly for Jeremiah Love because we have been on the Jeremiah Love train for a very long time. Prister, I'm glad you said that these were staff guesses. We usually have staff predictions, staff projections, it was staff guesses when it came to where those guys are going to go. I'm rooting for Jadarian Price to go as the number two back because it's not incredible that this has never happened before, but it would be a great story for Notre Dame. You've never had the first and second running back drafted in the NFL draft from the same school. I say it's not incredible because that was an impossibility about 25 years ago. You're not going to have. That's when the bell cow running back was the thing here. But boy, it'll be awesome for Notre Dame. Before we get to the blue-gold game, there's been a little bit of extra news. Some playoff talk, 2014 playoff talk has heightened a bit. Heather Dennich reported that Notre Dame's stance on the matter has softened a little bit. We know Pete Bavac was said back in December, I think it was, that 16 was the way to go. It still sounds like he believes 16 is the way to go. It's just there's enough. There's at some point you have to open yourself up to what might happen if there's 24. Other than too many teams, Tim Prister, what are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2:
[07:59] Well, my first thought is, or my first comment is just like when they expanded to 12. Is anybody asked the players what they think about this? And maybe, like how does this work out? Are there eight buys? I like if you have 24, the eight teams get a buy and the other 16 teams play and eliminate half of that group. I'm not really sure how that works. I think 24 is too many and kind of a waste of time because it's not going to the the national champ is not going to come out of the number 17 spot or the number 19 spot. It's not it's not basketball, it's football. And I, you know, we have a question here that that you inserted there, Tio, from IrishMurph. Let me go ahead and read it. And I want to respond to that. Has Notre Dame stance on playoff expansion changed listening to a national college football podcast? It was said Pippa Vock was on the side of 24 teams, but he stayed. He felt 16 was the way to go when asked in December. I don't think he said he was on the side of it. He said he was open to it. But I think that he's just trying to, you know, maybe fit with the rest of the crowd a little bit or not be the squeaky wheel in that whole process. But 16 teams, I think, is what makes the most sense. First round buys, we've seen in recent years that that doesn't really work very well for the teams that get the buy. So I like the number 16 and just go ahead and play it out. Everybody plays the same amount of games. And you go for it from there.
Speaker 1:
[09:29] JB, since every hill is a hill to die on, why don't you chime in on what hill you're going to die on here and your actual thoughts on the process?
Speaker 3:
[09:35] Yeah, I'm very staunchly in the 12 to 16 team field, but it absolutely is not going to matter. I actually just left the office of new first year University of Kentucky head coach, Will Stein. My last question to him literally was, where do you fall on this? Debate's going on right now. And he said, there's no question. I'm 24. I believe in the 24-team system. If we get a 24-team system, you're probably in about eight SEC teams getting in the playoffs in some years. And he's not the first person to tell me that. I spoke with another chief of staff of an SEC program during my travels this week who said, I don't like 24, but I think it's inevitable. That's where we're going. I talked with some other people over the course of this week and last week when I was chasing down the five-for-five talk and the potential for playoff expansion. The key now is that the SEC coaches are being vocal about favoring 24 and Greg Sanky is the one who had sort of dug in and tried to make it a standoff between 16 and 24. And now you've got a number of SEC coaches who have openly gone on the record and said they want 24. The Big Ten has already been on the record wanting 24. So I think 24 is inevitable. I was told 24 by 27 is a real possibility. That's where things are. What it will do, TP, to your point, I was told it would absolutely be the death knell of conference championship games. And yeah, inevitably, it will be the end of those. And you would have more of those teams. I haven't seen the potential playoff bracket. I haven't seen the proposal. But Will Stein made it clear to me today that in that scenario, you would have more home games on campuses and there might still be a buy in some way, shape or form TP. But the buy would not last as long. You wouldn't have four weeks off before your first game or three and a half weeks off before your first game. You might have two weeks off before your first game.
Speaker 2:
[11:35] That would be good.
Speaker 3:
[11:36] Yeah.
Speaker 2:
[11:36] With the elimination of the conference championship games, which I think are cool. I mean, I think we've all enjoyed that week of competition. But if you're going to expand like this, you just can't keep playing that game. And the problem that we ran into last year is there are consequences then for losing a conference championship game. And that's not what football should be about at that time of the year.
Speaker 1:
[12:02] You know the real reason they should get rid of conference championship games, though? Jack Freeman does. Because conferences are dumb. There's a Blue Goal game coming up, guys. It is Saturday and it's going to matter a lot in our ecosystem for ten days. And it's going to matter a lot for people who like to watch the Blue Goal game all summer for three months. At that point, I have completely given up on the Blue Goal game and of meeting anything. For ten days, the Blue Goal game and the Jersey Scrimmage are what we have before we can collect some intel on what's going on in the summer. There are more storylines to watch because last year I felt like it was the quarterbacks was the storyline to watch. We felt like we knew everything about the quarterback situation. We are proven somewhat right and somewhat wrong. Kenny Minchie went from way out of it to right at it and kind of probably helped send Steve Angele to Syracuse because if Steve Angele was the clear number one B, he could have stayed at Notre Dame. This year, no such drama. I guess the only news about quarterbacks is Ian Book will join Tony Simeone as the play by play announcer. I put in Monday Musings that Ian was going to do this. So he broke the news there. He was great. You didn't get to see it. He was great on Our Name is Pro Day.
Speaker 2:
[13:10] He was great.
Speaker 1:
[13:10] Different world, of course, but that was a great way to break himself in too. And let's start with Kay Beasley whose question is what midseason enrollees besides Rodney Dunham you think should or might flash during the Blue Bull game. And I will preface this, Tim Prister, by telling you there are 24 others to choose from. So something could flash.
