Wednesday is Mailbag Day in IB Nation Sports Talk. Irish Breakdown answers questions from listeners/subscribers about Notre Dame football and more on today's show. Some of today's questions include:
* Notre Dame players to watch this season.
* Should there have been more of a competition for Tosh Baker to become Notre Dame's left tackle after Charles Jagusah's injury?
* Will Notre Dame have a Heisman winner under Marcus Freeman?
* What do we want to see from the Irish offense and defense in week one?
* Over/Under 12.5 rushing touchdowns for Riley Leonard this season?
* Which Irish freshmen could make an impact on offense this season?
* Are there any obvious trap games for Notre Dame this year?
* Thoughts on the Michigan sign stealing scandal.
* More!
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We're driven by this search for better, but when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search "match" with Indeed. Indeed is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors, according to Indeed data, and a matching engine that helps you find quality candidates fast. Ditch the busy work, use Indeed for scheduling, screening, and messaging so you can connect with candidates faster. Enaging over 140 million qualifications and preferences every day, Indeed's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences, so the more you use Indeed, the better it gets. Join more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide that use Indeed to hire great, talent fast. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsor job credit to get your jobs more visibility at indeed.com/bluewire. Just go to indeed.com/bluewire right now and support our show by saying that you heard about Indeed on this podcast, that's indeed.com/bluewire, terms and conditions applied. Add to hire, you need Indeed. Up on Michelobotra and Cheer on Team USA. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2024, Anheuser-Busch, Michelobotra, light beer, St. Louis, Missouri. Welcome to the show, abutation, sports tuck up and rolling on a Wednesday, and that means it is mailbag day, it's a relatively quiet mailbag right now. Not good. Other questions in the chat, as we fire this thing up, but got to start off by saying happy anniversary, Vincent Kristin DeDario, and a happy anniversary to you and your wife as well. Thank you. We share an anniversary for those of you out there that are weirded out by what we just did. If you've missed this the last two years, this is a good point. That's a good point. But yes, Shawn and Stacey Steyer's led off with the August 7th anniversary and then we followed suit. I believe 11 years later. Yep, ours is number 31 today. We are the big 2-0. 2-0. Yeah, big 2-0, so yeah. That's how basically we always remember how long we've known each other, because we met each other about what maybe two weeks or so before you guys got married and we've known each other exactly a little bit more than 20 years, I guess. Yeah, 20 years and two weeks, basically, or whatever the case may be, but yeah, that is how I always measure our relationship. I can ever, our friendship, I should say. I can never remember how long I've known other people, but I always know how long I have known you. It is very weird, because I've thought about that as well. It's like there are very few people you'd know almost exactly when you met and how many years it has been. Like the only other ones are like guys I was in the army with, because obviously that is, and it's funny because a friend of mine who lives in Adrian, Michigan, which I think as you might remember is the small town in Michigan where Jesse went to college. Buddy of mine from the army posted on Facebook, he shipped out, got on the bus, 37 years ago today to go to basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and just randomly, he went back after, we actually, we didn't know each other during basic training, but essentially for the better part of the next four years, we were together at all three stops that both of us made, and in fact, we even came out, processed, ETS is what they called it, together, flew back into Philadelphia, and then out processed at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and randomly Jesse ended up going to college in the same town as this guy that I knew, way back when. But I mean basically, like anyone who I met, it's been, gosh, 37 years since I knew him back then. And one of a handful of guys that I was basically with for all four years together, so, yeah, crazy. Amazing how fast time flies. I know. You know, I look at my situation, you look at 20 years, and you're like, man, how has it been that long? Because it seems like it was just yesterday, but that was five kids ago, and like three houses ago, and like, you know, there's a lot of things that have transpired in that amount of time, and many jobs ago, and all of those different things. So it's like, okay, yeah, it's been about that long, you know, but time is just a weird thing when it comes to that. You know what I mean? It seems like yesterday, but then it seems like so long ago, you know, but we just kids and we got it. Thanks, Bob Seger. Thanks for that. You welcome. Even though you probably have no idea what song I'm talking about. Nope. Nope. And you've known me long enough to know that that's the case. Yep. It's funny, though, because my wife and I in our cards that we gave to each other, we both essentially made reference to the other one being quirky. We both use the word quirky. That's hilarious. And then she goes, she goes, I'm not quirky. I don't think I'm quirky. And I didn't say anything, but I think, you know, as we all know, quirky is code for whatever you want to, you know, say that you're never going to say basically, right? Exactly. Exactly. It's a safe word. That's a safe word. That's exactly right. Yeah. That's funny. Oh, so happy anniversary to Dario's as well as well. Sarah Hildebrandt, Penn High School alum, gold medal today, baby. She was on a mission. She was on a friggin mission after