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That's indeed.com/bluewire. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed. Mom, Dad, I humbly suggest you save some money and shop Amazon for back to school. It's for my growth, meaning my body's growing at an alarming rate. And clothes you buy me this year will be very small very soon. Plus, the clothes I love today will be out of style tomorrow. But at least your wallet doesn't have to be my fashion victim, if you shop low prices for school at Amazon. Hopefully this is helpful. Amazon. Spinless. Smile more. Brian, let's jump into the defense and the pass game defense, right? And this has been a strength for Notre Dame over the last, at least the last year, if not more than that, they were elite. I'm just going to say that they were elite in 2023. They have two very elite pieces coming back in the secondary. They should be in that neighborhood, in the discussion for elite again, depending on what that looks like. And then you add in, okay, they've got one of the best, you know, defensive tackle tandem in the country. They've got some talent on the outside, still some question marks there, but talent on the outside and then a young athletic group of linebackers that we think they can get after the quarterback as well. And so, you know, can this group do what they did last year with some new pieces and some new parts and some new faces? And can they be that dominant group once again against the pass game? I mean, that's what this is really all about. I feel pretty good about it. I'm not going to lie, this is a pretty good group coming back this year. Prize picks is America's number one daily fantasy sports app, with over 5 million active members. Prize picks is the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Unlike other apps, on prize picks, it's just you against the numbers. 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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. Need to hire? You need Indeed. Well, in the thing that's going to be different this year, that's a little bit too, you know, last year is last year's secondary outside of the Ohio State game never got tested in the way that they will to win a title this year. Here's what I mean by that. Okay. They didn't get tested against USC the way that normally you'd get tested because of how dominant the D line was. That's not always going to be true the case. Sure. And then what I also mean is after the USC game, there was nobody left on the schedule that was really going to threaten them. Sure. With a past game that you had to be worried about. Maybe Oregon State might have, but they weren't in Silas Bolden had a couple nice plays early and then he got hurt, right? You know, and they didn't have Anthony Gould in that game. DJ Uyungla late in playing that game. Damien Martinez didn't play in that game. So I mean, you can't evaluate that. They weren't tested in that regard. And in Notre Dame, it wasn't a full strength either. They didn't have Cam Harris too. It was too different. They didn't have Maris Lea foul. They didn't have I mean, you know what I mean? So it's like, you just really can't, you can't. Now it's like, okay, yeah, they were great, but can they be great on the big stage? And like, like to me, during the regular season, I was more impressed with Notre Dame's past defense than I was with Michigan's. But here's the thing about Michigan's past defense though, they didn't just do that in the regular season. They only gave up 120 passing yards to Iowa in the big 10 title game 3.8 yards per play. Okay, so what Iowa stinks me, you, Andrew Gilmore, Michael Campbell, Tommy Guns, DRock Irish, Greg Lisbon, Jim Halloran, Michael Parks, and two or three more people could probably hold Iowa's past offense to under 200 yards last year. I'm being sarcastic, but like, it's one of the worst passing off. That's as I've seen in my life. And it just, it was embarrassing. Okay, fine. Then they went and played Alabama in the playoff and held Alabama 116 yards passing and 5.0 yards per play. Yeah. No, Jalen, Mel Rodin. Okay, cool. Next championship game, they had to play Washington and Michael Pennix and Roma Dunesay and Jalen McMillan and Jalen Polk. All three of those receivers are drafted, I think, in the third round or higher. Michael Pennix was the top 10 NFL draft pick. They threw for 255 yards on 51 attempts. Michael Pennix passed for 52 point, not completed 52.9% of his passes, only averaged 5.0 yards per attempt through one touchdown and had two picks. Right? Okay, so they did it every game, you know, and Notre Dame never got that level of test. So then the question is, okay, could they be as good on that stage? And then here's the other thing, as good as the secondary was against Ohio State for that entire game. When the game was on the line, they had three big mistakes or misses. They gave up a fourth and seven completion where they allowed Julian Fleming to beat their nickel across the field. They