Speaker 2:
[13:30] Well, you know, kind of following up on something that Sampson said a while back about opportunities for running backs. Jonas Walton, I think, is in a position to get a bunch of carries on Saturday. Look, first of all, and I think this is the way you guys look at it, but this is the Jersey scrimmage is more of a team setting and the Blue Bull game is more of an individual setting. So like if you're looking for offensive line cohesion, that was last week. It's not going to be all mixed up necessarily this week. So for me, it's all about individual play when it comes to this. So you know, I think there's no reason why Devin Fitzgerald shouldn't continue to flash as he has throughout the spring. A guy like Bubba Frazier, I think this is kind of tailor made for him to have a day. What does that mean? Three receptions, maybe four receptions, something along those lines. And Joey O'Brien, who flashed last week at safety in the Jersey scrimmage as well, could be a guy that you see stand out individually.
Speaker 3:
[14:35] Yeah, I like Walton. I like Frazier a lot. Also, I frankly think because the spring has been so freaking competitive. And again, we saw it last Saturday, continues to be driven home to be pretty much every time I talk to someone from campus. The Notre Dame secondary, especially that first unit is so good, we that no one has really seen CJ with the chance to air it out. So maybe CJ Carr gets a chance to just go deep in the blue and gold game because of the way the rosters are constructed or something along those lines. It's a chance for Spencer Forrath to kick in the stadium. We heard Marcus Freeman say he was what, nine for nine last Saturday. I think it was actually maybe 11 for 11. And I know that he has hit from beyond 50 yards over the course of this spring camp. So maybe this is a day that Spencer Forrath shots kicking in actually in Notre Dame Stadium. Similarly, I think that, again, I'm a special teams guy, but I think that that scape will boom some on Saturday in there. And then big on Koakea. I expect Koakea to flash on Saturday, absolutely, on the defensive side of the ball. And I would say Iwatade in addition to Dunham.
Speaker 2:
[15:49] Who do you have, Tim?
Speaker 1:
[15:50] Yeah, I admit I really like watching the young players for the Blue Gold game. Doesn't necessarily tell you they're going to have a great season, but those are the guys to focus on because you got to get the other guys out of there, quite frankly, the guys like Jalen Snead and Jayden Osbury, who I'm still curious about. You got to get them out. Iwatade and O'Brien top my list. I want to watch Pouncy hopefully against some ones because they won't be in their long, but it'd be great to see them against some ones. I feel like I didn't get enough to see enough of him in the Jersey Scrimmage and Pouncy, so I'd like to see Pouncy. Grubbs is of course going to be a star in this. If Hebert's still bothered by a knee injury, Grubbs is going to have a heck of a lot of time playing quarterback because now you can let CJ Carr throw a fair amount though. You're not going to touch him. It's not like CJ Carr has to come out of this game. He would have to get hurt accidentally like hitting his hand on a helmet or something along those lines. But Grubbs is one I really want to watch. In terms of veterans, I just wish guys like, if we have questions, I don't know, Quincy Porter could play. I'd like to see him in there. I assume you're going to get Mylon Graham out quickly. So maybe see that Micah Gilbert and even Cam Williams situation. I like to see Cam Williams go against someone of at least Pouncy's level. If he's making a play against Aidan Pouncy, then you carry that into the offseason thinking maybe he's taking a stride to be, because they're going to need a sixth and seventh guy. He's not taking the stride to be the fifth guy. But there's availability there, because when you can name six guys right now, Prister, one of them will definitely be lost to injury, so you need the seventh guy coming in.
Speaker 2:
[17:15] Yeah, no doubt. And I think we're all... Jalen Snead, I think we'd all like to see him just really put it all together this year. So if he pops out individually, I think that'd be a good sight. To see maybe some type of specific role for him. Again, I don't think this is the kind of gathering where you glean a whole lot from the team play, but individually, you'd like to see him playing with confidence and making some plays and flying around.
Speaker 1:
[17:46] Okay, before I go back to a final thought for you on the blue going, because we have nine questions on it, probably, Keon Kealy. I would like to see Keon Kealy against a quality tackle because there's been so many questions about him and we kind of embraced his interview. Now, it's time to embrace his play on the field of play. And I want to caution everybody. And you were with me on this. Jovante Jean-Baptiste didn't do a damn thing when we left the blue goal game. And he was the top five, six player on Notre Dame's football team.
Speaker 2:
[18:13] We had no idea that he would have the kind of season that he had in the fall based upon the spring.
Speaker 3:
[18:18] Yeah, I would say also Jovante Jean-Baptiste certainly earned that and played at a level that none of us expected. He also had to play at a level that none of us expected because the depth was different. So I would say go into it with an open awareness of Keon Keighley, that he is going to be a guy for Notre Dame this year. He is at no point going to be the guy for Notre Dame this year.
Speaker 1:
[18:44] We'll be back with segment two and plenty of questions. Burning Up the Boards. Welcome back to segment two, Burning Up the Boards. Our first question is from KGarity8. We are going to continue on a blue goal game theme for a moment here. For the sake of not getting too reactionary on different players or positional groups going into the blue goal game, give us one group or one player. We need to tamp our expectations a little bit and also a group or a player we're not talking enough about.
Speaker 2:
[19:08] I would, you know, a lot of people have been talking about Joey O'Brien and Joey O'Brien stood out a little bit last last Saturday. And I'm not saying that he's not going to be a good football player. I just don't know that physically he's ready for a significant role this fall. There are four, there are four safeties that are ahead of him or elder statesmen compared to him. So I've just tamp it down. But again, you're looking for individual performance and there's no reason why he can't have a good day. I know a lot of people got excited about Cam Williams based upon the clips that Notre Dame put out and then the Jersey Scrimmage didn't work out really, really well for him. So I would throw that name out there, especially when you consider the competitive nature of the W position, you know, where Porter and Gilbert are aligned and Devin Fitzgerald's a candidate there as well. So those are two guys, one on each side of the ball that I would say tamp it down. Maybe not talking enough about Koakea. I know JB mentioned him. I would agree with that. Ethan Long is that fourth safety. I think he's in the process of becoming a really good football player. And I feel like we talk about this guy a lot and it's like it isn't necessarily somebody that excites the masses out there. But the return of Cooper Flanagan is extremely significant to this offense. And I don't think that his value to the offense is talked about enough. Other than me constantly saying it. And you Tim, I think, saying it on a weekly basis.
