Over at Inside the Irish, Douglas Farmer has taken up the mantle of polling beat writers and bloggers for our top 25 on the Notre Dame roster. The entire list was finally revealed this past Friday and, as one of the participants, I feel it is my duty to promote transparency to reveal my ballot and give some reasoning behind it.
(Also, easy #content).
#25 – Ian Book, QB
To be frank, Book wouldn’t have landed in my top 25 at all if Daniel Cage was healthy and ready to roll this season. With Cage out, I was able to slide Book into my final slot. The Blue/Gold game showed that Book will be more than serviceable in a backup role should the worst nightmare happen for the Irish and that “comfort” (because we still never want him to see the field this year) awards Book the final spot on my ballot and, according to the “Others Receiving Votes” post, I’m the only panelist brave enough to do so.
#24 Tyler Newsome, P
Punting is winning! In all seriousness, Newsome is, I feel, an underrated weapon for the Irish. Should the punt coverage improve under Brian Polian, I think flipping the field will be a regular occurrence for the Irish. And don’t discount that as a weapon, especially against tougher opponents like Georgia, Stanford, and Southern Cal.
#23 Darnell Ewell, DT
I felt a lot better about this vote until reading a lot of practice reports in which Ewell hasn’t seemed to have made much of an impact yet; however, I stand by the vote. When I see someone the size of Ewell, who came to ND at 6’3″ 280 lbs and then make a 40+ lbs weight gain once the strength program does it’s thing, I can only assume the only way a 300+ lbs freshman man-beast can survive is by literally eating the people trying to block him. Call it the Louis Nix factor/bias. I’m still buying Ewell stock.
#22 Durham Smythe, TE
With the return of the Mack, and reports from practice that freshman Cole Kmet has impressed, you might (sadly) forget that Smythe came back for a fifth year in this talented unit. With Chip Long now running the offense for the Irish, I’m expecting a lot more out of the TE unit as a whole and for Smythe to have his best season yet receiving-wise.
#21 Nick Coleman, S
Coleman landed just outside the consensus top 25 and I certainly understand why. He had a rather, um, let’s say suboptimal season at CB last year. But, in a secondary loaded with either question marks or questionable depth (save for rover), new defensive coordinator Mike Elko is banking on Coleman’s speed and raw talent to help bolster the unit. I’m taking a risk as well here and buying in. Elko has certainly worked with lesser talent and I feel Coleman will perform far better with plays starting ten or so yards in front of him, leading to a few less plays in that end 10 yards behind him.
#20 Jay Hayes, DE/DT
Jay Hayes rounds out my top 20 and I’m looking for the Elko effect to benefit the senior whether he ends up lining up at DE or DT this season. He has the size and we’ve seen a couple of flashes. The fact along that Elko is looking for a spot, any spot, along the line for him speaks volumes to me about the talent this kid has…or perhaps it better speaks to the lack of options along the line. Either way, Jay Hayes is still one of the better options available, in my opinion.
#19 C.J Holmes, RB
I don’t think I’ve ever rated a freshman so high in this exercise before. But, if there’s one thing that I’ve learned from watching years and years of football, it’s that speed kills. Speed always finds its way on the field somehow, even in a crowded backfield. Speed is what makes you say “wow, who is that Golden Tate/Will Fuller/C.J. Sanders guy?!” This vote is probably equivalent to pushing a healthy stack of chips on a single number in roulette. I’m probably going to lose, but one of those numbers will hit, so why the hell not!
#18 Dexter Williams, RB
Josh Adams is easily the best running back on the roster and his backup has to land somewhere on this list. The only reason he’s not listed higher is simply because I’m not sure how much of a major impact he will have with Adams being Adams and Tony Jones Jr. nipping at everyone’s heels. Considering he landed at #15 in the final results, I feel like I’ve slotted him about where he should be.
#17 Te’von Coney, LB
The LB corps is stacked this season and I am downright giddy to watch that crew start playing up to their full potential under Elko. Granted, there are only two true LB positions in Elko’s defense and, with Nyles Morgan and Greer Martini holding down the top two slots, Coney will have limited playing time. Don’t sleep on him though. This kid has loads of talent and will end up having a major impact throughout the season, even in a backup capacity.
#16 Justin Yoon, K
Apparently, I am keeping something of an HLS tradition alive by ranking the kicker higher than everyone else did. Still, never forget that DMQ ranked Ruffer #1 in 2011 and Ruffer proceeded to forget how to kick that season. Anyways, I’m legitimately shocked not so much by Yoon’s final ranking, but that only six people had him on the ballot to begin with. I can’t speak for the other half of the panelist, but Yoon has been more than consistent throughout his career. He’s perfect on FG within 30 yards, 13/17 from 30-39, 3/6 from 40-49, and 1/1 at 50+. Sure, he could be better, especially in the 30-39 range, but if you take a quick look at the #collegekickers hashtag this season, you’ll see we are rather spoiled. Plus, consider that he was apparently struggling with injury last season and still went 13/17 which included a game winner against Miami.
Yes, I just wrote a bunch of words bewildered that a kicker didn’t get more love. I regret nothing.
