Sam Young Bulks Up to 330 lbs
According to yesterday’s South Bend Tribune, Sam Young has taken the lead in the Notre Dame weight room this winter and is up to 330 pounds after hovering above 300 last season.
Junior-to-be Sam Young talked the talk with Weis late last fall, in a not-so-secret, early-morning rendezvous. Since that time, he has shown plenty of signs of becoming what he hoped to be. The 6-foot-8 offensive tackle, who struggled to keep his weight above 300 last season, has set the tone in the weight room this winter and returns this spring at a ripped 330-plus.
Young has made it no secret that he wants to take on a leadership role on this team and he is showing it in the weight room so far this off-season.
The Notre Dame offensive line got push around a lot last year which makes seeing Young add some additional weight a pretty good sign. There were times last year when the ND line didn’t know its assignments and there were times when they were just overpowered. Bulking up won’t help the former, but it will help the latter.
When you consider the recent performances of Notre Dame offensive linemen in the bench press competition in the NFL Combine, this should be seen as a very promising sign. It’s been a long time since Notre Dame has had an offensive line that could knock a defensive line back on its heels – let’s hope this is a sign that we are getting closer and not farther away to getting back to that.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Just goes to prove he can’t block regardless of his weight. ND continues to recruit big slow lineman who get whipped on game day.
He definitely has the frame for the additional weight too. Even in the picture I used for this post he looks “thin” for an OL. As a whole, the OL needs to get stronger so that QBs are no longer putting up better numbers in the bench press at combine than our OLs.
I agree. Those are the stories that give us hope this year. If the OL continues it over the summer, we may dare to dream. You can’t run or throw if you can’t block.
Now that’s the kind of stories I want to be hearing more of this spring.