Speaker 3:
[20:45] I wonder if we'll see a skirmish on Saturday since that's been the most consistent part of the spring camp. And it's been a great spring camp. But they're like, and you just mentioned it, Cooper Flanagan, Adon Shuler and Jaylen Snead, nobody has been at the epicenter of more skirmishes than those three. In terms of tamping down, I would just say tamp down on both lines, because those guys laid it all out last Saturday, and this Saturday is much more of an exhibition. And things are just going to be different. You're in the stadium. The quarterbacks obviously are not at all alive. I just think you'll see some guys flash. You want to see some flashes, especially from the D lineman. But I just won't read a lot personally into the performance of the lines on either side of the ball on Saturday.
Speaker 1:
[21:35] That's a good point. I actually took this question as expectations beyond the blue goal game. But if we're going in the blue goal game, the hitting will not be as violent. Tim Prister, do you think Marcus Brewn will pull Lou Holtz and tell his team if they fight, he's going to resign? I don't think that's going to happen.
Speaker 2:
[21:50] I don't think that's going to happen. Times have changed. The man at the top views things a lot differently.
Speaker 1:
[21:57] You might tell them before the Miami game, if you don't fight, I will resign.
Speaker 3:
[21:59] Exactly. That's what I was going to say.
Speaker 1:
[22:04] Times have changed. In fairness to Lou Holtz, there was a bit of a situation going on. He shouldn't have done it then, but I understand. If people don't understand why he would do such a thing, it was a pretty violent rivalry at that time. No, that won't happen. I hope he plays because I feel like we've just put Dallas Golden out of sight, out of mind. The problem is he probably won't play if he was nursing any injury whatsoever. It's still undisclosed, right? We didn't end up asking Marcus Freeman about that.
Speaker 2:
[22:28] No, he said lower back.
Speaker 1:
[22:30] Lower back. Okay, then he probably won't play. So a guy that I think if our expectations are ridiculous like they seem to be, since he was included in a question with Jeremiah Love, Jadarian Price, CJ Carr and KVA, I mean, Will Black has some growing to do. I want to watch Will Black before I go ahead and anoint the lines automatically better because they're going to another rookie at the left side. But I hate to ruin people's parties, but Will Black probably, here's the deal. Will Black will be a much better player in game 16 this year and a way better player in game 16 next year than he will be in September, even depending who he's going against. It's just the way it works. Next question, Irish from A2. What is the ceiling, speaking of expectations, for Rodney Dunham this season? Could he have a similar impact to freshman Stephane Tewitt or even Aaron Lynch? I threw in the even because they are different from freshman year.
Speaker 2:
[23:22] Yeah. Go ahead, John.
Speaker 3:
[23:25] I would say, I would liken him more to potentially being able to have a Bubacar Treore type impact, maybe even probably more than Isaiah Foskey. But along the lines of Bubacar was impacting games. We saw Bubacar flash all camp long that year, but then he didn't flash immediately when the season started, but he still had some moments. So I do believe that he will be a factor this year for the defense and that he will make a couple of plays this fall that just get people as excited about his future. That's what I think we all were when we saw Bubacar Treore literally almost be unblockable, especially in that school field practice a few years ago.
Speaker 2:
[24:07] I don't really know how to put him in context with Tuett and Lynch. Tim, you'll do a better job of that than me. But I will say this, I do think he has a chance to be the third defensive end. I think Keon Kealy has to pick up the pace, I think Logan Thomas needs to make some progress physically and put himself in a position. So comparing, I'm going to let you talk about that a little bit, Tim, because you will be able to delve into exactly what those guys did during their initial season. But the number three defensive end, when you consider what we've seen and when you consider some of the things that Marcus Freeman said about him last Saturday, I think there's a very strong possibility that he's your number three man in the rotation behind the two starters with Young and Traore.
Speaker 1:
[24:54] I think it's really interesting what Drew Mantock said. It might have been Monday, could have been when we were standing in the freezing cold, Tim, about to do incident analysis, that we don't treat Dunham like he's the number one five-star recruit on the team until the end of this Jersey scrimmage. We're like, oh yeah, he's still doing good stuff. It's like, if this was a different class, people would be like, why isn't Rodney Dunham done enough? Because they didn't see any of practice. He is the number one recruit in the class. He's the five-star in the class at Defensive End, and it seems like he was taken for granted. I did a very quick search on Google because I remember what Andrew Hendricks said in Aaron Lynch's first spring game. Aaron Lynch dominated the first spring game he played in as an early enrollee. Andrew Hendricks said, and I quote, that's no high school out there. That's one big boy. We all know in the locker room, and now you're all going to find out. I have a couple bags of ice with his name on it today because he was live. Lynch and Tuett came into a 3-4, and they probably were the two of the three best defensive ends, but they had Ethan Johnson and Cameron Lewis Moore, and they had a good defense that year that didn't play great. If he's anything like Aaron Lynch, Notre Dame, when I make those nice comments about playing 16 games, they're playing 16 games. Aaron Lynch as a freshman, what, eight tackles for loss, six sacks, two force fumbles, and they sat him out the Michigan loss because they didn't think he could compete.
Speaker 2:
[26:16] They didn't think he was ready to play the system football.
Speaker 1:
[26:19] Because Ethan Johnson and Cap can contain Denard Robinson, but there's no way you're in lunchbox. So there was no... Who knew? Those guys were great, and then to it became a great sophomore.
Speaker 2:
[26:28] Yeah, they really did. You know, I mean, I don't remember exactly how large they were, what their weight was. I just envision those guys as bigger guys, whereas Dunham's more of a sleek guy, you know, firing off the edge.