the last Olympics losing in the semifinals and then, you know, getting the bronze should not have lost that match. You know, she gave up a point like at the last second, ended up losing and then goes on to win the bronze. But, you know, this time around, not without drama, you know, not even on the mat drama. Her opponent. Yeah. Didn't make weight. Supposed to wrestle for a gold medal in her opponent didn't make weight. So she ends up facing off a different opponent, a Cuban opponent, and she pretty much torched her. Look, I haven't been able to see it yet. I haven't watched it yet either because I was doing a joke. That peacock app, man. I don't know what you think of a peacock app. I don't have it. Like, I don't have access. So and I'm not buying access. So I feel like it will be replayed tonight in the primetime version of the Olympics. And so that's what I'll be watching. I don't know. They didn't play the other American woman who won gold yesterday. They didn't replay hers. They just kind of did a couple of highlights and said, Hey, congratulations. Yeah, that's a good point. But they do. They do post them all online. So if you wait a couple hours, like if you get done with dinner tonight and come back and just Google, Sarah Hill to Brent gold medal, you should be able to find it on because I've actually, that's how I've watched all the matches. That's hilarious. Of both of them is just just watching after the fact. So I've watched like six or seven wrestling matches, you know, just find them online. So and then you're in a goose Notre Dame alum as well. Got a bronze in the men's 1500 years yesterday. Did you see the end of that race, by the way? Yes, I did actually. I have seen that one and what a fast pace that they were on and all that. I mean, yeah, that was that all they were talking about is the guy from Norway and the rivalry with the guy from Great Britain. And here come two Americans just I went right down the path, man and they're American won the whole thing. So that was pretty cool. The then the 400 meter race was the gold medal. I don't know if you saw it because it just happened. It happened right before Sarah's about in the gold medal. He was in fourth place coming around the home stretch and ended up winning the gold. The guy from from the US, a heck of a finish. You'll have to check that one out too. That one was a crazy finish. I mean, he was in fourth by a good chunk. Oh, you're talking about the 400. Yeah. Yeah. He's I actually had just sat down and I was doing some writing and I flipped on the TV. And the next thing I know, you know, like the Lee Dippy, who we were talking about botching the call, he's like going nuts and I look up and it's like, well, where did this come from? So I backed it up and it's like, yeah. Another great finish. That that's the race. The Dylan runs my son. He runs the 400 and so it Jesse ran that in middle school by the way. Shut your mouth. No, he did not. He did. I don't see. Actually, for middle school, like he wasn't bad for middle school. Like obviously, he's not going to translate to high school. Right. He doesn't have to. Let's just say he doesn't have a 400 runners body. No. No. I mean, especially now, you know, like he's got a shot putters body basically, but, you know, like even back then, he would have been better suited for the shot putter. Yeah. Something like that. That's so funny. But yeah, the 400 man, that was a that was an awesome finish. So yeah. Yeah. Olympics are fun, man. I've been really enjoying watching the Olympics this year. Lot of men stuff. Matthew says he watched Hilda Brand's whole match on YouTube TV. Oh, I thought it was only on peacock. So but what do I know? I don't know any of that stuff. What do I know? Well, I guess if you've got envy, you know, if you've got YouTube and you've, I assume you get like network, you know, like your network channels or sure, well, but I guess the wrestling wasn't on the main. So I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. But I'll watch it. It's on. You would think that they would put gold medal matches. Yeah. Like it's basically in the middle of the day, you would think that they would put them on the main. This is all I'm saying. I realize wrestling is wrestling and there's, you know, it's not gymnastics and it's not track. But it's a gold medal match. Instead of American in a gold medal match, you would think that they would try to put that on. Exactly. Connor laws, I saw on the boards, very into wrestling and he said that Hilda Brandt's opponent normally wrestles 53 to 55 kilograms. And of course Hilda Brandt is a 50 kilogram wrestler. And so, so she basically, she dropped down a weight class and, you know, they work out too well for me. They make weight. That's rough though, man. You know, like, look, I get it, cut and weight sucks, but you're at the frickin' Olympics as a high school wrestler. I did it, you know, like my whole high school career and even before that as well in middle school. And it's like the biggest frickin' match of your life, you know, suck it up and put the biscuits away. Yeah. The hazelnut, you know, the Nutella put the Nutella away. I can't confirm nor deny these reports that I'm like getting bits and pieces of, but apparently their coaches did just some crazy stuff to this girl to get her to make weight in the first place. Oh, really? Like drained her blood, cut her hair, like crazy crap. And again, I don't know if this, but what I understand, she's been hospitalized. Wow. So that I hadn't heard. Again, I don't want to spread rumors, but that's what somebody said to me and, I don't know. I got to dig into it a little bit. I haven't obviously had a chance because I've been doing the shows, but if that's true, that is messed up. Like that is totally messed up, but I guess we'll have to find out. Prize picks is America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over 5 million active members. 