Pre-Spring Depth Chart: Linebacker

Nicely put. Depth is great thing to have, as all Irish fans have learned over the past few years. A couple of things:

1. Can Kendall Moore perform in passing situations like Te’o, or is he more likely to back up the other starting MLB (Calabrese/McDonald). It sounds simple enough, but Te’o often didn’t expand far enough or went too far (opening up underneath routes) early in the year.

2. McDonald didn’t look great in his limited playing time at the end of 2010. I am sure that is partly due to knocking off the rust, and with a healthy spring should be right there. Based on his athleticism, would he be a better fit to back up Te’o (which comes with very little playing time)?

3. I think the battle for the starting job at Dog will be great to watch unfold. Kerry Neal did an admirable job in coverage, which is saying a lot for a guy who played DE the year before. I think it is the second toughest LB position to play (behind Te’o at MLB) because of what is involved. Any time you have a LB with significant pass coverage responsibilities, it is a lot to ask.

4. Please, Steve Filer live up to the billing in 2011. Seriously. We all appreciate the effort on special teams, but come on. Eric, I couldn’t agree with you more on that one.

1. Te’o did struggle in the passing defense, it’s obviously his biggest weakness.

2. I was thinking whoever plays at Te’o spot has to be very athletic, so I figured Moore can offer that and not have to play a whole ton because Te’o rarely comes off the field. I guess that assumes that McDonald will play well enough to push Carlo. If he doesn’t, then Moore probably switches sides to get more PT.

3. The Dog spot is probably the second most anticipated spot I’m looking forward to watching in the spring and B-G game besides the quarterbacks.

4. Yes, c’mon Filer!

McDonald is weak, no way he see’s the two deep…
C4 starts and blows up plays, works very well with T’oe
I think your right on with the rest, so much talent…….

Please tell me Calabrese has two middle names that both start with C. Either way, I fully support “C4”.

I’m not sure what his middle name is…I’m betting Christopher. Add his No. 44 and you get C4…sort of? That is his nickname though, I think players call him that and what not.

Eric,
Great article.

I agree that the inside backer are Teo and C4. Those two played well together and stuff the middle. The outside linebackers are more difficult for me to choose. At times last year we had issues containing the edge.

I am interested to see who starts on the outside at the beginning of the year, and who finishes the year there. I think the coaching staff did a fantastic job last year of finding the “right” combinations.

Irish John,

It was hard not to love the run-stopping abilities that Te’o and C4 brought to the table, right? It will probably take a heck of an offseason for someone to unseat Calabrese there.

The edge will be a big issue, and until it’s not, it’s still a major weakness on this team. Moving Brian Smith inside worked out great (never thought he was a OLB because of a lack of speed and smarts) but the future should be brighter.

I like ND’s LBs this year! It’s nice to finally have some depth at this critical position. I disagree about C4 for starting this year. If Moore is as good and athletic as they say he is, I see him starting next to Manti this year. C4 is good in the box, but in stretch and pass plays, he becomes just average.

Adrian,

Fair point, but Carlo could get better on that. As we’ve said, Te’o struggles in passing situations from time to time too. Moore will certainly be one of the top 5 guys I’ll be watching like a hawk during the B-G game.

I think you guys are missing the point. C4 is a high explosive……..you know, it blows things up.

No one failed to realize the connection between plastique and Carlo blowing up running plays.

Good nick names work on more than one level. If Carlo’s initials all start with C, then it’s extra awesome.

I expect to see a heavy rotation with the exception of #5. Manti will only come off the field when he wants a breather. I think the rest of those guys will likely rotate in and out quite often with different guys the bulk of the action each week depending on the game plan.

Any way you slice it there is quality depth at linebacker, and on the defensive line. If the secondary can hold up their end of the deal this defense could be very, very good.

I can see C4 blowing up a play, Hawaii five 0 leveling the QB, and then turning to Fox – “Book ’em, Danno.”

Oh snap.

EM, I don’t really post much, but I just wanted to thank you for this series. It’s keeping me alive until Spring ball.
After reading this piece, I had to go back (again) to the Coach’s chalk talks on LB play. Awesome. Any chance he’ll do an update? I’d love to hear his evaluation of Diaco Year 1, and it’d be great to pick up more specific knowledge. E.g. I know that I have a general sense of Dog & Cat responsibilities in Diaco’s D, but I’m sure the Coach could teach us a ton more. Just a thought. Thanks for the great site.

Treeplay,

I hope Coach does come back sometime soon but I’m not sure when. Whiskey would have more information on that.

I’m glad you’re enjoying the series. Spring ball in a couple weeks baby!

All: exactly what passing situations did Te’o struggle with? All I remember is that he blew up basically every single WR screen that anyone tried to throw against us. I just don’t remember him struggling against the pass.