Speaker 1:
[26:42] I think one good point here, and we'll let JB chime in, that's a great call, Tim, but it also goes to what Sampson said. He goes, I just looked at Rodney Dunham, and years ago, we'd think, my God, that guy's huge, and he just looks like a guy that's out there with other huge guys. I think it's Notre Dame's defensive ends that make Rodney Dunham look like a normal human, whereas Aaron Lynch looks like he's just a monster walking around out there.
Speaker 2:
[27:03] I think that's true.
Speaker 3:
[27:04] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, for me, it's what I touched on last week as to kind of why I think that, and certainly why I think that way about Keon Kealy is just the stature of that entire defensive line group, whether you're talking ends or interior players. It's so dramatic, both since Marcus Freeman took over the program and specifically year over year. And as much as we talk about the wide receivers group being improved and upgraded, I don't think physically there's a group on the team that looks more different or disparate from a year ago than the D-line.
Speaker 1:
[27:41] Yeah, he was Tim Prister in a quick search, 6'6, 265 freshman.
Speaker 2:
[27:47] Yeah, that's, I mean, that's a good 25 pounds heavier than what Dunham is.
Speaker 1:
[27:52] That's a big dude, man.
Speaker 2:
[27:53] You know, and like I haven't been down on the field, Drew Mentock's been down on the field and he, he spoke, you know, about Iwatati's just overall physical presence more so than Dunham.
Speaker 3:
[28:06] Yeah.
Speaker 2:
[28:07] So, I mean, that's an impressive, and I didn't expect that either, you know, with Iwatati coming out. I figured he was going to be a project weight wise, but he bridged, he really started to bridge the gap early in the process.
Speaker 1:
[28:22] And if I recall, too, it was even bigger, because he was really more of a defensive tackle, too.
Speaker 2:
[28:26] Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:
[28:26] Next question, IrishFlyer96. Can you share insight into how Marcus Freeman runs his practices and maybe how it's evolved since he started as a head coach? Maybe we will go to you.
Speaker 3:
[28:38] That's something I've talked to Marcus about in the past, and he tries to evolve it every single year. I think he would tell you they're more efficient now. There's more, especially this year, because of the carryover on the all three coordinator positions. There's just greater consistency, there's greater familiarity, and so there seems to be a much better efficiency, as it's told to me. The other thing I would say is that Marcus Freeman has learned that not every day has to be a Bloody Tuesday, or not every day has to be fourth and one for a spot in the playoffs. He has done a great job of getting the pulse of the team, the pulse of his program, and also trusting his assistant coaches to know that, to know the days when he will call them up, and he will huddle them up early if he doesn't like what he sees, and he will kick their asses verbally, and then he knows the days that it will work itself out. And I think we've seen a lot of that this spring in terms of how the scuffles on the practice field have been managed, because you basically are seeing those guys allowed to fight, and then some teammates are expected to go in and break it up, and then the sidelines better not clear. And none of that's happening by accident, as it was explained to me. Like, there is a method to the madness as it pertains to the skirmishes, and just the way that practice has evolved and been executed, especially this spring.
Speaker 2:
[30:11] I do think, I agree with you, John. I mean, I think that it's an interesting evolution of, and we don't see practices very often, of course, but I think just the interesting evolution as Marcus Freeman has become accustomed to being a head coach. I mean, just think about his demeanor when his first year started. And I think he's, I don't think he's afraid to throw a curve ball into practice based upon what he feels the team needs at that moment. But that shouldn't surprise anybody because Marcus Freeman is constantly seeking and searching for ways to challenge his team in different ways. This whole scuffle, if they're not scuffling, they're probably not as competitive as we thought they were. I didn't expect to hear comments like that a few years ago, but they're pretty bloodthirsty now when they go out to the practice field.
Speaker 1:
[31:08] I think the comments just didn't happen a few years ago.
Speaker 2:
[31:10] Well, that could very well be.
Speaker 1:
[31:11] The fights were very unfortunate a few years ago. There were injuries in Notre Dame's football team in the last three years prior to this because of fights on the football field. Very, very bad ones, two very, very bad ones. And they were because the Melees got out of hand and they were not flannigan and sneeg going at it and getting it broken up. I mean, so that's the way it has evolved. That's evolved for sure. It's not like it's always been kumbaya, all of a sudden, let's start fighting. I mean, there was huge fights. And two careers were hurt by those fights. We are well aware of these. But it's evolved to the point where you let them, I mean, clearly there's an issue. And if they're going to fight, that's fine, break up the fight. The two of them can fight, they can break it up, right? They're wearing pads. Once that helmet came off, everybody broke it up. You see that? It was like, get away from them, man.
Speaker 2:
[31:57] We talk, like we, you know, obviously, Lou Holtz was an old school tough guy, but, you know, Chris Zorch was getting his butt kicked out of practice on a regular basis because he was, because he was taken away from the practice time or whatever with the scuffle. So things have changed and I agree. I mean, I think Marcus Freeman is a lot more comfortable embracing that whole notion that, yeah, we get after it in practice and we're proud of it.
Speaker 1:
[32:22] Yeah, and I think that's a great point. Everything has to be Bloody Tuesday because you can do a lot of Bloody Tuesdays in the spring probably, and then for a week in August. And then it just did everything. Remember, it's your plan in 16 games, your plan in 15 games, whatever, whatever that schedule is for, they can't be tested that hard all the time.
Speaker 2:
[32:39] JB, has that whole thing kind of evolved since year one for Freeman from your perspective?
Speaker 3:
[32:46] Oh, absolutely, yeah. I think, I mean, it's maturity of the coach and the maturity of the program. And again, I do think it's the trust and continuity. This is all three guys at the coordinator spots back together that's been such a rarity for Marcus Freeman during this time. Plus, it's the only time it's been all three of those guys back and your star quarterback to return. So yeah, I think that's a significant part of the evolution of the program. But again, yeah, there's, I don't want to say there's structure to the scuffles. There's just sort of an awareness to them.