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Leveraging over 140 million qualifications and preferences every day, Indeed's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences so the more you use Indeed, the better it gets. Join more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide that use Indeed to hire great talent fast. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsor job credit to get your jobs more visibility at indeed.com/bluewire. Just go to indeed.com/bluewire right now and support our show by saying that you heard about Indeed on this podcast. That's indeed.com/bluewire, terms and conditions apply. Dyer, you need Indeed. Well again, it is mailbag day so throw your mailbag questions in as we finish with our Olympic talk. Who knew? It's exciting though man. Especially when you've got hometown people. It was cool enough that Hilda Brandt got a bronze last time around in Tokyo. Now that she finishes off, she gets the gold and she's like 31. So who even knows if she'll be back again? I think she's 30. But like you can tell by watching it like she's always been so technically sound but like you can tell this time around especially like she learned her lesson from that first time. Yes. It was like a fluke got thrown onto her back with like I think it was like 15 seconds less. And you can tell she was just like very aware of her body with every move that she made. Not like overly cautious but she was just yeah, there was a renewed sense of urgency. I think and a renewed sense of focus for the last three years. Because this wasn't going to happen again. What happened last time? Like I had no qualms that she was going to not win the gold medal. Like I mean she was just super focused that entire time. Wow. This is crazy. I guess you know Matthew is saying that that wrestler we were talking about it didn't make weight so dehydrated that she couldn't sweat anything out. Yeah. It's a wild like I said from what I've been hearing it's just an absolute wild story. But I get I mean she was a hundred grams over with a weight limit. Which since I'm not European I don't know what a hundred grams is but it's as far as like what is that equal to a pound I got that a hundred grit you know because like that's you talk about splitting hairs because if you were doing I think if you were doing pounds instead of kilograms that probably is like a trace amount. It probably wouldn't even show up you know what I mean like if you were because what they usually do is like when I wrestled 138 you know they set the scale at 138 you step on either the thing you know stays down or it goes up so like for 50 kilograms you know again like if they're if they're going down to the gram man that's just crazy. It's 0.22 pounds. Yeah. So that's almost a half pound you know I guess a quarter of a pound it's a quarter of a pound basically. Yeah I tell you what I've been there before as well like go around a couple more laps and yeah I know right come back with your skivvies off I mean that's literally had to do that one time and that was a lot of fun but wait so let's get into some football questions let's get out of that Benjamin what are your players to watch this season for the Irish. Gosh there's 22 on the field plus special teams. So I mean the list is long as they say I mean offensively who we starting with let's start with Ryan Leonard then of course you've got you know Jeremiah Love a lot of hype that's coming his way can keep an eye on him multiple wide receivers I mean you've got the transfer guys you've got you know has great house you know gotten so much better that he's going to be the number one guy you know is Mitchell Evans going to be healthy I mean he could go on and on both sides of the ball you know defensive line could they go 11 and 12 deep could we see that I mean this is the we talked about it in the show earlier this afternoon is this the deepest defensive line in the last 20 plus years deepest yeah not having the conversation about best yet but deepest I think it is you know and then you know linebackers Drake Bowen the forgotten man how's he going to do KVA when he gets in the field what's that going to look like how's Jack Kaiser going to do on the inside I mean you could just go you know on and on and on and on but where do my eyes go when I walk into practice they go to the quarterback's throw in the ball it just well is how it always works and look based on everything we've talked about for the last two days all eyes are going to be on both tackles in game number one yeah we know with with Tosh Baker moving there to left and Emil Wagner making his first start over there at right tackle and then of course Riley Leonard as well I think those are the three I would have to put them in my top tier offensively but the receivers are still going to be there because you've got so much newness you know in the in the receiving room and of course Jeremiah love and jadarion price with with all the expectations on them so yeah I mean you can kind of run through oh yeah most of the defenders you know and like what we're going to talk about a couple of these guys in in rapid fire later but you know like even like Jordan patello we were talking about him a little bit yesterday because he's dropped some some pounds and he says he's closer to 250 than the 270 okay that he was playing at last year so Al Washington's pretty impressed by it you know like the physique that he's got he's been pretty impressed I think with what he's seen from him in practice but we've all got to see it on Saturdays right now I mean this is a fifth year guy he's he's been around the block and this is year two as a starter but you know in there's there's some good depth behind him as well with guys like Treyori and Tui Alamaka right yeah really excited about that defensive line I think that defensive line is just going to eat some people up deep defensive line but there's a million and one to go with Connor going back to the weight loss he says you and me both and then Matthew starts spinning in a bottle I mean that's that's all I mean even that's a thing of quarter of a pound of spit that's a