1)”Rudolph will try to bring some playmaking back to the tight end position, which the Irish haven’t had consistently since Anthony Fasano left”
Actually Former ND TE John Carlson (2nd pick of Seattle) was just as good as Fasano back in 2006 & 2007 ….

Fasano 40rec, 576yds, 2 tds in 2005
Carlson 47rec, 634yds, 4 tds in 2006
Carlson 40rec, 372yds, 3 tds in 2007
Rudolph 29rec, 340rec, 2 tds in 2008

2)ND returns Darrin Walls (4 star on Rivals) who started 11 games back in 2007 and returns after missing all of last season for academic reasons.

Good write up…thanks

You have sufficiently shamed me. I could have made my point in a kinder fashion. I rescind my mean words. (You know, if that were possible on the interwebs).

First, it’s Jivas, not Javis, but whatever – I have a weird name, so I understand.

Point-by-point:

1) Crist was on the team all of this past season; unless ND has a game scheduled this coming Saturday, I don’t see how he is a true freshman next season. If I’m missing something here, please advise.

2) In my opinion Floyd’s season wasn’t “solid”, it really was *spectacular*. He played 9 games as a true freshman and went 48-719-7 in those games. While I understand that a simple pro rata projection is a very poor tool and is fraught with some logical issues, it does have some value as a back-of-the-envelope calculation. Well, going from 9 to 13 games, his line goes to 69-1039-13, as a TRUE FRESHMAN.

!!!!!!

That’s not spectacular? Braylon Edwards had 3 catches for 38 yards as a freshman. David Terrell had 14 catches for 149 yards, Mario Manningham had 27 catches for 433 yards. Michael Floyd’s production last year, combined with his status as a 5-star “OMG shirtless” recruit, makes him a mega-superduperstar prospect.

If Michigan had someone who fit this profile, we’d all be fitting him for a Heisman, and the MGoBlogosphere would have a tizzy if anyone contended that he were anything less than an angel on earth and a scientifically created amalgam of Charles Woodson, Braylon Edwards, Desmond Howard, Anthony Carter, and Bo Schembechler.

(Hyperbole stricly for effect).

1) Is he inaccurate in saying that Clausen’s backups are Crist and Sharpley? And until the season is over and Crist hasn’t taken a snap (or is granted a waiver), yes, he is a true freshman. If he ever has to see time, he will be a true freshman. Now, it’s probably apparent that Weis would rather NOT use him if he can help it, but nothing Tim wrote is incorrect.

2) I think you’re misinterpreting Tim’s comments on “the other guys.” Floyd had a solid season and while his potential is terribly exciting for ND fans (and, conversely, just plain terrifying for us Michigan fans), last season was solid but not spectacular. Great for a true frosh, but Tate was clearly the go-to guy. I think Tim does understate a little too much Floyd’s abilities, but I wouldn’t call it “a steaming pile of crap.”

It will be an interesting game and could impact Notre Dame’s team confidence heading into Ann Arbor the next week.

Then when I think about it some more, Michigan’s prior opponent, WMU, is good enough with their star QB and running game to sow similar seeds of doubt with the Wolverine team.

This UM-ND game will be a great one.

(1) While the ND website may pretentiously exclude mentions of a “redshirt”, it’s a pretty significant error to Dayne Crist as an “incoming freshman” and “true freshman”. This guy was a big-time recruit last year, brought in the year after Clausen – it is hardly a secret that he’ll be a redshirt freshman this coming year.

(2) Michael Floyd was an “OMG shirtless” recruit last year who posted a 48-719-7 season AS A TRUE FRESHMAN (and he missed at least the Hawaii bowl game due to injury, deflating his stats to some extent), but the “other guys” other than Golden Tate were “not particularly exciting” last year? WTF?! Is this a joke? Michael Floyd had about as exciting of a season as a WR could possibly have, in terms of generating excitement for what he’d be capable of, and as a Michigan fan I’m terrified of having to watch this guy play against us for another 2-3 years. (Hopefully it’s only 2).

Pardon the negative comments – it’s indicative of my surprise to see this type of content here, as you guys do generally run a fine blog.