Speaker 1:
[33:20] He did even say like, it's okay when two guys fight. He's like, you better don't get past that because then it gets hard to control. I mean, that's just right.
Speaker 3:
[33:28] Yeah.
Speaker 2:
[33:29] We move on to question number four from Memphis Phil. Who's someone you're looking to see in the spring game that you either didn't see much from or didn't get a good look at in the Jersey scrimmage? Tim.
Speaker 1:
[33:41] I got a little bit of a look and that's why I want to see more of them. Jaden Sanders.
Speaker 2:
[33:45] Here you go.
Speaker 1:
[33:46] Jaden Sanders is a aggressive guy who was playing backup nickel. I want to see him play some nickel and some corner because I still think he can challenge people. I don't think you come over from Michigan as a freshman who started and played plenty if you're not looking for 400 snaps. To let people know there's probably 800 snaps as a corner out there. I think Jaden Sanders is a guy a lot of people will enjoy watching because he's also not rookie. He's already played some football.
Speaker 3:
[34:13] His frame, he's pretty too as the coaches like to say. He is so long and just has this incredible wingspan and has this presence about him. That's a great one there, Tio. I'm going to go with one of the veteran most guys on the defense, but because of the role he's now playing, I'm going to say Christian Gray. We saw Christian Gray make a goal on play to break up a pass last week in the 1s versus 1s, and he broke up a CJ Carr pass. Can he do it in more space? Can he show some consistency at the nickel position? So for me, I'm taking Christian Gray.
Speaker 2:
[34:52] I mean, I definitely say Keon Keighley is a guy that we need. We want to see more of what he can do. We want to see the fight and the effort that for a couple of plays, again, for a couple of plays last week that I didn't think I saw. I'm going to say Elijah Hughes, because suddenly that competition at Tackle with Tian Gray and Francis Breu in the middle, where does Elijah Hughes fit in? I think he fits in nicely. He came in very strong at the end of last season. He's bigger now. I think he's up to 295, which I think is a pretty good number for him. I just want to see what he can do. And then, you mentioned earlier Tim Aiden Pouncy. I was looking at the defense and I don't think I really saw him, so I'm going to have to zero in on him a little bit more.
Speaker 1:
[35:43] That happens, though, just for people listening.
Speaker 2:
[35:45] Yeah, it just does. I mean, there's just too much to watch sometimes. But Jasper Scaife punting outside, I really want to see that because I think it can be pretty majestic and pretty magnificent. And then two freshman defenders, one that flashed in a good way, one that didn't flash necessarily in a good way because he was isolated on a receiver. And that was Chas Smith who didn't. He ended up losing a guy in coverage. But Thomas Davis, I thought he came up and filled one time. And it's again, it's really, it's in any of these settings, it's very difficult to see all the guys that you want to see. But those are some of the guys. And I'll throw in one in for Sampson, because he talked about James Flanagan. He didn't see much from him last week. Let's see if James Flanagan can get involved in the passing game a little bit more. We know he can block. Let's see if he can get involved in the passing game a little bit more.
Speaker 1:
[36:37] Our next question from Dr. Parnell42. This week, Tim O'Malley shared in a thread on the message board, which places have the best pizza around South Bend area for visitors? If Prister, Sampson, John Brice and Drew had to pick, where would they go for pizza in the South Bend area? We'll have Drew chime in on instant analysis. I have Sampson's choice. John Brice, go to it.
Speaker 3:
[36:56] Is this question number six? Okay.
Speaker 1:
[36:58] I'm sorry, you're going to go to it anyway. It's just five, yes.
Speaker 3:
[37:01] All right, that's all right. I'm going in the South Bend area for traditional style pizza, Rocco's. If you want Chicago style pizza, I'm a Chicago style pizza fan. In the South Bend area, I'm going to Front Street Pizza in Niles, Michigan. Super underrated spot. I know some other people on campus who love it and they've got some great appetizers. It's a cool little spot if you go there, but it's a great spot to just get your pizza to go. Allow the standard 40 to 45 minutes. But Rocco's for the traditional thinner crust, almost New York style, and absolutely Front Street for some Chicago deep dish style.
Speaker 2:
[37:41] I think for me, just pure taste. Again, I'm not taste bud police, but I've always loved Barnaby's. There's a couple of those in South Bend and Chewaka. I think those are good. But for the full Notre Dame experience, don't you have to go to Rocco's? I mean, I think that's just dripping in Notre Dame-ness through the years. I like the atmosphere in Rocco's. And I like their pizza too. But I think Barnaby's is something truly unique to this area.
Speaker 1:
[38:13] Pete Sampson asked if Goshen counted. I said yes, because Rick Meyer is from Goshen, so why not venture on pizza? He called it the Jeremiah love of pizza.
Speaker 3:
[38:23] That's unfair. That's too far away, like Front Street Pizza is like 12 miles from campus. Victory is too far.
Speaker 1:
[38:31] Closer in Niles.
Speaker 3:
[38:33] Illegal procedure.
Speaker 1:
[38:35] I had a feeling someone's going to be mad. Closer in Niles is Milano's Pizza. And I know Andy Davis, too, who have seen walking out of that pizza place at the same time as me getting it. He would agree with me. Milano's Pizza is the best pizza for the best price in the area. Barnaby's St. Louis is an icon. And also my favorite atmosphere is Barnaby's St. Louis, the dark booths, everything, I love that spot. And then I was very sad when my daughter Charlotte's volleyball ended at Elkhart High School because she used to do two hours there practicing on Friday nights when she was 11. And I would go to Antonia's Italian restaurant to increase her and eat pizza.
Speaker 3:
[39:12] Yeah.
Speaker 1:
[39:12] Made it, so.
Speaker 3:
[39:13] That's good.