And I’d pencil Prince Shembo into the OLB positin opposite D-Flem. Aside from graduated players, wasn’t he pretty much the first guy off the bench? Shouldn’t we surmise that he’s passed Filer on the depth chart? Kid’s an animal. He looked like he had been in a college weight room for a few years already, beating OLinemen with both bull rushing and speed. I think Filer is really going to have to impress to find a starting spot or even significant playing time.

Murtaugh, I like your breakdowns of different personnel groupings. We really do have a ridiculous amount of talent and experience at LB. We’ll be able to hurt teams in a lot of different ways. We need some of that sizzle on offense, but I think that the G-At/D-deuce/CMcD/B-Koy quadruplet is a nice influx of young sizzle.

Mouth,

Te’o is great at blowing up screen passes (great play recognition, initial burst and speed), but he had his struggles dropping back into pass coverage last year. A lot of that is playing in a new system but there were plenty of times where he would drop back and have a pass completed right by his ear or to a receiver he should have picked up. I’m certainly not going to complain about his abilities, but he’s played in every game for two years and started about 20 games and doesn’t have an interception yet.

I agree with you on Shembo, to a point. I’m not sure how much he played outside of the coaches telling him on third down late in the year, “stand on the edge and try to kill the quarterback.” When Carlo was healthy no one but B. Smith and Neal were playing outside at Dog. But it is true, Shembo already looks like he’s 22 and it is curious that Filer didn’t play much too. I do recall that conversation BK had about Filer and how 2011 would be his time to step up and that they needed him. We’ll see I guess.

Au contraire—Te’o had a pick in the spring game last year. Valid point, I guess, but he plays so well overall that I haven’t noticed the lack of pics. He punishes Opposing RBs, consistently blows up WR screens—which is important given how many teams run spread offenses—and is in general a disruptive badass. And he’s a true sophomore. I realize that you guys are just critiquing him, which is fair, but I don’t think the knock is much of a knock.

When did BK say that about Filer? I’ve been waiting for Filer to emerge for a while. I’m rooting for him. You’re right that Shembo was pretty much only told to kill the QB. But Filer hardly saw any time at LB. I think we have so many thoroughbreds at LB that we’ll be in Good shape however it shakes out.

Okay, so I have a comment and I don’t know where else to put it so I’ll put it here.

I miss having Jimmy Clausen in my life. I miss his automatic accuracy (watching Dayne Crist one-hop every other pass to his left really brought this to light), I miss his deep throws (again, Crist throws way too many where the receiver doesn’t even have a play to make) and I miss how anytime he threw a bad pass I was surprised. As Ron Burgundy might say, I miss his musk. I can only hope to experience another QB who’s accuracy is so good that I become shocked anytime a pass sails wide.

But what I’m trying to get at is, it sure seems through these positional breakdowns that Notre Dame has a deep roster. It may not be entirely proven, like with some of the defensive linemen and receivers, but it sure seems like Notre Dame will be able to roll in backups next season and not see a significant drop in play anywhere except the secondary (or if Michael Floyd or Manti Te’o get hurt). It may not matter, though, unless the QB position gets settled. It frightens me a little that complete unproven players like Andrew Hendrix and Everett Golson have a legitimate shot at winning the starting job, even if it is a small chance. When Brady Quinn was the starter, nobody challenged him. When Clausen was the starter, nobody challenged him. But now with Crist starting, he’s getting challenged by three different players.

I like Crist. I want to love him. He’s obviously talented, and I’d much rather he start than Tommy Rees (as I’ve said in other posts). But he’s maddeningly inconsistent, and his lack of accuracy at times is startling. The QB position has to be settled for all of Notre Dame’s positional depth to really make a difference. Notre Dame probably won’t go another month allowing only one TD, as they did last November. At some point the QB needs to make a difference, and I really think it needs to be Crist. If Kelly decides to go with Hendrix or Golson, this team is probably tapped out at 8 wins. I would guess those guys are too inexperienced to guide Notre Dame to a BCS game, unless we play unbelievable defense. Tommy Rees’ limiations hold the offense back, and would also necessitate really good defense every week, which is asking a lot. It’s got to be Crist. He’s the one with the talent and the experience to do it.

To wrap this post up, this is the type of roster that Clausen could have guided to a BCS, and possibly even championship, game. Unfortunately he was saddled with a really bad defense that allowed 45 points to freaking Stanford his junior year (no offense to Stanford, but Luck wasn’t “LUCK” just yet), and made Tate Forcier look like a Heisman candidate. It’s funny how the world works. When Notre Dame has a QB, they need a defense. When they have a defense, they need a QB. Why can’t these things ever mesh? Of course, that’s what Kelly’s here for. It’s his job to make sure the team is balanced and competitive in all areas, and it sure looks like he’s doing a helluva job. Now he’s just got to settle the QB position.