dropped an interception that would have ended the game and they had a poor safety coverage on a third 19 that allowed the set up the game when he touched down. So as good as it was, when the game was on the line, they didn't get it done. I mean, that's what your judge by Notre Dame, right? Absolutely. And in Michigan, who actually gave up more yards against Ohio State, passing the football, Michigan's pass defense gave up 271 yards to Ohio State Vince last year, 271 Notre Dame only gave up 240. Michigan gave up 9.0 yards per pass attempt against Ohio State. Notre Dame only gave up 6.3, but in the fourth quarter, when it was a competitive game, they picked off Kyle McCord and put that game away. Yep. Notre Dame didn't. Yep. Exactly. That's the opportunity. That's the opportunity and didn't do it. That's ultimately what matters. Sure. And so even as good as it was, is there another level to get to for the pack? I'm not talking secondary. I'm talking pass defense because not all the issues, again, that Ohio State fourth quarter were the secondary not doing their job. It was clearly a big part of it, but they didn't get a whole lot of pressure on Kyle McCord and a couple of those snaps. He got to sit back there and kind of pick apart. Yeah. He got a couple snap on those plays that hit. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Now they got the fourth and seven partly because they pressured him on earlier downs. Sure. But it on those money downs, they didn't get the job done. And that's the question that this defense is going to have to answer Vince. And you know, we spend a lot of time yesterday talking about the secondary. Right. Right. We don't have to, you know, we don't have to rehash that part of the reason for optimism is you do return to stars. You've got a lot of young talent and all that kind of stuff. You know, but there's also some concerns that you have that you say, okay, if these don't get answered, I don't know if, you know, can this team read like they're going to be a very good pass defense again this year, Vince. No doubt about that. They will be. But will they be elite and will they be championship caliber? That's the question. Right. And so to answer that, you know, we got to look at some of those concerns and talk about the players that got to really step up. Yeah. Well, I mean, we're going to talk about some of those, let's talk about some of those concerns right now, Brian. And we'll talk about, you know, we did touch on this yesterday, but is field corner going to be a nice compliment to what Benjamin Morrison is doing on the other side. Right. And there's a heck of a battle between two really good players going on right now. I feel, I feel good about that position. I do. But it's still a question mark because neither one of those guys has been asked on a consistent basis to be the starter and to be the dude on that side of the football. I mean, they had a start. They each had a start. You know, I think once last year came in on a rotational basis, you know, things like that. But as you and I have discussed on numerous occasions, it's a lot easier to come in for a spot start or to be a rotational player than it is to be the starter be the guy be the dude. Right. And so whoever it is is going to get tested. Right. Because everybody is going to have number 20 circle on their on their their report. Right. I mean, on your game plan, they're all going to have 20 circles and they're all in zero. So yes, exactly. And so whoever's on the other side is going to get tested. And so what's your grade on that test? You know, that's the question. Here's an interesting aspect of that, Vince, is you've got two stars coming back, but they're on opposite sides of the field, which I have, which is kind of interesting. You know, it's like, and how does that impact things? You know, like, what do you do? Because it'd be one thing if like Xavier was the boundary safety, you're like, okay, you got Xavier and Benjamin over here, not going over there. You know, or or if they're both to the field, right? Okay, we're just, well, you know, we'll figure out what we can do to attack the boundary, you know, so you look at it that way, Vince, and it's it is kind of interesting because it's not quite as easy to avoid talent, but to avoid the superstars. Yeah, it's not quite as easy. Yeah, but it can be done. Good coaches will do it. Steve Sarkeesian will figure out how to attack your non-stars. Sure. And and he'll find ways to put your stars in position to be successful. And heck, even even somewhat, okay coaches can do it. I was never a big fan of the offensive coaching staff at Clemson. The two-man combination of Tony Scott or Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott, they were they had great talent, but they weren't like great coordinators, but they were smart enough to know, hey, guys, 27's out. Let's go with that guy. You know what I mean? Like, you know, hey, I don't see Julian Love on the field. Him and Troy