Speaker 1:
[39:14] Yeah, now I have no sense of humor there. It's kind of far away.
Speaker 3:
[39:18] But that was a good move at Rocco's on the weekend when they have lasagna. Is to get the lasagna and then in a side cup of Alfredo sauce to go over the beat lasagna. And you can thank me and or send gift certificates to me later.
Speaker 1:
[39:36] Our next question, actually number six for John Brice's accounting purposes is Terry Benedict. The term nickel in football was originally named because it was the fifth best defensive back on the field. Where would you rank it in terms of the game today?
Speaker 3:
[39:50] You mean in terms of the value of that position on the field?
Speaker 1:
[39:54] Yep. Let's leave quarterback out of it.
Speaker 3:
[39:58] Yeah, that's a really good question. I don't know because I don't think, I still think a defensive end has a chance to impact more plays on a regular basis. I still think a defensive tackle can be so disruptive. He can do so much for you that will make your nickels job easier. And I'm still going to take a linebacker over a great nickel, a great linebacker. I'm taking over a great nickel and a great corner like Leonard Moore.
Speaker 2:
[40:32] I think JB cut out there on the road.
Speaker 1:
[40:35] I am not taking, just to respond, I'm not taking a linebacker over a great nickel. I'm taking a great nickel. I think that's a linebacker.
Speaker 3:
[40:42] Really?
Speaker 1:
[40:43] Yeah, because he's playing a linebacker now and he can impact absolutely everything the entire game. Like when you go back to the Clemson, when Clemson had a true defense that Notre Dame couldn't handle in 18 and 20, I go nickel over linebacker.
Speaker 2:
[40:54] You just have to be so quick twitch to play nickel. You can't get beat off the snap of the ball. You're done. You're done immediately. And I mentioned, I think, in the first segment about, you know, a cover corner, you got a little bit of chance to adjust to the route, although that's, I mean, you're in wide open spaces, especially a field corner. You're in wide open spaces. That's really difficult. I don't know. I don't know exactly where. I love the question because he's, because Terry Benedict's right. The fifth, the nickel used to be your fifth best defensive back, and it's very specialized now to the point where we saw an example of Notre Dame recruiting at nickel with the commitment with John Gay. So, excellent question. You know, the skill sets required for what happens on the back end and what happens on the front end are so, so difficult. But I mean, we know every year that a coaching staff kind of goes through wringing their hands trying to find a quality nickel. Notre Dame has gone into the transfer portal more multiple times in order to find their nickel. So, great question and a very difficult position of play in its own right.
Speaker 1:
[42:06] Think about this, guys. Notre Dame's defensive backs in a 17-year period, I'm sorry, their nickel in a 17-year period, went from Preston Jackson to throw in there as the fifth guy, to Kyle Hamilton, who was brought on to be the nickel in 2019. Isaiah Simmons is who I was trying to think of for Clemson. I feel like that guy, it just changes everything when you have that. So, I'm saying a great one, a great linebacker or a great nickel. That's kind of what I was saying. But when you go to Preston Jackson, Sergio Brown to Kyle Hamilton and recruiting nickels, I think we've developed that the nickel is a pretty important spot these days. I think I compare Preston Jackson to Kyle Hamilton on this podcast, Tim Prister, or was that?
Speaker 2:
[42:45] That would be the last time those two names are mentioned in the same breath. All right. Question number seven, did you choose this because it's Irish Cubs fans?
Speaker 1:
[42:55] Yeah, kind of moved it to your question.
Speaker 2:
[42:57] From that, by the way, eight-game winning streak, don't want to jinx it. They're playing this afternoon at Wrigley for a sweep of the Phillies. Great time to play the Mets and the Phillies when they're both playing awful. Thank you very much. Irish Cubs fan asks, from the end of the year to today, who's the most improved player on the team? Could it be CJ Carr? And what would that mean?
Speaker 1:
[43:17] I mean, I don't. Oh, my gosh, that's possible. That is possible. So it's not a ridiculous question, but no, I think they'll be more. He was really good last year. I think CJ Carr could roll out the version of CJ Carr last year. Just kind of if he just went for being a really good freshman, really good sophomore, he still be a great player. So you don't need to worry about that. Most improved player. I hope it's Gray. That'd be a big deal. But the most important player I hope it is, is Bryce Young.
Speaker 2:
[43:45] That's the one that's most important.
Speaker 1:
[43:47] The current most improved player from last year, I'd say Faison, looks fantastic out there. Yeah, he really looks like he's almost the number one. Like a real number one.
Speaker 2:
[44:01] Who do you have, JB?
Speaker 3:
[44:03] He wasn't on Notre Dame's team last year, but he arrived in January. So on the defensive side of the ball, I'm going with Tion Gray. I'm very impressed with how he's redefined his body. I thought he flashed a couple of times last week. I talked about this somewhere else. Like he beat a double team on Saturday from Absher and Joe Otting. And I mean, he beat it convincingly and astonishingly quick for a human being the size of his. Offensively, I'm going with Will Black. He's back at left tackle. That's not where they had him last fall. He put it himself overall very well last week. He was not perfect. He won't be perfect Saturday. But I'm going with those two trench warriors.
Speaker 2:
[44:48] I don't know that I have the definitive guy that has improved the most, because I don't think that we've necessarily seen the most or seen enough of that. But and you're right, Tim, Christian Gray. But I mean, I've always felt like Christian Gray was a good quarterback with the understanding the corners get beat. If you don't expect corners to ever get beaten, then.
Speaker 1:
[45:11] If he could play like Jordan Clark did at Nickel, Notre Dame's defense is going to be insane.
