OFD Notre Dame Mailbag: Playoffs, National Titles, And The Sneaky Rob Lowe

As promised, the OFD Mailbag returns for its weekly dive into whatever the bloody hell is going on in my mind. I asked YOU to send in the questions, so this is all your fault (you magnificent bastards).

Per usual, I answer any and all questions asked — regardless of their relationship to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. I’m cool like that. While I send out the bat signal for these via social media, you can always email us with your question.

We better get started...

The podcast is most certainly ALIVE, but as you surely know... Irish Tightness (Wes) generally doesn’t start the ND Fan Radio version of the OFD Podcast until August. That isn’t to say that we might do one before then, or something along those lines. For the time being, however, I can only preach patience.

I think someone can flip Graham Mertz from his commitment with the Wisconsin Badgers. Will that team be the Irish? Maybe, but the Texas A&M Aggies are also in hot pursuit. With so much time left in the recruiting cycle, and the amount of pressure that can be applied, I give a flip (by someone) a 80% chance. I give the edge to Notre Dame in that possible flipment (I thought I just made this word up but there’s an app for that).

I give the chance of signing zero quarterbacks in this cycle about a 50% chance. In the end, this class isn’t a good quarterback class, so the if the Irish are unable to get Mertz, I’d be fine with nothing.

Rob Lowe robbing Lowes? If we are going to examine this, we should look at an average city with multiple Lowes — and it doesn’t get more average than Fort Wayne.

Given the placement of Lowes in Fort Wayne (strategically positioned in areas with the highest concentration of new home construction) I think Rob could hit up TWO stores. There are some caveats to this situation.

• The first robbery would have to take place at the North location (Lima Road). It is the location closest to the easiest path to get on Highway 69.
• Rob Lowe is a rich celebrity. The suspicion factor will be very “Lowe.”
• Even if he is unable to use 69 to drop down to Illinois Road, Rob can easily travel south via Ludwig Road and Hillegas (and could “backdoor” the route via Bass and Thomas).
• Once the second Lowes was robbed, he could use either the Illinois or Jefferson exits to get back onto 69 and travel south towards Indianapolis, where his chartered plane awaits him.
• The Lowes on State is safe because despite less traffic than at the other locations, it’s more of a motherfucker to get around the city to the other two locations.

He could get two.

I think you could find stronger proof over the course of the past 8 seasons. If you’re looking for something that will get him fired... 8 or 9 wins won’t do it. That’s not how I feel, but more of what I think.

I didn’t care much for Incredibles 1, and I don’t plan on watching the sequel.

Potential is a funny thing. Potential is the most millennial thing we can say about a team really. Sure, most of the top 20 teams have the potential to make the playoffs — including Notre Dame.

Here’s the thing though... I’m not buying it. In all honesty, I’m not even sure where the “hype” that you speak of is even coming from. They have ONE home game in October and ONE home game in November. For a team that has struggled in the stretch run, that just seems like too much to handle.

OK... then a one-fer. Brian Kelly probably won’t win a national title at Notre Dame (or the next two head coaches at Notre Dame). Notre Dame is playing on a uneven playing field — which has nothing to do with membership in a conference. They are still trying to claim the moral high ground on academic issues while everyone else is passing right by, and Jack Swarbrick continues to schedule for money (and brand recognition) rather than for WINS which would actually get Notre Dame more money and more recognition.

They’re pretty good... on paper. Te’von Coney is a stud, and that is undeniable. The other two spots, however, have some questions. Drue Tranquill is making a position switch and Asmar Bilal will be trying to fill that void left by Tranquill. There’s a ton of potential there, but it’s hard to compare that unit against the Alabama Crimson Tide linebackers, or the Miami-Florida Hurricanes.

1. Yes. The rumors about Dexter Williams won’t go away, and he had a lot of health issues last year. Tony Jones Jr. really did not look that good in the spring, and then you have newcomers Jafar Armstrong, C’Bo Flemister, and Jahmir Smith. It’s not an ideal situation.
2. The number is 86. That’s the number THAT I KEEP CLOSE TRACK OF RIGHT HERE and I believe it’s the same number on 247. I don’t visit Rivals for obvious reasons.
3. I have a hard time seeing this class get over 20 commitments for a wide variety of reasons. As of right now ON THE 2019 CHART THAT I KEEP CLOSE TRACK OF Notre Dame is only one player away from 85 with their 11 commits. Obviously those numbers will change dramatically. I can see about 8 spots opening up (as a random looksy) and that puts the class at about 20.

1. A tornado is not a hurricane, so I’d bet it would be about 60/40 run.
2. Where are the 5 star recruits?
3. Googled: An illegal play in which an offensive player attempts to impede the progress of a downfield defender in order to allow a teammate to get open for a pass. Usually, this entails a pair of receivers running a crossing pattern past one another with one receiver designated to make enough contact with the defender to allow the other receiver to come open. If the official determines the contact to be intentional or egregious, he can throw a flag for offensive pass interference.
4. Because Alabama’s staff is better than the Green Bay Packers.

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And that’s all folks. We will be back at it next week.