Pride have been locking us down all game. Let's try to do something here. And that's exactly what they did. And good coaches, yes, good coach, like Kalen DeBore, if their name has to play Alabama in the postseason, I promise he's going to be able to find ways to attack the positions that aren't being manned by Xavier Watson, Benjamin Morrison, especially when those guys aren't on the field. Sure. You know, because they're getting breathers. So you're going to have to play well in those other positions. And the field cornerback position, especially, is going to be a big one, because teams are going to go out that position early and often, in my opinion, and try to find ways to beat them one on ones. I mean, I guarantee you that noted that that Texas A&M, if they're smart, and I think Colin Klein is when he sees number seven at cornerback, he's going to say, we're going to run some double moves as a post snap switches, because this guy's super aggressive, and he's not a burner. And if we can get him to bite, we can get it over top of him. I would. That's absolutely what I would do. Sure. And if I would do it, you don't think Colin Klein's going to have some answers for that. You know, it means a pretty good offensive coordinator did a really nice job at Kansas State. That's the reason Marcus Freeman interviewed him for the OC job at Notre Dame when Tommy Reese left, you know, so that's going to be a big thing. And then obviously Christian Gray's got all the talent in the world, Vince, but can he put it together and be that guy? Exactly. That question. Right. We think we have a good idea of where it's headed. Yeah, exactly. Love the talent, but right. Look, a lot of this stuff, Vince is, you know, we're, we're 23 days in the opener. This is about, okay, yeah, the town's there, guys. I love the roster, but it's show me time. It's, it's, you were in show me mode now. And I think Christian Gray's got all talent in the world. Look, I Benjamin Morrison at all talent in the world, but is, am I right about him? Like I thought I was right about him, but we didn't really know till he got into the season and proved it. And I look like a genius. You know what I mean? I know the guys that I thought were going to be good that didn't turn out to be good at the guys that I didn't think it'd be good that turned out to be good. We're going to focus on this one that I got right. Okay. Right. Exactly. 100%. But, but the point is you got to go out and show it. Yeah. Love the talent. You got to go out and show it. We thought all summer, last summer, you and I talked to Xavier Watts, breakout player, breakout player, he can be a star, you know, all that kind of stuff. You know, got to show it. And he did. There, you know, and a lot of guys on defense did. But offensively, they didn't show it. I mean, we were. We think Sam Hartman's could, you know, could be really, really good here with the, you know, freshman class is going to help. I think Jay Thomas is ready to take off to buy some other weather. Mayor Weather was one of my breakout players last year. Very good about him. All these type of guy. And guess what? They didn't step up and pan out. Somebody in the chat said, Brian, you were wrong on Kane Madden. Uh, no. Doesn't. I don't know what crack you're smoking. But I did not think Kane Madden was going to be very good. And he wasn't. So I don't know what is being talked about there. But I was definitely right, by the way. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what that dude smoking, which then I was so right on Kane, man, that I did the same. They did the same as trolling me. So I was like, okay, good save the shark 83. Good save. Cause I was so right on Kane, man, that it made me wrong on Marshall later. That was the problem. That was the problem. That was the problem. Yes. Yes. But the point is, Vince, it's yeah, there's talent there, but is it going to play to the expectations and will it play to expectations in the big moments? Those are things we're going to have to find out. Right. So I wouldn't say it's a concern. It's a question. And a question isn't always a negative. A question can simply be a lack of evidence. Yeah, exactly. Right. And, you know, speaking of a lack of evidence with this linebacker and core and everything that we think they are and what they can be and all of the things and, you know, just, hey, go back and listen to our linebackers show. Okay. But two days ago, yeah, exactly. Go take a listen because we really broke down what we think the linebackers can do and all of those things. But in this particular conversation, the linebackers are going to be an important piece not only at times in the past rush, but then also in past coverage. And to be honest with you, Notre Dame hasn't been fantastic at the linebacker position in past coverage over the last few years. I think they've gotten more athletic and I think they're going to be a little bit better than that this year. Last year, they were at least better at