lot of spit yeah especially if you're unable to sweat I don't know much how much saliva right producing either you know and yeah there's there's a lot of unfortunate ways to to cut weight when you're wrestling we don't have to go into them because most of them sound pretty disgusting Joe wants to know if we could try to explain the punishment that Michigan received they have they actually received any punishment the only person the only person that's received a punishment is Jim Harbaugh which of course only goes into effect if he goes back to college and what college is going to hire him when they know he's going to sit for a year so he's never going back to college obviously and it's like it's like he's you know he went to a place where they have no extradition you know what I mean he went to the NFL and so he's not going to get punished for what he did because he's not in college anymore you know what I mean so that's the only punishment that I've seen they've thrown out the allegations and I don't even know if you would call them allegations because I'm pretty sure they've been proved correct so I have not heard of any punishment yet and I I haven't either and I hold my breath I just I just googled and I haven't seen anything come up from you know so from what I what I've seen it's not a punishment it's just here's here's all the interactions that they have found it now it's a matter of what kind of punishments there'll be and like essentially I don't see them taking away I don't see them stripping the national championship because the national championship and the college football playoff is separate from the NCAA true like the NCAA could say you know we'll give you a postseason ban or we'll dock you a couple scholarships if we think it's punishment you know like if it's right if it's to that extreme or because Sharon Moore appears to have been such a big part of this and he's a potential repeat offender maybe he gets suspended like Jim Harbaugh did last year you know there's there's those kind of things but I don't I don't think they're gonna end up forfeiting games I don't think they're going to well maybe forfeiting games I don't know like but again like the national championship itself is separate from the regular season just because of who the NCAA doesn't sponsor that championship so it's just such a weird situation I don't see anything really coming of it yeah no I don't see anything coming from it either I mean they unfortunately the most of the people that were involved are no longer at Michigan except for the head coach and so you know individually probably nothing's gonna happen they could do a bunch to the university they could find them they could do some they won't I just I just don't see that being the case the NCAA has proven time and time again they're pretty spineless when it comes to a lot of this stuff so just says so does that mean the NCAA is done no Michigan I mean there'll be some sort of a punishment right they'll announce they might be done they might be done with the investigation right they they might depending on what comes out in this netflix documentary about Connor Stallions who knows maybe they add something to it if they kind of discover something there but yeah I think they're going to give out some kind of punishment at some point but they just haven't done it yeah yeah and then Joe also saying it was okay to strip the fab five strip a title from them they just strip the final four visits right but also I believe the NCAA tournament maybe is is put on by the NCAA that's why there's the difference yeah and I mean did they take the title away they took away in the winner title so there was no title to take away thank you appreciate that yeah no problem yeah two final fours but yeah they took their final fours away and if you because if you watch the documentary that they did on them which I did and clearly I didn't remember all of it but they had the banners all like rolled up in storage you know they just can't but like okay you took the banners down that doesn't mean they didn't go you know what I mean like I don't know I've got a problem with the whole vacating of wins and things of that nature like come on I don't know I like this they should they should be forced to play the Notre Dame fight song every time they score that would actually be hilarious that would be great Aiden Vince tell me what you think well okay sorry I didn't I didn't look at that close enough so another another mission handle well yeah we talked about that what do I think about it I think Michigan sucks how about that and a nutshell excuse me Matthew wants to know if there's a freshman on offense like Ketron Young they could have a similar role to Rico Flores or Jeremiah Love from the season ago Well Jeremiah Love had I mean he was a rotational guy right so I mean that would be the Ketron Young or what we know of the group right as far as anybody else on offense that could have any kind of a rotational success I guess is the best way to put it you know Ennius Williams and Ketron Young are going to be battling for kind of that third running back spot which we'll see how much those guys would actually play uh you know I think the big well I was just going to kind of piggyback on that I think the biggest the biggest thing talk when we got to talk to Dila McCullough last week the biggest role I think that that one of those guys could have is like that short yardage goal line type back that Gibran Payne had last year because Payne is out I would say your best option for an offensive skill guy would be Michael Gilbert I think he's right on kind of he's a bull I would say he's a bubble guy for the rotation or for a spot in the rotation I don't I would think he's probably outside of it at the moment but he's on the bubble and we'll see what he does in full camp and how he progresses throughout the year so if I was gonna if I was a betting man because he used Ketron Young in the questions I feel like I can't use him I would say Michael Gilbert as the best