25. Chris Brown - 2 catches, 56 yds
24. Kyle Brindza - 23 of 31 on field goals, long of 52
23. Robby Toma - 252 receiving yds, 28 rushing yds, TD
22. KeiVarae Russell - 58 tackles, .5 sack, 2 INTs
21. Matthias Farley - 49 tackles, 1 INT
20. Dan Fox - 63 tackles, 1 sack
19. George Atkinson III - 51 carries, 361 yds, 5 TDs
18. Chris Watt
17. Davaris Danields - 31 catches, 490 yds
16. Tommy Rees - 436 yds, 2 TDs, 1 INT
15. Bennett Jackson - 65 tackles, 4 INTs
14. Cierre Wood - 742 rushing yds, 4 TDs, 25 receiving yds
13. Everett Golson - 2405 passing yds, 12 TDs, 6 INTs, 298 rushing yds, 6 TDs
12. TJ Jones - 50 catches, 649 yds, 4 TDs
11. Danny Spond - 39 tackles, 1 INT
10. Prince Shembo - 51 tackles, 7.5 sacks
9. Zeke Motta - 77 tackles
8. Kapron Lewis-Moore - 40 tackles, 6 sacks
7. Braxton Cave
6. Theo Riddick - 917 rushing yds, 5 tds, 370 recieving yds, 2 TDs
5. Zack Martin
4. Tyler Eifert - 50 catches, 685 yds, 4 TDs
3. Stephon Tuitt - 47 tackles, 12 sacks
2. Louis Nix - 50 tackles, 2 sacks
1. Manti Te'o - 111 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 7 INTs

Who do you think the top 8 will be?

I'll go with

8. Kapron Lewis-Moore
7. Braxton Cave
6. Theo Riddick
5. Zach Martin
4. Louis Nix
3. Tyler Eifert
2. Stephon Tuitt
1. Manti Te'o

Goodman had atleast 2 td's off the top of my head, so he should be ahead of Chris Brown.
Sheldon Day played huge minutes this year and had a few sacks. He should be in there.

Toma is to low IMO, along with a TJ Jones.
Brown, Rees, GA3 are all too high.

This is one is be interested in seeing time weigh in on...

Tru, I agree with you on Brown and Day. Not so much on Goody or Rees.

Rees, in my opinion was far more valuable than his stats may show. He certainly did not play a ton, but for the most part, when he did play it was in a tight spot and he usually played well. Stanford and Michigan alone should place him around where he was.

How are only three of the starting o-line guys in the top twenty-five?

I think a lot of the NFL scouts are high on TJ??? correct me if I am wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that they really liked him.

I certainly dont think Goody was a top 25 player for ND, but he most definitely had better stats than.C Brown. That was my only comparison.

I wont comment on Rees. You know where I stand.

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--- GaviND wrote:

This is one is be interested in seeing time weigh in on...

Tru, I agree with you on Brown and Day. Not so much on Goody or Rees.

Rees, in my opinion was far more valuable than his stats may show. He certainly did not play a ton, but for the most part, when he did play it was in a tight spot and he usually played well. Stanford and Michigan alone should place him around where he was.

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Maybe it's the fact that I just woke up, but I'm really struggling with reading comprehension right now.

GaviND wrote: This is one is be interested in seeing time weigh in on...

Interesting topic, but I'm too frozen by the stupidity of ESPN to wager a guess.

I love Chris Brown and expect big things down the road, but he and I had very similar playing time this year.  His inclusion is borderline offensive considering names sure to be left of the list of people who, you know, actually played football for ND this year.

sixtyheim wrote: 25. Chris Brown - 2 catches, 56 yds

ha ha....Have to agree with you here!

I am guessing and I would not argue against Lombard and Golic Jr being in the top 8.
Those two have to be in the top 25. Most of the top 25 should be the D'line and O'line. I also would like to know where Daniel Smith is. I mean if you have Chris Brown on that list Smith deserves to be on there. If you go back and look at the tape, Smith was probably the best blocking WR on the team and his block opened up a ton of plays for either first downs or good chunks of yards.  He may not of had a ton of catches and yards but out preformed most in blocking alone. 