rushing the quarterback, right, which helped. They still weren't good in coverage. They weren't bad, but they weren't great. Yeah, right. And part of that's length. And this is in Drake Bowen just hasn't been asked to do that a whole lot in his career. So the question about linebacker in the past game is two full events. Will they be able to rush the quarterback as effectively or hopefully better than last year's linebackers? Question number one. And but at the same time, question number two is you can't always blitz. You're going to have to drop coverage of times. Yes. And can they handle that? Can they, are they going to, you know, went like last year, great point. Vince was, yeah, they weren't great in coverage, but they never gave up that uncovered wheel route. And teams tried it. They never gave up that uncovered seam route teams tried it, but they were at least where they needed to be to where it was, you were going to have to make a good throw to beat them. And so that was good. They did their job. They didn't always do it great, but they did their job. And when how good everything else was, it was kind of, you know, can this group do that? Right. You know, can they do that? Can they be effective rushing the quarterback? Can they can they handle coverage? Can they, you know, not have blown assignments? Those are going to be questions that, again, just like corner events, it's not a talent question. I have zero questions about the talent of Drake Bowen, and King's even on my assa and Jaylin's need and Jade and all his brain, Jack Kaiser, zero, zero questions about their physical gifts, sure, questions about their experience. And even Jack Kaiser experience playing the position he's going to play now to where are they going to be able to consistently get the job done and get the job done when it matters most? Those are legitimate questions you have to, you have to answer. Yeah, right. Tools are there, but absolutely. Right. Can they kind of see it? Got to see it. And the final piece of the puzzle in the quote, unquote, concerns area or question marks that need to be answered is, can they get a consistent pass rush from the front four and the defensive line? And can they take that to another level? Because look, we've had questions about Viper. Obviously, you know, we have brand new and defensive events, you know, you're getting your defensive tackles back. But I would love for them to be even a little bit more disruptive in the past game than they were in, you know, before. And so it's still a question mark as a whole, can this defensive line with their depth and everything else they've got going on, get some pressure on the quarterback as well. And that will obviously affect the past game defensively. 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 and YouTube TV. You get the most live NFL games all in one plays 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 Sundays 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 and a fell Sunday ticket for out of market games excludes digital only games. School is back and exporting goods has what you need to win your year. We've got everything from cleats to sambas, dunks and more plus the hottest looks from Nike, Jordan and Adidas. Find your first day fits in store or online at dicks.com. You know, it's such an underrated part of it, but I remember watching the Broncos in 2015 and watching the Super Bowl against Cam Newton. And you're thinking like, well, I don't know how this is going to go. This is how this game is going to go. Because you got this great defense against this great, you know, great offense, talented quarterback, thrown for a lot of yards, rushing for a lot of yards, scoring a lot of points. And Denver's offense is just a hot mess. I mean, you know, because Peyton was just couldn't throw the ball really anymore and and, you know, just, it just wasn't a, it wasn't a great situation. If, boy, if you can't stop Cam, this could, this could be a problem. You know, this could be a problem. I mean, Vince, this is a team that in the postseason that year, the Panthers who finished 17 in one before the Super Bowl, won their first playoff game 31 to 24. And there's, and one, the NFC championship game, 49 to 15. I mean, they were just, they were ripping people up. Man, you know, they scored at least 31 points. And so one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight of their last nine games, they scored at least 31 points. And the NFL, that's a lot of scoring. And, you know, so in one, in one of those games was late in the year against Atlanta in a game that, if I remember correctly, that they had already clinched home field and it just didn't matter a ton. But you got to stop this Cam Newton guy. How do you do that? Well, Denver showed you how to do that. And Cam Newton was never the same player after that. It was, you got a pressure from everywhere, from everywhere. You got to be able to get off the quarterback. And so when the game mattered most, and they