Treeplay- The Coach plans to DVR the spring game and give us an updated take on the D. I have that one for action.

Mouth- I’m a fan of the sizzle.

Chris- The Irish do have quality depth. No doubt about it. Don’t sweat the QB position too much. Weis was a great QB Coach but never managed to coach up the whole team. This is where we start to find out whether or not Kelly is a great one. The great ones build a “team” and go win football games.

I think Kelly has the potential to be great. He has been working towards this his entire career. If he’s going to do it he will do it by building a great overall team that plays great defense. He will then put whatever QB he decides to go with in the best position to win games.

Think Alabama. McElroy was serviceable at best but they won a title. Good coaching. Great football “team.” An all world QB is nice, but not required. And honestly, they can also be quite the distraction if the situation isn’t handled properly.

I think we are on the cusp of a nice run under Kelly. We may never see another JC play for the Irish. But I do believe that Notre Dame will win another National Title. Perhaps even sooner than any of us think.

Mouth,

It was a post-practice interview with some reporters last year when Kelly spoke about Filer I believe. He was asked why Filer wasn’t seeing the field that much and he said something to the effect that he was having a hard time picking up the concepts. But then he went on to elaborate that with two seniors leaving after 2010, Filer would have to play a big role in 2011 as a senior. Take what you will from it, it might have been before Shembo broke out late in the season, but Filer had 14 tackles to Shembo’s 15 and they probably played about the same amount of time overall last year. It will be a battle royale for playing time.

Chris,

Let me start off by saying we should probably have faith in Kelly in regards to grooming the quarterbacks. He might not be the QB developer that Weis was, but this system is VERY quarterback friendly and there is a lot of talent to work with.

I agree Crist was inconsistent from time to time, but he also had moments where he was in the zone too. Let’s not forget he was on pace for a 3,000+ yard, 25 TD-11 INT season in a first year of a new system. While not mind blowing, that’s a pretty good season. As good as Clausen was, he was heading into the Hawaii bowl in 2008 with two years of being groomed in Weis’ system with only 2,700 yards, 20 TD’s and 17 INT’s.

I look at it this way: Crist is the first option right now and will likely give the team its best option in the passing game. If he plays and stays healthy I think he’ll improve quite a bit on his numbers from 2010. If he does that, he’s going to be one of the 20 best guys in the country. You can’t really argue with that.

I know the inexperience of Hendrix is scary, but I think his mobility will make up for the fact that he might not be the polished passer Crist is (although he may very well be). I think whoever starts in this system is all but guaranteed 3,000 yards and 25 TD’s in the passing game. In other words, whoever starts in 2011 is probably going to play no worse than what Crist did last year and I think that means the QB will at least be solid. Maybe with Crist we’d be getting a little bit better of a passing game, but with Hendrix we could get a better running game. In my mind at least, with the potential of Hendrix and his tools I think that’s pretty much an equal trade off.

Experience is important, particularly if you want to win a title, but talent is much more important. I’m a little uneasy with 4 quarterbacks and what I’d declare to be a lot of talent at QB for the Irish and how it will all shake out and if someone is going to step up and be THE MAN, but it’s a good problem to have.

Just think about all the great QB’s in recent memory: Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, Vince Young, Colt McCoy, Andrew Luck, Terrelle Pryor, Matt Barkley, Landry Jones, Kellen Moore, Blaine Gabbert.

All of those players either played as a freshmen or as redshirt freshmen. And not only did they play, but they were among the best in the country even as inexperienced players.

The guy I keep comparing Hendrix to is Bradford in the sense that they have a lot of the same abilities. After 2006, OU was losing Adrian Peterson and had a QB (Thompson) who put up a year similar to what Crist put up in 2010.

Bradford stepped into that vacuum after sitting out as a freshman and threw for 3,100 yards, 36 TD’s and only 8 picks. So maybe Hendrix won’t play like that out of the gate, but it’s just not that uncommon for guys to come in and play at a high level right away. That’s the main point.

I think we have two very talented players in Crist and Hendrix, and that’s why if the latter starts I don’t think we are capped at 8 wins next year.

It will be interesting to see how much the QB’s run in the spring game and how realistic it seems when they can’t get hit, but I am hoping we see a lot of the mobility, pocket presence, and throwing on the run that Hendrix is known for executing so well. With him or Crist I think we’ll see some good to great quarterback play in 2011.

Maybe I’m too optimistic, but I just can’t see a Brian Kelly-led team with the talent he has to work with struggling at the QB position.

wow, that was a whole new article, bonus……. Bang winning