Speaker 2:
[45:16] Oh, that would be great. They need Bryce Young, though, to really, really step up. And again, I would like to think that Sullivan Absher is going to be a much better offensive guard based upon the five starts that he had and then an entire offseason and a chance to really get settled in a little bit. Maybe some of these are kind of wishful thinking, but I saw some flashes from R.Malmucum. If he could be the fifth defensive tackle that could actually get some run on game day, I think that would be very beneficial because he's a big guy that gets off the football pretty quickly. He's got to be assignment correct, but that would be a real important one because I don't, I don't think, you know, I think Chris Burgess' time is 2027. Yeah, I would 2026.
Speaker 1:
[46:00] Kind of agree with you. I think he has to grow into that frame that he is added to. Most guys that do that do have to grow into the frame. And I think they become August stars because he's going to look huge in August again. He'll probably have added three months of growing into the, well, he will have added three months of growing into the frame. And we're going to see him flash in practice number one, and it's going to be written about. And then you're going to be wondering why Chris Burgess is the sixth defensive tackle because he's one year away from being the second defensive tackle or third defensive tackle. I think that's just the natural order of things. It even happened to Traore. That's my Iwatate guy, you know. Traore walked out there as freshman year like, well, that guy's going to be really good. He had to wait a little bit. It just works. Next question from JRP3. Speaking of guys that could improve from last year, what should be our expectations for Quincy Porter? His prep pedigree is obvious. We saw last year, Carr has great touch for those 50-50 balls, deep balls in general, which should fit in nicely with Porter as the bigger body guy. Also, Porter's competition is a player in Micah Gilbert, who is not yet established as a returning starter. On the other hand, he's going to have to start summer ball effectively with zero chemistry with CJ. Carr.
Speaker 2:
[47:09] It's a great question. I think we all have the same curiosity about what Quincy Porter is going to bring to the equation. He brings length that nobody else on the team has at the wide receiver position. You know, I mean, I'm looking at, I'm high on Micah Gilbert. I think it's Micah Gilbert's time. It definitely would have been his time without, you know, Porter competing with him. But you'd like to see a nice tandem there. You know, the ability to have a tandem at the X, Y, and Z is, you know, important. And I shouldn't know why that's tight end at W is what I mean. But it would be great if they could just form a tandem. They each caught 20 some passes. That way they'd stay fresh. Whoever came in would be a threat. I don't know. It's going to be very interesting to see how the football is distributed by CJ Carr. Tim, you brought up about Jordan Faison being a number one in terms of passes caught last year. He was a number one. And you're right. He played like a number one last week. I think Mylon Graham probably has more overall physical tools, a little bit more length getting away from Quincy Porter. JB, I'm interested to hear what you think and what you know about Quincy Porter and his progress and what the expectations are for him this fall.
Speaker 3:
[48:27] Yeah. I mean, look, what made Quincy Porter a five star prospect coming out of high school was his ability to get those jump balls, was how he went to some camps and shined, quote unquote, mossing dudes in these camp settings. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to stay healthy, not at Ohio State. And he's obviously not a part of spring practice this year for Notre Dame. So until I see it from him, I'm going to remain a little skeptical even though he has that toolbox. I'm incredibly bullish on Mylon Graham as I think I've established in recent weeks. And then Gilbert has had a nice spring. Jordan Faison, I think will probably be a team captain and probably will lead the team. In receptions, great house. As Pete said last week, you believe you know he can do it, but you want to see him absolutely 100 percent healthy. When August rolls around and they begin pre-season camp, and then can Cam Williams take that next step? You know, Cam Williams has a chance to make it even harder for Quincy Porter to get on the field because Cam Williams also is a bigger frame who's had by all accounts a very productive spring. So he's not going to back down now that he's come as close as he's legitimately ever come to being a real factor in the rotation for Notre Dame.
Speaker 1:
[49:46] I'd say realistic expectation for Quincy Porter is 30 catches and five touchdowns.
Speaker 3:
[49:53] You think that's realistic?
Speaker 2:
[49:55] Yeah.
Speaker 1:
[49:56] I think he could be the starting W because he could beat up Michael Gilbert and they don't rotate as much as people think that they're going to do.
Speaker 2:
[50:05] Well, I know they haven't. I'm just saying that would be a nice luxury to have.
Speaker 1:
[50:10] But I just think he can beat up. I think he could be the starting W receiver and be one of the three main receivers.
Speaker 3:
[50:17] You already owe me a lunch, a trolling lunch for trying to punk me on text message this week, which is another story altogether. I'll bet you a lunch. I'll take the under on 30 catches and five touchdowns.
Speaker 1:
[50:29] As long as he, as long as, I'm talking realistic expectations. So as long as Quincy Porter is healthy going to camp and everything's fine and he's ready to roll, I think he'll win the W job.
Speaker 3:
[50:38] All right. If he's healthy going in to camp on August 1st, then the bet for lunch is over under 30 catches and five touchdowns. Okay. I'm there.
Speaker 1:
[50:50] I think we named every receiver on the roster as opposed to look at the guys that are going to probably start to play. And that's one way to look at this question is we just named everybody. Like they're not all going to play, we're not getting, they're not on the, they're not going to play four Ws. There's no way they're going to get to that. It's just he's on the roster like Cam Williams. If two guys get hurt, Cam Williams will be the backup W.
Speaker 2:
[51:11] Yeah, because Fitzgerald's probably in the starting lineup.
Speaker 1:
[51:15] If two guys get hurt, Cam Williams is the backup W.
Speaker 2:
[51:18] JB., I hear what you're saying and I do think that he's, Cam Williams has made a strong move, but I don't, I don't think it's going to be strong enough to get past the three guys that we're talking about.
Speaker 3:
[51:28] Yeah, I'm just saying 30 catches and five tutties is a big number in my opinion.
Speaker 1:
[51:34] Five touchdowns is a big number, but there's also not running for 38 touchdowns this year, but the two best running backs in the world, I mean, that's a huge thing too. They're going to get 20, yeah. CJ's throwing a record number.
Speaker 2:
[51:48] He's throwing a lot. He's going to add a thousand yards of passing compared to his 2,700. You know, he only threw 24 passes a game last year.