did the same thing, Denver's defense did the same thing in the NFC or the AFC playoffs at your events to Tom Brady, they confused the heck out of Tom Brady. I mean, if you think about, about that Broncos team that year, Vince, to win a Super Bowl, the Broncos had to beat Ben Roth, this burger, Tom Brady, and in his prime Cam Newton. And they held those teams to 16, 18 and 10 points. Why at a phenomenal pass rush? Yeah. And that allowed their really good corners to play aggressively and stop those teams. A big pass rush can be that neutralizer to a team that maybe has more skill talent than you have. And what we don't know is can this team do that? And last year's defense could not always do that. As good as it was, Vince, they couldn't get to the quarterback on the downs that mattered most against the Buckeyes. They couldn't get Caleb Williams to the ground in 2022. They did in 2023 and made them. I mean, like no, Caleb Williams entire how he is viewed by fans, in my opinion, was completely changed that night. It was always he's great on a bad team. But after that night, it was like, okay, what did I just watch that guy? Maybe he's not as good as people think. And he is very, very, very good. But Notre Dame not only made him look human, they made him look awful. Oh, yeah. And, you know, I mean, it just you've got to be a second half against Ohio State in 2022. I mean, they made CJ Stroud work for so much of what he did. But the fact is, is they couldn't get to him in the second half enough, and he was able to make some throws to win that game. Yeah. He didn't have to be he didn't have to throw for 400 yards. Well, he only threw for like 230 something that game, but he showed his name exactly. He showed himself to be a guy that can make money throws in that game. Yeah. And you know, they couldn't get him to the ground. He had some scrambles where he got out of the pocket and made throws because they couldn't get to him. Yeah. So yes, in those moments, you have to be able to get to the quarterback. And again, look at the last two years against USC 2022, couldn't bring Caleb down coverage is actually pretty good that game. Couldn't bring Caleb down, couldn't contain him. He goes off, you lose the game despite throwing for a bunch of yards and moving the ball. Year two, you blow them out. Why? What was the big difference? Caleb couldn't couldn't. I mean, you were just going to chase the whole night long. He was seeing ghosts by the end of the night. There's no ghost were dudes. But you know what I mean? I mean, there was there, there were coming from all directions, and he just didn't even know what to do with himself. And I mean, he was throwing the ball before he even got pressure at times because he was so afraid of the pressure that he had been receiving all night long, you know what I mean? And so he's throwing off his back foot. It was glorious to watch until the Bears draft him. But can they do that on the bigger stage against good teams? Right. Absolutely. And good lines. And it doesn't have to be, you know, he had eight sacks in the title game against Ohio State. No, it's like, but can you make the pressures when they matter? Can you know, that's good, comes down to making those big stops? Yeah. We struggled all night long. I mean, look, I grew up in the in the 80s and 90s when some of the best pass rushers ever played the game played. And you know, you wouldn't hear Lawrence Taylor's name a whole game, but in the fourth quarter when the game was on the line, sorry, LTS is going to do it. Yeah, you know, Bruce Smith was that way. You know, Reggie White was that way. As a Broncos fan, I've seen some of those, you know, Neil Smith, Alfred Williams, on that on those 97, 98 teams that, you know, that that Broncos team gave up a lot of yards at Brett Fars, but what were they able to do? They were able to get some pressures on him that forced turnovers early in the game allowed you to pull away. They were able to get pressure on him on that last fourth down to force him to, you know, he's got the office back foot, allows John Mobley to to break up the pass goes off target. Why? Because there's pressure in his face at the office back foot. So even though he threw, made some money throws and big time throws and had some, you know, I mean, outplayed Elway in that game statistically. The difference is, is when the Broncos needed a drive, they couldn't get to Elway and he made the plays and Terrell Davis made the plays when the Packers needed a drive, they couldn't protect the quarterback and the Broncos won that football game. Right. I mean, so, so that's what we're talking about is, when it matters, can you do it? And I can list a whole bunch of pass rushers that you and I grew up watching, man, but they made those, they got to the quarterback when they needed to get to the quarterback. I mean, when it was, when it mattered most, you've got those guys that get to the court, but Von Miller was that way when he was in his prime with the