#15 Julian Love, CB(/S?)
Julian Love, aka the guy that hit people so hard last season, he forced us all to remember him. This kid was a welcome shot in the arm last year and, with questions all around the secondary, he’s also gotten some consideration to take his wood laying talents to the last line of defense. Regardless of where he lands, he can flat out play and will excel.
#14 Greer Martini, LB
As I mentioned with Coney, Martini is holding down one of the two starting positions in the most talented position group on the defense. Having him fairly within the top 15 made loads of sense to me for that reason alone. Plus, with his success against option offenses in the past, I’m looking for him to be one hell of a defender against the run game under Elko.
#13 Chase Claypool, WR
I blame Shane and his love of Canadian Bacon for this. Still, Claypool is a huge target with lots of speed, but that also describes practically everyone in the WR corps this season. Oh well, I’m going to sit here and wave the Canadian flag because why not.
#12 Daelin Hayes
Daelin Hayes went from “is he on the roster” to “HOLY SHIT SOMEONE CAN SACK SOMEBODY” during the Blue/Gold game. Yes, it was a glorified practice, but we are looking for something, anything here. I’m all in on the spring ball hype because I absolutely need something to hold on to on the D-line. But I’m not the only one: he landed #9 on the final ballot.
#11 Jerry Tillery, NT
He has the size, the talent, but the lingering question is whether or not he can put it together for a whole season. Preferably, without any kicking of a concussed player’s head this time around. Tillery’s immaturity has been the biggest negative in his career this far: the aforementioned personal foul stupidity plus a bowl game suspension aren’t exactly glowing endorsements for having your head right. Here’s hoping having an actual defensive coach and BK focusing more on relationships with his players pull him up to the level he should be.
#10 C.J. Sanders, WR/KR/PR
I have C.J. rounding out my top ten for the sole reason of what kind of a weapon he is in the return game. Yes, he made some boneheaded moves last season, but again, I’m counting on Polian to help polish that up. C.J. can be a game-changer and, if the Irish are looking to even sniff the playoffs this season, C.J. will need to continue to be a deadly weapon in the return game.
#9 Shaun Crawford
Please stay healthy. Please stay healthy. Please stay healthy. Easily the most talented CB on the roster and I’m dying to see this kid play an entire season. On that note, PLEASE STAY HEALTHY.
#8 Drue Tranquill
Please stay healthy. Please stay healthy. Please stay healthy. Drue was made for the rover position. It absolutely plays to his strengths, especially against the run, without having to worry too heavily about watching him struggle as the last line of defense. Oh, and PLEASE STAY HEALTHY.
#7 Quenton Nelson
I was pleased to see a big man claim the #1 ranking on the final ballot, but I’ll admit being a little bit shocked that I was the low voter on Nelson. Not that I think he isn’t that good, but the six people above him I feel are bigger potential impact players than he. However, he is solid, can flat out play and will be playing on Sundays in the near future.
#6 Alize Mack
Retuuuuuuuuuurn of the Mack. Granted, our ballots were submitted before the hamstring injury, but I still feel bullish on Mack regardless. I’m getting a Tyler Eifert type vibe for him this season in the sense that Mack will be split out wide quite a bit and will be an absolute nightmare to cover which will absolutely leave our other WR weapons with delicious 1-on-1 matchups to expose.
#5 Equaniemous St. Brown, WR
If you can stand out among this group of WR, you’re one hell of a player. It also doesn’t hurt to have the talent to cartwheel into the endzone. Big target, great speed, great hands…Wimbush to ESB all damn day downfield.
#4 Brandon Wimbush, QB
It’s a little risky to push Wimbush this high on very little playing time, but he has so much talent, I had to restrain myself from putting him any higher. A cannon for an arm, speed for days, great vision and instincts, and just makes everything look so effortless. I cannot wait to see what Chip Long can do with him.
#3 Nyles Morgan, LB
Two things stick in my mind with Nyles: (1) When BVG was jettisoned from ND, Morgan started wrecking fools and actually some of these crazy things called sacks and (2) when we saw him during the Blue/Gold game and NFL player took over his body. The switch has most certainly flipped and I’m all-in on Nyles being nothing short of a wrecking ball all season long.
#2 Josh Adams, RB
Should this line play up to their potential, there is absolutely no reason why Josh Adams won’t light it up this season. He hits holes hard, has excellent instincts and vision, can straight up truck defenders, and, while he isn’t the “speed” option in the backfield, certainly has the ability to hit another gear once he gets past the second level. Oh, and having an actual read option attack with Wimbush and Adams? /drools uncontrollably
#1 Mike McGlinchey
McGlinchey is world’s better than what he showed last season. He knows it. We all (should) know it. Had he left for the NFL, he would’ve been a slam dunk first round pick, despite his troubles. A first round O-line talent with something to prove after a disappointing year? Have fun, opposing d-linemen, the big man is out for blood.
- Epilogue - January 3, 2022
- HLS Podcast Finale - January 2, 2022
- The Final Fiesta: Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State NCAA ’14 Sim - December 31, 2021