I'm a little surprised teams have had success picking on Gray. At the same time I think it will play
well into his development. A lot of learning happens during these times, and I think this only plays well for his future. Because of his recent struggles, it won't surprise me if he's a lot better next year. Assuming so, this will make the D even that much better over the next couple of seasons
Any thoughts?
Replies to: I'm a little surprised teams have had success picking on Gray. At the same time I think it will play
I was thinking would Golden get him out just to calm him down.
Once you start thinking they are coming after out you start playing tight. Ten yarder's you can live with. Getting beaten deep is a different story. The momentum changes and sometime it's hard to to get back.
We've been wonderfully spoiled by having freshman phenoms step in and start at CB
Defensive backs usually need a year or two of practice and seasoning to be ready to play as starters. Players such as Cam Hart, Mike Richardson, Shawn Wooden, etc., all needed a couple of years of mulligans to get ready for the big stage, and in each of their last two years, they did quite well.
I guess we simply got used to freshmen stepping in and playing like polished veterans.
Ben Morrison stepped in and seized that starting CB spot in 2022.
Leonard Moore grabbed Morrison's spot after he went down with injury, and I notice no difference in coverage strength on his part.
Christian Gray is a true sophomore, and has played very well almost all of the time. If anything, I'd put his coverage skills on par with Tom Carter's when he was a sophomore in 1991.
Carter got burnt more often, but that was because of a terrible lack of pass rush that year.
After another off-season, and more film study, I think Gray is going to have a fantastic season in 2025.
Considering that we're starting a true freshman and two true sophomores in the defensive backfield (Moore, Gray, Shuler) in addition to the main man (Watts), I think we're in a very nice position for next year.
Morrison's injury made Gray have to play in a position earlier than was ideal. So, for me the
struggles are less about ability and more about experience. Again, he is still just a sophomore and is still working on his overall strength. His best days are ahead for sure!
He is a warrior. Full of confidence. ND + God dude!
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I am not even thinking about next year yet. I think and am hopeful he will play as well as he was
earlier this year. At that position every play has to be a fresh new play.
My honest thought is, if we get 1-2 "LEGIT" DTs from somewhere..
we will have the flat out best defense in the nation.
Our LBs, DBs, and DEs are going to be elite..just need a couple SEC DTs.
I would agree with this. It's going to be a strong D next year. It is now, but even more so.
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i’ve always thought things were pointing to 25 being great. Much tougher schedule, but the Ol, RB,
DB, LB groups should be elite, Dl with some transfers will be better than this year, WR should take a step forward and QB play will be different and, i expect, better. Coaching losses could be worrisome, but I sense great coaches will want to be at ND.
The one question mark is QB. Will it be a step back in leadership and production, or a continuation
of winning QB play, or even a step forward with a better passing game? That will be the determination, in my mind, next year between another run in the playoffs, or a disappointing season.
I think we solve our weaknesses in the portal (DT, WR, Secondary) and we have a lot of returning talent. But will the QB be good enough???? I hate to say it, but if you were coaching for your life, it almost would make you want to get another portal QB that you at least know would be up to the challenge. I don't see that happening, because I think Freeman is looking at the long term best options and he is aware that one more QB portal would hurt his chances with the guys on the roster and future QB recruiting. I also think the coaches are confident with what they have in CJ, Angeli, and Minchey moving forward.
I personally think CJ starts next year and it is a little down year with a red shirt freshman starter. And then 2026 is the year ND gets to the Championship game and CJ is a Heisman candidate.
Coaching is the 1 thing that will be affected by success. Saban had a lot of people come and go but
Always filled it with quality. Based on this run and talent one would think freeman should have no problem getting quality replacements. We have to be an attractive option right now and it’s his job to keep it that way
I would love to see golden stick around for a bit but his stock is going to be sky high. Mickens is too. Might lose 1 this off season.
McMullough is another we could lose. He is a very good RB coach that is probably looking to move up. Position coaches are more likely to move up and leave. I can see golden taking his $2 million and being happy at ND for a few years.
If I'm one of the defensive coaches, I soak up as much from Golden as humanly possible.
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Mickens has been mentioned as a DC candidate I think. Might even be a candidate at
ND if golden leaves.
Guys like our coordinators and OL and DL coaches may be set on this level and not moving on but guys that want to advance up the ladder may have to leave to do that. That’s just the nature of the business.
Outside of USC, have they had success?
CB's playing cover 1 are going to get beat from time to time.
Even in the Sugar Bowl, he had good coverage
He got beat a few times on passing plays, but that was because Gunner Stockton threw perfectly timed and placed passes, which would have beaten just about any cornerback out there.
Some of those plays reminded me of 1990 against Tennessee, where Todd Lyght had blanket coverage against Carl Pickens and Alvin Harper, but because Andy Kelly had about as great of a day throwing as anyone could, Lyght got beaten several times by perfectly placed and timed ballse.
Christian Gray had a rough game against USC, but against Georgia? He held his own quite nicely. The time he got beaten for the long pass, he had good coverage, and Xavier Watts was late getting over there.
"Success" and "Picking On" are very relative terms here - ND defense utterly dominant
First off, 11 of 12 victories were by >2 possessions, and in some blowouts the 3rd stringers were playing, so opponents had plenty of incentive to throw against this defense. Even with that, ND Passing Defense ranked:
*1st in Opponent Average Team Passer Rating
*1st in Opponent Completion %
*Tied for 2nd in Opponent Yards per Attempt
5th in Interceptions
1st in INT yards
1st in INT TDs
11th in Sacks
9th in Passes Defensed
*These stats 1st means lowest, not highest
So, if I had to choose between being burned alive, flayed, fed to ants, or have to throw a pass to Christian Gray, I guess I'd pick the last option.
The Defense has been amazing. I think you may have misunderstood the post?
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Offenses have to throw to someone, so they do target Gray's side. It hasn't really worked though
First, I agree he's trending to be better - he's only 19!
He plays physical man coverage in a blitz heavy scheme. He commits some def holding and pass interference, but I'll take that in the college game. The teams that have had some success throwing like USC got burned with Pick 6s. My last line above really says it - I guess if I'm a QB and I'm going to throw into a well-covered receiver, I'll take Gray's man, but it probably won't pay off. I wouldn't say offenses have "picked" on him - ND has had DBs that were picked on in the and it worked for the opponent.