Broncos and him and Demarcus Ware, that's what made that team so good is they could just, when they needed a pressure, they could get the pressure. And heck, I even think the first big pressure for Denver and that game, Von Miller brought it, but like, I think Malik Jackson is the one that recovered a fumble in the end zone for, for the, for the Broncos. So that's going to be a big key is can you make the prep, can you pressure the quarterback when it matters most? And that's something this defense is going to have to prove that it can do because I don't know that they did that last year. I don't think that they did, honestly. And you know, that they didn't, they weren't able to make those stops and they needed to make those stops in the biggest games. Yeah, I don't think it's entirely their fault, you know, because again, you held Louisville to seven points in the first half, your offense should have pulled away by then should have, but they didn't. And, you know, your offense should have scored more than 14 points against Duke, I mean, against Ohio State. That's not your fault. But on that last drive, you had your chances and you couldn't make the place. Yeah. So they're going to have to show that before we exit the defensive talk on past defense, let's let's quickly go over some guys are going to be key to the success of the past defense this year in 2024. And we do have a few guys that we want to highlight. And so let's go over those guys right now, Brian, and we'll lead it off with the Viper position, which, you know, we've talked about the Viper position a lot, obviously, and the question marks that are there. But when we're talking about pass rush, Viper is going to be very important, not only for getting hands on the quarterback and pressures and all of those things, but also at times dropping into coverage and doing a decent job in that. Now, it's not going to be all the time, obviously, but when that does happen, they can't be a liability out there either. So, you know, we're talking about Battelle Ho and Traori, you know, Buba Carr and what that looks like at the Viper position. Can those guys contribute to the defense? That's, I mean, you made a great point the other day when we were talking about the defensive line and how great the defensive line was with zero help from the Viper position? None. I mean, zero. So, can they at least contribute in a positive way to the defensive line? And then, obviously, overall to the pass defense as well. They have to get production from that position this year, Vince. Yeah. I mean, do they need it to make the playoffs? No, I don't think so. They can get to the comfortable playoff without the Viper's being too much better than last year, but they're not going to go anywhere meaningful once they get there. Exactly. You know, you're not going to be Georgia if that position still gives you nothing. You're not going to be Ohio State if that position gives you nothing. You're not going to be Texas if that position gives you nothing. You know, it's just the reality of it. And, you know, but it really comes down to Battelle Ho and his veteran presence, and Buba Carr and his elite potential. You need them both to kind of help you out this year. And I don't care if neither of them has more than four and a half individual sacks as long as they both have at least four individuals. You know what I mean? And like, you know, it's about the tandem. Maybe one game, it's Battelle Ho. Maybe the next game, it's it's it's it's Buba Carr. And then the other part two, Vince, which is under not discussed about a ton is teams like to run the ball into the boundary. And they're the force play. They're the support force, however, whatever the call is, depending what the call is, but they're those guys that are the the really the edge stoppers need to be the edge stoppers when you're running the boundary. And so it impacts that as well. But when you look at the the past rushing aspect of it, which is what this part of the show is about, they've got to give more pressure. Got to give more consistent pressure. Those two kids to me, Jordan Battelle Ho and Buba Carr, Treyori could ultimately be what determined whether or not in their name has an elite championship caliber D line this year. It's going to be very good. Right. It's like we talked about yesterday. They're minimum, they're in the top 10, minimum, they're six to 10, somewhere in there. But to be a to be a team that to be a unit that that fuels it. Like, look, they could be 10th and win a championship if the rest of the team is good enough. I'm saying to be good enough to drive a championship, they need to be top five, sure, to be top five. And to get into that top three, this position has to be way better than it was last year statistically, but then also from a clutch standpoint. I mean, like, look, why do I always talk about collid cream? Was collid cream as a productive of a past rusher as Julian Aquara? Nope, not close. But when, but you can remember