You could also make the argument that Brindza should be higher on the list as well.  He was a very valuable asset to the team, His kickoffs were either touchbacks or hung in the air long enough for the coverage team to stop teams short of the 20. He missed a few kicks, most of which were either first attempt or early in the game. 4th quarter and on he was money.

just my two centavos.

I think with over 2700 total yards and 18 total touchdowns with only 6 INT's, Everett Golson should have been in the Top 10 of the list at least.

But maybe I'm just being a rep-homer.

I know I am.  The kid has been productive and consistent his whole career.  For his true freshman season, he was the guy opposite Michael Floyd, and he looked a cut above coming in.  He had some growing pains dealing with the passing of his father, but was very solid this season.  In my opinion, he is the kind of guy an NFL team wants.  Consistent, professional, and comes from NFL lineage.  His YACs were very strong this year, and by the way, he can really catch.

The rest of this ranking players business is b.s.

smokingun4 wrote: I think a lot of the NFL scouts are high on TJ??? correct me if I am wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that they really liked him.

Aside from Zack, Eifert, and Cave, I'm not sure any offensive players belong in the top ten.

GoldRushND wrote: I think with over 2700 total yards and 18 total touchdowns with only 6 INT's, Everett Golson should have been in the Top 10 of the list at least.

But maybe I'm just being a rep-homer.

i'm no rees fan, but without rees, i don't think that we would've been undefeated in the regular season, so he was definitely very valuable in a few spots.

TruIrishFan wrote: I certainly dont think Goody was a top 25 player for ND, but he most definitely had better stats than.C Brown. That was my only comparison.

I wont comment on Rees. You know where I stand.

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--- GaviND wrote:

This is one is be interested in seeing time weigh in on...

Tru, I agree with you on Brown and Day. Not so much on Goody or Rees.

Rees, in my opinion was far more valuable than his stats may show. He certainly did not play a ton, but for the most part, when he did play it was in a tight spot and he usually played well. Stanford and Michigan alone should place him around where he was.

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wasn't our offense better, statistically, than our defense?

lumbergh wrote: Aside from Zack, Eifert, and Cave, I'm not sure any offensive players belong in the top ten.

GoldRushND wrote: I think with over 2700 total yards and 18 total touchdowns with only 6 INT's, Everett Golson should have been in the Top 10 of the list at least.

But maybe I'm just being a rep-homer.

Well, even if you mean according to Brian Fremeau's efficiency stats, there is no clear answer.

Basically, the offense ranked higher (12th at .454) and the defense (16th at .476) performed a little better relative to deviation from the mean.



Imagine two different Bell curves for offensive and defensive rankings if that helps.

shaunzo wrote: wasn't our offense better, statistically, than our defense?

lumbergh wrote: Aside from Zack, Eifert, and Cave, I'm not sure any offensive players belong in the top ten.

GoldRushND wrote: I think with over 2700 total yards and 18 total touchdowns with only 6 INT's, Everett Golson should have been in the Top 10 of the list at least.

But maybe I'm just being a rep-homer.

They put Chris Brown on the list for making the biggest play on offense against Oklahoma.

What the F does ESPN think they know about ND football?

LOL, I tried to read it 3 times before I just moved on. 

lumbergh wrote: Maybe it's the fact that I just woke up, but I'm really struggling with reading comprehension right now.

GaviND wrote: This is one is be interested in seeing time weigh in on...

sixtyheim wrote: They put Chris Brown on the list for making the biggest play on offense against Oklahoma.

I don't know if Brown's catch was the biggest play of the Oklahoma game, any more than John Goodman's important catch in the Purdue game.

And Goodman had a better overall season than Brown:
7 catches
159 yds
3 TD's

At least Goodman should have been # 25 on the list.