possibility I think that makes sense because you know and like you said I don't think Michael Gilbert is going to have a huge role I think that he could can and probably will see the field it depends on where he ends up in that six man rotation that they're talking about but we've kind of gone through this before like if you look at the potential for six you've got Jaden Gradehouse Jordan Phason you've got Bo Collins you know you've got Chris Mitchell you've got Jaden Thomas and then who is the six man is it Jaden Harrison he's kind of I think Jordan things up a little bit be one of the leading candidates yep I would have to think so as well because he's look good in practice I mean he's he's explosive there's no there's no two ways about it so you know after that yeah the sixth spot yeah I guess is the one up for grabs and so the the possibilities would be a Jaden Harrison it would be a Mike Gilbert it would be a KK Smith you know I think all those guys are probably in contention for that if I'm not forgetting anybody in particular let's see because I think I think right now Cam Williams is behind Mike Gilbert yeah and yeah you know what and I'll and I'll uh I'll throw Tyler Buckner into the mix just to get people upset just kidding kidding kidding oh you're just trying to stir it up yeah you know it's one of those days I know Joe wants to know looking at the schedule see any obvious trap games this year not obvious trap games per se I mean if you if you look at the schedule you know you're right out the bat with Texas A&M I mean you could say that maybe NIU you know Northern Illinois is a trap game just because it comes after that but I mean it's still your first home game and so I don't see that necessarily being a trap game per se if Purdue was better than maybe but Purdue's the best team in a three-game stretch because you've got NIU then you got Purdue then you got Miami of Ohio you know what I mean and so they're gonna stick out so I don't see how that could be a trap game Louisville's definitely not a trap game because you lost to them last year well and that's you know and for that reason I would say maybe Miami, Ohio could be because like between if they're thinking about if they're thinking about out you know whatever redemption from last year and and that kind of stuff you know like if that was a circle the calendar right in red because Miami, Ohio is the reigning Mac champs and we've seen what happens in the past when you overlook you know Mac level opponents not necessarily losses but you can look at Toledo and Ball State in the not so you know distant past and see a couple of teams that we thought Notre Dame was gonna handle pretty you know pretty easily but it didn't happen yeah for sure I mean you could say a lot of people want to say Georgia Tech you know because they could jump up and bite you they got a tough brutal schedule and they may be beaten up by the time that's what I was going to say they just might be torn apart by then because I do think that they're you know they're going to be better but just the schedule that they've had right doesn't do them any favors you know the only other one I could even come close to coming up with would be Virginia because it follows Florida State and obviously everybody's going to be excited about Florida State and everything that goes with that and that's the next week you know and it's senior day and all of that stuff and so maybe that prevents it from being but I don't know I that's the only other one I could pick out but I just as I look at the schedule I don't see the quote unquote trap game that is fairly obvious in other years yeah I agree I agree just because you know again like it's not an overly imposing right I think that that's part of why Kevin says both of us combined have only got one year on he and his wife man so that means whoa 52 years no he's at 50 then he's at 50 congrats wow good for you man congratulations yes wow that's impressive I feel tired at 20 I just saying I feel tired at 31 so 50 just seems so far away I don't know my my kids we're shopping for my wife and we were walking my 14 year old daughter and she you know we said something out of 50th because we were we were talking about like the traditional like what's the 10 year that you know that kind of stuff silver and gold right yep exactly and she's like what is the 50th I said I think it's the diamond one she goes man well you guys have your 50th she goes I'll be old by then like yeah you'll be older than I am right now USMA at 37 that's still pretty good 1987 that's still pretty good must have got hitched right after he got done with school man whoo big time all right where are we going next year let me see what do you know what do you got will there be a Heisman winner under Marcus Freeman's era as head coach Notre Dame I mean that would be great if there would I mean you've got options obviously that here's the thing the Heisman these days is pretty much a quarterback award so let's let's be honest about this and so if you're looking at the possibilities in the near future you know okay we could throw Riley Leonard into the discussion right if Notre Dame does well yep let's throw Riley Leonard into the discussion next one after that would be CJ Carr and then I guess maybe Noah Grubs comes after him maybe Kenny Menchie sticks around I don't know we'll see so is it possible sure if you're saying I have to put money down on a yes or a no I would just put it as a no just because the odds are so against it happening but man I would love for that to be the case I would love for Notre Dame to get another Heisman trophy in the in the old trophy case I think at the very least we're going to see some Heisman finalists yes that's a good one I like that so and obviously everything is going to be contingent upon you know what are the other guys doing what your record all this different stuff and it's been so it's amazing you know just like the last Heisman came a year before the last national championship so like we've been talking about