every sack collid cream made, because it seemed like every sack he ever made was a clutch moment. You know, that's why you remember collid cream. That's why he was such an important part of that team is because he was going to sack a tackle for loss, a force fumble, a pressure something when the game was on the line, you just kind of felt like, don't worry, 53 is at it got it. And although he Gilman had a lot of that to him, but that that's the thing is these guys have going to have to give you that Vince have to have to have to have to have to have to if this team's going to compete for championship. Right. The next guy that we had on our list is a guy we talked about a bunch actually earlier on in the show, but I definitely want to bring him up because he is extremely important. It's and it's Mr. Gray at, at, at corner, right? And he's going to be extremely important, obviously, to the past defense because he's going to get picked on. I would think a lot. Let me Jay and Mickey both. Yes, absolutely. And so, I mean, we have to bring him up. Again, we talked about him a bunch earlier, but he's still a very, very important piece. We think he is going to end up starting there. And even if he doesn't, that position is going to be extremely important. But yeah, I have a lot of confidence, but again, we need to see it. And he's going to be extremely important to the success of the past defense for sure. The reason I put him here alone and not him and Mickey is because Gray is the one guy of that group that has a chance to be a star caliber player. Sure. Right. He's the guy that has a chance to kind of not just be a, okay, hold your water type of player, but to be a difference maker. And what made the cornerback tandem last year was so good is not because Cam Hart was really, really good. And it's not because the Benjamin Morrison was really good is that Cam Hart and Benjamin Morrison were both really, really good. Right. And that's much better than, you know, like, I think that's something that hurt Ohio State at times last year. When their defense got in trouble and it is because teams could avoid Denzel Burke and have success. Yeah. And last year's like, okay, if you're not going to go to Benjamin Morrison, who do you go at? Cam Hart, Xavier Watts, like your options are kind of limited here. And they need him to step up. And he, I'm not saying he has to be Cam Hart, but he has to be pretty good. They need him to grow up fast. They need Christian Gray to grow up in a hurry as a player. I think he will, but we still have to see it happen, obviously. So the final guy is also in the secondary. He's a transfer student. The importance of this particular position has been, I mean, the level of importance of this position has increased over the last, you know, half decade, decade, obviously with the transformation of offenses and things like that. But it has been a very, very good position for Notre Dame the past two years prior to this year. And now you have Jordan Clark coming in and assuming that nickel position, which is extremely important. I mean, extremely important. And can he kind of take the baton from the last couple of guys that have manned the corner or the the nickel position and then just take it and make it his own and be as successful? I'm glad you said that Vince, because that is where my my heart was on this, putting him on this was was was my heart was there, but my head was also there. So it was both of them. And what I mean, heart, I mean, like the spirit of why he's on there. Right. And the spirit of why he's on there is is twofold. The first being, this has been a strength for Notre Dame the last two years. Yep. Treak Bracey was very good at this position two years ago. And Thomas Harper was very good at his position last year. Can Jordan Clark match that? But then practically speaking, this is the second part of why he's on this list. Well, we're going to answer the question that we've been asking the last several shows right today and then on Monday when we talk DBs. Well, you know, you can't go at Benjamin Morris and then we think Christian Gray is going to be a stud and and Xavier Watts is an all American and Rod Hertz pretty flipping good. Well, what are you going to do? Okay, you're going to go up to linebackers. You're going to go with a nickel. Because of the five guys we anticipate starting, I would argue that Jordan Clark is is the least talented. Okay, he's smart. He's he's he brings a lot of value. And this doesn't mean he lacks talent. But when you're as good as Notre Dame is in the secondary, it's like we talk about somebody's got to be last. Somebody's got to be the least athletic. You're not all the same. And I would say he's the least talented of the group does again doesn't mean he's a bad player at all. But if I'm an opposing offensive football team, especially if I have, you know, I'm thinking of some of the bigger games that they play this year, especially if I have Colin Lacey and I've got at