Speaker 1:
[51:58] Yeah, well, they did have the two best running backs they've had.
Speaker 2:
[52:01] I understand.
Speaker 1:
[52:01] Three best in the last 10 years.
Speaker 2:
[52:03] Do you do what you got to do?
Speaker 1:
[52:04] Yeah, I'd hand it off to those guys too. I'd throw it to those guys too. Final question from Alexandra Stockup. When the 2026 football season ends, who will rank as the third best player on the 2026 football team and John Brice, you cannot mention a wide receiver.
Speaker 3:
[52:20] Don't worry. The third best anywhere on the roster at the end of 2026. So we're obviously going with CJ Carr and Leonard Moore, one and two. I guess I'm going to go with Drake Bowen as number three.
Speaker 2:
[52:40] I think this is a great question because I think it really is. I'm glad you chose it for last because I think it deserves being set apart from. I agree, John. I think CJ Carr and Leonard Moore considered the two best and then after that, a healthy Kingston Villiamuasa and a surging Tay Johnson, I think make it real difficult to make that call. Probably, I'd probably lean towards Tay Johnson because he's healthy right now and KVA isn't. But then again, does Bubacar Troyori break out and have 11 sacks which we know that he's perfectly capable of doing, especially with the surrounding cast that he has along the defensive line? Then you have Charlie Partridge as your defensive line coach who's accustomed to having sacks across the board from tackles and defense events that he's coached. I love the question. I think Mylon Graham, I don't know about number three, but I think Mylon Graham can be up there in the top five. I'm not supposed to mention wide receivers, right?
Speaker 1:
[53:50] Yeah, but we just need one for the number three. That's why it's hard.
Speaker 2:
[53:54] I'm doing it again, right? I'm doing it again. I would say Tay Johnson. He would be my choice. I think he has all-American potential.
Speaker 1:
[54:02] My choice is Traore because I think KVA will miss some games or not be KVA until midway through. And if I'm just going to be fair when we're ranking them, let's presuming you and I are ranking these at the end of the year, I will probably penalize poor KVA for missing a few games. We have Traore's great for 16th and KVA.
Speaker 2:
[54:20] We're about ready to rank him and we know that he's not going to be ready for the start of the season.
Speaker 1:
[54:25] If he's great in 12th and Traore's great in 15th or 16th, then I think that's a big difference. So I'm going to go Traore because he would be in the NFL right now.
Speaker 3:
[54:32] I was injured his...
Speaker 1:
[54:35] Go ahead, Jamie.
Speaker 3:
[54:37] Oh, I'm sorry. I was just going to say I was really tempted on a Don Schuller, to be honest with you. My third was always going to be a defensive player and the three I very quickly racked my brain to consider were Boubacar, Drake Bowen and a Don Schuller.
Speaker 1:
[54:51] That's a great point. We're going to add question 9B to this. You can't name a defensive player because most names are defensive player here. We had Tay Johnson, KVA, Traore and a Don Schuller. Who is a realistic number three? He has to pass all those guys. Those guys finish four, five, six, seven, eight. That's what has to happen there. That's tough.
Speaker 3:
[55:11] Nolan James.
Speaker 2:
[55:14] I was going to say Neas Williams.
Speaker 1:
[55:19] Three is too high. I was going to say, you're getting into an offensive lineman range here, but it's three is too high. I would have. It's such a good question. I can't answer it.
Speaker 2:
[55:30] Well, it's so difficult to keep the ball in the hands of Faison. Especially now that he's established.
Speaker 1:
[55:34] Yeah, Faison is my choice. I think Faison is my choice. I don't think he'll be number three though.
Speaker 2:
[55:39] He they're going to like car. Well, you know, we'll distribute the football, but Faison could catch 55 or 60 passes because because a lot of that isn't downfield. That's just getting the football in his hands. Yeah. And he's he he can get open underneath very, very easily.
Speaker 1:
[55:54] He'll break tackles. He'll return a punt for a touchdown. He'll do something in the special teams game or Marty Biazzi has him somewhere. He ends up on a kickoff, get a touchdown or something like that. There's all these things that Faison can do.
Speaker 3:
[56:07] Yeah, I would I would just like we took that over under on on Quincy Porter on the catches and touchdowns like to the teepees point, like I'd be pretty stunned if Faison stays healthy all year. I'll be frankly stunned if he doesn't have more than 60 catches. I really will. Like I think what we've seen he had what 789 last Saturday. There was another day right before that. He had seven catches in practice and I know that's just practice. But yeah, I think Faison volume this year is going to be intense. And as we get ready to wrap up, Tio, I just want to say you and your taskmaster role, you preordained that I would answer questions 369. So I appreciate you letting me fill the role of little John and the Eastside Boys today.
Speaker 1:
[56:49] Nice. The little fly in the ointment of JB left, he'll have to hear it later, is still my guy. If Aneas Williams is third in receiving, he throws off all these catches because if he's the guy they throw to, like Darius Walker, where he's catching 38 passes or something, and that's very possible if he's playing the whole time, just as part of the offense. Yeah, the number distribution of receiver will be fun this year. I just think they throw more because DJ Carr can throw it in the end zone. A lot easier.
Speaker 2:
[57:18] Side bets. You set it up, Tio.
Speaker 1:
[57:21] There's plenty of side bets for this one. Last year's side bets was, well, Jeremiah Love get 20 touchdowns and stuff like that. He had Judarion Price were, you know, to be fair, Price was even better than we thought he was going to be last year. We don't give him fights enough love, I think, for how good he was. That was fun. Blue Goal Game will be almost as fun as this podcast was. And on Monday, we will have another podcast dedicated to the Blue Goal Game. We will also have a instant analysis pregame and postgame this Saturday. Until then, for Tim Prister, John Brice who bounce, Jack Freeman behind the camera. I am Tim O'Malley. Thanks for watching and listening Irish Illustrated Insider.