how you know how crazy time is but we're talking 37 years since the last Heisman trophy you know you some a remembers that year so you're got married yeah baby yeah baby so I'm going to say at least Heisman finalists yeah I like that not going to guarantee anything in terms of actual Heisman winners you could have a Heisman finalists this year and I don't think that that's out of the realm of possibility I really don't I really don't and I hope it obviously is the case I just don't think the quarterback class this year is super strong and that's why I think I think Ryder Leonard's got a chance if he has a year like we think he can have both on the ground and through the air he's got a chance of being a finalist I'm not ready to predict a winner but definitely a finalist so Matthew is just throwing chum into the water oh but what do we got here on this one he says I'm usually a wait and see guy but should I be confused why there isn't some kind of competition at left tackle Taj seems set which I'm not against but I like to see kids battle look yeah I mean why isn't there one I don't know is there going to be one it doesn't sound like it but we're not at practice and Brian did his best to talk me off the ledge in the afternoon show today after listening to Joe Rudolph's comments and he said you know it could just be coach speak it could be just he's he's trying to pump up Taj Baker the veteran to see what he can do he said his sources have been have told him that they are going to try some different guys out at left tackle and see what it looks like okay I mean I can't refute that because I'm not there every day you know what I mean and so I am not surprised that we saw Taj Baker there you know when we saw practice yesterday but I was fairly disappointed in the comments that Joe Rudolph made but that's all we have to go off of five periods of individual work and his comments like that's what we have and so based on that yeah I mean look maybe Taj Baker has taken a huge leap and he's better than we think he's going to be and that would be fantastic for for his sake I hope he's awesome this year I really do because well for his sake and the team's sake and the team say absolutely he needs to be because he doesn't even need to be awesome he just needs to be good he needs to be solid if he's solid then we're fine the Notre Dame is fine right he I do feel bad for Taj and Brian said this earlier I do feel bad for him because every single it feels like fan is like all right well if Taj is starting when's he gonna get benched for gurby Lambert or when's he gonna get benched for somebody else you know they're just already plotting his demise you know what I mean it's like I do feel bad for him as a person at this point because it doesn't feel like there's anybody in the Taj Baker camp see look I agree with what Andrew was saying battle who tight Shane Anthony Knapp I mean you know again like Joe Rudolph is fairly high on nap and had a lot of good things to say about him but it's another true freshman he's the freshman of course who enrolled early in the spring which is apparently given him a you know it not apparently it's given him a head start on gurby Lambert and you know like I would say like Taj Baker has really been competing for the last two years like he was never gonna leapfrog either Blake Fisher or Joe Walt but if he's doing what he was supposed to be doing in practice he was showing what he's capable of on that number two unit and then in spring and whatever you know work that he did in the summer and the early part of fall camp he's already like there's been some level of competition I don't think that they're just saying you're the most senior guy here Taj Baker you're getting the job I think that based on everything that they've seen as of right now he is clearly to them the best choice for the job and that's why he's getting it now that doesn't mean he's the most talented because there's a lot of talent with those guys that we've talked about Lambert Napp Styles Prescott there's there's a lot of talent behind him but I just don't think that they are that as talented as they might be they're not the guy for the job right now opening day and so I do think you know again it's like why do you go to practice well you go to practice to get better and to show what you can do so Taj Baker's been showing what he can do for a long time and I think that based on the you know the kind of the body of work that they have from all these guys they obviously feel the most confident in Baker right now and I don't think it's necessarily a by default kind of thing and that doesn't mean you know again it doesn't mean that somebody else could pass him up but how about we at least see what the guy can do before we start writing him right and I agree with that completely and I you know at the end of the day do I think he's the best choice for game one I do right I mean I do I think he's the best choice going into Texas A&M and if he's the best choice for Texas A&M why is he not the best choice for Northern Illinois why is he not the best choice you know for Purdue you know and and so on and so forth so you know I I'm gonna go ahead and trust the situation and and see what happens that's where I'm at right now. B feeder says Taj Baker has to have improved since Wisconsin right and let's remember Wisconsin was three years ago yeah that was a long time ago you would hope that he is improved by then and again like we haven't we just we haven't got to see any real live stuff so all we have to you know to base it on is like you know who's who's coming off the ball at the snap count you know who's who's staying low when Joe Rudolph tells him to stay low and you know who's getting their hands out but you know those kind of things that's that's essentially what we've got you know been able to see so far right yeah because we haven't seen anything live but I think this is going to remain hot button yeah of course it is and I do I do want to say one caveat before we move on to the next question