Louisville and especially if I've got Zachariah Branch, I am going to do as much as I can to get Zachariah Branch matched up against Jordan Clark. I got a lot more chance of success doing that than I have of trying to put Zachariah Branch against Benjamin Morrison. I'm just going to do that. And then I'm also, if you're smart, I'm going to try to find some ways to get Deuce Robinson, who's 66 matched up against Jordan Clark and go out of that way. Sure. Of all the guys on the team, that's the one I'm taking my chances with. Partly because they're also lower percentage passes, slants, ins, overs, crossers, things like that. I'm going to make him, I'm going to make Jordan Clark beat us if I'm an opposing offensive coach. Now that's not saying Jordan Clark can't step up to the, to the table, but I'm saying he's going to need to, he's going to have to have the best season of his career. And the good news for Jordan Clark is he's surrounded by better talent he's in than he's ever played with. You know, he can be a complimentary piece, but he's going to have to play well, Vince, because the nickel is such an important, I mean, we talked about this, the nickel's on the field a lot more than the Rover is. And so he's going to have to be on the field, especially in big moments and especially, I mean, he's going to definitely be on the field a lot against Texas if they play Texas, he's going to definitely be on the field a lot against Georgia and Ohio State. Oh yeah. They're going to need those guys in the field a ton. And can he, can he do that? Can he step up and be good in those moments because he's going to get picked on? Sure. In my opinion, by the better teams in the schedule, I just, I have no doubt about that, because I look last year against Ohio State as good as Jack Kaiser was last year. You know, me snaps Jack Kaiser played against Ohio State. 10. Really? 10. I did not know that. Because they were Thomas Harper played 50. They're a nickel. Yeah, they were nickel. And nickel whole game. Yeah. So Jack only played 10 snaps that game. That's crazy. One of your better linebackers, to be honest with you, they only played 10 snaps. Like, and I understand why, but that just blows my mind to be perfectly honest with you. So yeah. And I think most of those were like third down type of. Sure, I'm sure they were. So I mean, that's just that, but that's, that's kind of where they were last year with the makeup of this team, you know, against Riley Leonard, Jack only played 16 snaps. That's it. But that, I mean, but that also, you know, goes to what I said earlier about the fact that, you know, offenses are changing. And defenses have to change along with them. Otherwise, they're not going to be able to compete. And this is an incredibly important position in that regard with, with the evolution of offenses and defenses. So that's, that's why this position is super important. Right. And so that's why Jordan Clark is a key to success for Notre Dame. Yeah. The better he plays, the better this secondary is going to be because teams are going to go out for him. And again, this is not to say Jordan Clark is not a good football player. Guys, this is the case on good defenses. When you have the town learning has somebody's got to be last, somebody's got to be the, the, hey, you know, I can't go with that guy that you've got to go with somebody. We can't just, you know, look, we're, you know, A&M's not going to sit there and be like, hey, you know what, I don't think we can beat Notre Dame. So we're just going to forfeit and just get ready for our next game. Look, they're going to, they're going to come out and play. They're going to go after somebody. Who's that going to be? Yeah. And if I'm an offensive coach and I look at all the town learning has, that's what I'm going to try to figure out ways to beat their linebackers in the past game. And I'm going to try to find ways to beat their nickel in the past game. I'm not sure. Last year, I'd have tried to find ways. How can I get DJ Brown in coverage? How can I get Ramone Henderson in coverage? How can I get the line bet? That's what I'm going at last year. I'm not going to Camar. I'm not going at Benjamin Morrison. I'm not going to save your Watts. I might have gone and saved your early. How to quickly found out that was dumb and gone or somebody else. This year, Jordan Clark in Ohio State said, we're going after Thomas Harper when it matters most. And they beat him. Port and seven. Right. That's how important his position is. Jordan Clark's got to make that play. And so it's not about Jordan Clark only. It's about the nature of that position. Yes, exactly. Exactly. And he just happens to be the one manning it. That's going to do it for our overview on the past defense and how we think it's going to shape out questions, comments, concerns, all that fun stuff. And so thanks for hanging out with us. We've got one more segment to hit. So don't go anywhere. 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