The graduation losses and the loss of Cage leave a gaping hole in the middle of the Irish Dline. Unless that can be plugged by either Freshmen or the other returning linemen (which is very doubtful) expect the opposition (especially Georgia) to run it right at them until they can prove they can stop 'em which they may not be able to do. If that is the case, it could be a long season.
If he can be as good as everyone thought he'd be, then that's a big part of the answer.
But in general...yeah, I don't see how the DT situation won't be a problem. Hopefully Elko/Elston can figure out a solution.
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He was acting like the most vile ND player ever.
Lots of guys who have been around for a while without being good enough for the coaches to put them on the field.
While we are unproven at QB, there are good reasons to think we'll be OK there. I agree with you that we are on shaky ground at DL.
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"While we are unproven at QB, there are good reasons to think we'll be OK there."
Think.
That has to be it.
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ND has an amount of size, strength, and numbers at the interior DL that I'd guess over 80% of all FBS rosters would be envious of.
The most coveted physical trait in football is explosiveness which they might be sorely lacking, but they could still have a healthy 3 deep rotation at each position. At the very least they should eat up blocks and stay fresh as well as anyone.
My biggest concern is that Elston is as inept at rotating players as the previous staff was, but I hear Elko's philosophy should fix that.
ND's Achilles heel will be between their ears like it always is.
Last years pass rush was nowhere to be found. There is no backup for Tillery who has himself been erratic at best and even Kelly has commented that the Freshmen will have to step up. Jay Hayes could move to the inside or Treadway, Bonner and or Tiassum will be in there. Elijah Taylor is still hurt. All have very limited experience. At DE it will be Dailin Hays and Trumbetti. Let's hope Elko can perform miracles. He will have to. With the possibiliy of a dynamic offense all we need is a passable defense to have a very good year but that is very iffy to say the least.
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This is something very few people seem to do, look at the opponents and determine their shortcomings. Nothing is harder to put together than an OL. We have one of the best in the country, deep with talented 5-star veterans, and we still worry if a 5-star Red-shirt freshman can play RT. Go down the list of opponents and you will see every one of them has big questions marks in the OL, even USC which moved it's starting center to LT. That weakens two positions immediately. Miami and maybe Stanford have limited problems.