is that I am not in the camp of well just trust the coaches they know best like and with like blindly I got I'm not in that camp because they can I think he made that obvious I think he made that obvious I mean they can make mistakes you know what I mean but at the moment I am trusting the coaches because I am not seeing everything every day of practice right and so there has to be some level of trust there he was hired to do the job at some level and I have to trust and I also at the same time if I trust Mike Dembrock to be the offensive coordinator I also have to trust that he's looking at the offensive line and looking at Joe Rudolph and it's like if that was the wrong choice I feel like he would step in and say something to right so it's kind of twofold there this episode is brought to you by our good friends at NFL Sunday ticket on YouTube TV I'm sure by now you've all got back into your Sunday routines but they could be even better with NFL Sunday ticket in YouTube TV you get the most live NFL games all in one place every game every Sunday and you can even watch up to four different games at once with multi-view one of my favorite inventions of this decade it's exactly what you need to catch all the action make your Sunday's more magical and also YouTube TV is great I got it this year it's awesome sign up now at youtube.com/bs device and content restrictions apply local and national games on YouTube TV NFL Sunday ticket for out of market games excludes digital only games Matthew wants to know who's been the most impressive offensive player so far upperclassmen lowerclassmen I would say I'll give my I'll give my most impressive upperclassmen I would say pleasant surprise so far has been Jaden Harrison as a wide receiver okay that you know they brought him predominantly to be a kickoff returner and based on everything that we've seen so you know again you'd have to take some of it with a grain of salt but like this guy like looks like a veteran receiver who has got some good receiver skills and it's a little bit surprising that he didn't have more production than what he had at a place like Marshall just based on yeah like why would you not use him more um he's shocking to me um yeah I mean that's a good one I like that one a lot you know upperclassmen impressing me would Ashton Craig count as an upperclass he counts as an upperclassmen right I mean he's a new starter at least in junior isn't he yeah I believe so right I know I'm gonna have to look just to make sure that I'm not going up the top of my head here I'm pretty sure he's a junior of course I have this in a weird order right now hold on yeah junior he's a red shirt sophomore been here for three years so if he's a junior he's considered an upperclassmen to me so I'm gonna go with Ashton Craig big Ashton Craig fan so I've been impressed by him underclassmen I will go with I'll go with Bryce Young I've been very impressed by Bryce Young he's a physical specimen so I'll go with him I like that's um I guess he said offensive player so technical whoops but that's okay sorry I should have I should have reread the question that's my fault go ahead you could think of one I mean Mike Gilbert is a freshman there you go actually very impressed with Mike a Gilbert that's because he wasn't the high heralded freshman wide receiver coming in and yet he left spring as that guy so I will go with Mikey Gilbert I think that's a good one I think that that would be my answer as well again I would just say incomplete on these offensive linemen because we haven't got the chance to see him do anything competitive yeah I agree with that but DK did chime in DK kind of got lost in the woods here I didn't even think he was very good I did see that he chimed in there at some point these guys have been competing since the start of the spring like when we were talking about that offensive line at the good point so not all of them though Gerbe Lambert wasn't here in the spring true true just to be that guy that's why I said I mean you have to be I mean everybody loves them some Gerbe Lambert and he will be very very good at some point no doubt Benjamin what do you hope to see from the offense and defense week one a win no I mean okay I think if the offense can put it in the end zone four times then that would be fantastic and that wins you the game because I think the defense will be able to keep Texas A&M max of two touchdowns so I would feel good about that from just a point scoring standpoint I mean from my perspective I think that the biggest thing has to do with both Riley Leonard and with the offensive line like can that offensive line keep Riley Leonard clean and if Riley Leonard is you know getting something in his face can you know we really haven't got to see him as a runner we know he can run but you know again like coming back from that injury like everything looks good but to to what extent still can Riley Leonard kind of bail some you know bail some of those guys out with his legs we know that he's done it in the past but I think the biggest thing is can that offensive line get push up front and keep Riley Leonard clean give Notre Dame a path to run the ball and I think that that is the biggest thing then obviously you do those things points will come defensively like I want to see waves of defensive lineman coming at Texas A&M all night in Washington talking about this 11-12 man rotation and if heat is is going to be a factor like we think it's going to be a factor down there in college station then I think that that's going to be very key for Notre Dame if they are able to go that deep you know to keep some pressure on kind of Wigman because I know some people were posting some stuff about a Texas A&M podcast and like apparently they feel really good about that A&M offense down there so no we shall see I think you know just like just like every game but especially in a game like this I think that that Notre Dame's ability to get after it up front with that deep defensive line rotation especially when it's hot I