Fall camp is charging along and things are starting to heat up for the Irish who are still at Culver Academy before returning home after tomorrow’s final practice at Culver. Let’s jump right in again today with the video and some notes.
- Great adjustment by Equanimeous St. Brown with pretty solid coverage from Julian Love on an under thrown ball. That’s the toughest pass to cover for a corner and St. Brown used his body perfectly.
- Nice seeing Andrew Trumbetti get passed Alex Bars. Trumbetti showed some pass rush skills last year and we all know how desperate this defense is for pass rushers.
- GREAT grab by Torii Hunter Jr almost right off the turf after breaking away from Cole Luke’s coverage. Hunter looked great racing down the field as well. All on Notre Dame’s top corner.
- Interesting and maybe a little concerning that backup utility offensive lineman Mark Harrell straight up stoned Jarron Jones in the clip. Harrell is a versatile and top notch reserve, but for the Notre Dame defense to elevate itself this year, Jones has to be a beast up the middle. It’s just one clip, but it’s interesting that it was selected for today’s highlights.
- WatchND should produce a video of just CJ Sanders vs. Shaun Crawford. It’s a speed vs. speed match up that Sanders won in the beginning of the clip and then losses towards the end. More please.
- Interesting that we get another clip of Tony Jones Jr too. Kelly pumped up Kelly over the weekend and they have shown him a few times now in the limited video we get from practices.
- Another day with a clip of Chase Claypool making a nice grab on a pass slightly off target.
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
I think you’re over-reading and misinterpreting some of the drills. While some of the drills are designed for each player to try to “win” the rep, others are not. Generally, it’s true that on most WR–DB drills the WR and DB are both trying to “win” — the WR by getting open and catching the ball and the DB by preventing the reception. But on other drills, the players are not always trying to “win” by beating their opponent. For example, some lineman drills are designed to work on techniques such as hand placement, pass rush of pass protection moves/skills, and other things. In those drills, sometimes the “opponent” is not supposed to go 100% to try to “beat” the guy working on the technique, he’s just supposed to provide reasonable opposition/force to allow the guy whose supposed to be working on his technique to do so. I think some of these reps they’re showing are like that. For example, I think that might be what’s going on in the Mark Harrell-Jarron Jones rep. It seems to me that Jones is not necessarily trying to win the rep, but is simply providing reasonable pressure/counter-force to allow Harrell to work on his technique. The clips are fun to watch and definitely are helping everyone, including me, get pumped up for the season, but we shouldn’t overstate what they show. By the way, here’s another reason why it’s unfair to take a clip like this and interpret it against Jones. Like in baseball, where even a great hitter “loses” 70% of the time, in pass rushing the D-lineman loses probably even more often than that, failing to get to the QB. So even if Jones was trying to “win” the rep — which again to me doesn’t seem to be the case — the fact that Harrell contained Jones on this one rep again shouldn’t be interpreted as some broader statement of Harrell’s or Jones’ abilities.