think that's going to be huge in that week one matchup yep Mark thoughts on NFL and ESPN push on flag football is it to reclaim lost fans from CTE controversy or anything else the push is just to make money I mean let's be honest I mean I I don't think it has anything to do with losing fans from CTE I don't I think that's well no I don't think that has anything to do with it and I would piggyback that because it's to make money what the NFL wants that the NBA and major league baseball and maybe to an extent hockey but I think especially the NBA and major league baseball those sports are global like people play those sports in other countries and there is interest in those sports in other countries and so flag football is going to be an Olympic sport in Los Angeles is flying four years and what the NFL what the the NFL is pushing this grassroots effort for flag football to try to become more global and start basically you know like why do you think that they've started playing games in Germany they've been playing games in London for a long time now they're playing games all over Germany and I think that it's gonna you're probably gonna see them play something in Paris at some point and I mean they they want they want to continue to be more global and they they think that by having flag football which doesn't take nearly as much expertise as playing tackle football with pads and all that kind of stuff you're you're essentially creating interest in the game if if these countries all you know all over the globe start playing the sport of football but I think that that's the biggest that's a really good call with the international aspect of it that's a really good call really good call yeah CTE has nothing to do with it I mean I don't they don't care the NFL is the largest viewed thing out there you know what I mean and so they're not worried about losing fans they're they're just not right and from Tommy Rutgers as a potential dark horse playoff team just based off their schedule let's see let's look at um his football schedule no Tommy uh here's their schedule they host well let's let's play let's play the win-loss game you want to do that okay let's see let me let me pull it up so I can look at it here we go okay Howard at home W W Akron at home W that's a W Akron is a terrible Mac team and that says something at Virginia Tech I know some people are high on Virginia Tech but this is going into Blacksburg you know understand man and all that stuff I know it was so so important to Notre Dame's last two trips there too I'm gonna say Rickers wins at Virginia okay three and oh yep you know uh Washington at home even though Washington has had a lot of turnover I mean this like if if Rutgers wins that game could you even imagine I'm gonna say Washington is able to pull that I agree so that's one loss at Nebraska man how much do you believe in what they're doing up at Nebraska very pivotal game for both teams really when you think about it because both of them are trying to prove like we're here now like sure this is this is our sandbox get off it's in Lincoln so I'm gonna say Nebraska takes the W okay Wisconsin I'm gonna go I'm gonna go Wisconsin the Luke Fickle Wisconsin Badgers so now they've lost three games in a row mhm UCLA at home no chip Kelly that offense is gone what's that gonna look like UCLA has to go all the way across the country I'll say the Scarlet Knights okay still sitting at three losses on the road at USC I don't see that being a win for Scarlet Knights for Scarlet Knights no I will give the win to USC we are now at four losses Minnesota at home I never know what to think of Minnesota bro the bow baby it's in Piscataway do we want to give Rutgers the the wind up why not then you've got at Maryland I'll say Rutgers Illinois Illinois okay five losses and at Michigan State I think by then Michigan State could be decent yeah that's a that's the toss up for me so I think so Rutgers has five or six losses yeah based on what we have projected so they might not even get a bowl game I guess if you're six and six you still got a bowl but that's true the uh Steinby said he counted six wins the bar is pretty low it seems like Archer is saying Iowa is the dark horse in the big 10 I mean is their offense gonna be that much better we know that they can believe it's better but is it gonna be that much better that's the right right I mean their schedule is not super difficult I will say that as I'm just quickly perusing it I mean their big 10 schedule is at Minnesota at Ohio State Washington at home at Michigan State Northwestern at home Wisconsin at home at UCLA at Maryland and Nebraska so if their offense is just a little bit better they've got a shot it went in some games I don't think they're going to be good enough to go to the playoff but they'll think you know they might knock off some people I mean I can see I can see them being a nine or ten win team it's not going to get him to playoff though Matthew with a late entry over under 12 and a half rushing touchdowns for Riley Leonard this season I'll take the under I think so too I think 9 10 get them we're in that range you know it's like it's gonna be really curious kind of what their red zone of course is because they're gonna have so many weapons be so many running backs and the tight ends and the receivers and Riley Leonard's legs like it's gonna oh man Anthony says the women's wrestling finals on USA Network right now I have nowhere near a TV so of course that's awesome but what we wanted to watch was before yeah exactly it's all I'm going to go under as well I you know like I said nine ten in that range yeah I won't go as high as 13 yeah that's going to be a lot and like you said there's a lot of weapons I mean you've got at least two or three backs that are going to be active in the red zone you've got some big wide receivers that could be active in the red zone you've got bitch 11s it's going to be active in the red zone so yeah you've got a lot of opportunities in a rivet zone for sure so so [BLANK_AUDIO]
