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Joesph

Naive. Only Brandon can take his game to the next level. What the people around him can do is mask his weaknesses. His NU teammates and coaches were able to do that in 2020 but not in 2021. Brandon took the easy way out because it was more expedient to find a program where his weaknesses could once again be masked than to put in the work necessary to truly become a great all around safety. That’s disappointing for me to see.
Wrong! Even the best players need good players and coaches around them to be successful. It's hard to shine on a terrible defense when opposing QB has all day to throw, and teams can run the ball at will against the front 7. Joseph will likely improve significantly on a very good ND defense with very good coaches.
#Let's go Brandon
 
Any Safety that plays in Marcus Freeman’s defense will be expected to tackle. He, and Mike Mickens, both ask a lot from their Safties. They are always going downhill & playing in the box.
So I wouldn’t say Joseph is running or hiding.
 
I'm sure that the NFL scouts and executives have such high praise for JON's defense that they feel view it as the litmus test for player's readiness.
The tape doesn't lie. Defensive coaches and schemes don't miss tackles, take wrong angles or refuse to tackle ballcarriers above the ankles. Believe it or not, players do that all by themselves.
 
NFL scouts always confer with corbi the Football Knower before making any assessments

LOL, the tape doesn't lie. Brandon didn't declare for the NFL draft. That's all the confirmation that is needed.
 
LOL, the tape doesn't lie. Brandon didn't declare for the NFL draft. That's all the confirmation that is needed.
Why would he?
It’s a really strong Safety class. A 3rd round pick makes a couple of million per-tax, which goes up to double that in the 2nd round & triple to quadruple in the 1st round.
Smarter for him to play another year & move up a round & set himself up.
 
Why would he?
It’s a really strong Safety class. A 3rd round pick makes a couple of million per-tax, which goes up to double that in the 2nd round & triple to quadruple in the 1st round.
Smarter for him to play another year & move up a round & set himself up.
First of all, it's not that great of a safety class. Other than Hamilton there is no clear first round safety prospect. Secondly, Brandon entered the portal the day after the NFL Advisory Committee sent out their evaluations to underclassmen that had requested them. Had they given him a first or second day grade, he would not be heading to ND, he would have declared. He is a 3rd day pick right now and will stay that way unless he shows he is a willing and able player in run support.
 
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First of all, it's not that great of a safety class. Other than Hamilton there is no clear first round safety prospect. Secondly, Brandon entered the portal the day after the NFL Advisory Committee sent out their evaluations to underclassmen that had requested them. Had they given him a first or second day grade, he would not be heading to ND, he would have declared. He is a 3rd day pick right now and will stay that way unless he shows he is a willing and able player in run support.
Brandon Joseph has averaged more tackles per game the last two years than Kyle Hamilton. Brandon Joseph ranked 45th amongst all DBs this year in total tackles per game this year so you can knock off the “willing and able” shit. He certainly can improve, especially on angles, and he feels like playing for Marcus Freeman gives him a better chance than playing in a scheme cooked up by noted failure Jim O’Neil. When you have backs running through the DLine and LBs untouched it makes the job of a safety significantly harder so I’m not sure why anyone that is putting tape together would want to play for our defense again.
 
You can have the last word for the next 11 months. Then, one of us can have a plate of crow. I bet he lights it up over there.
I think so, too (just like Ben)

Brandon is very talented player and gets to play under the tutelage of a great young defensive staff. I’d bank on uptick in production as well.

I get that most here dislike Notre Dame, but the (sour) grapes are old and have turned to whine.

Best of luck to Joseph.
 
I mean Corbi has a decent point, and others (including me) observed that BJo missed a good number of tackles this past year as well. It was pretty noticeable from the Michigan game onward - too many times where he made an aggressive move downhill and then totally whiffed. BJo was still great in coverage last year, and I Corbi is taking unnecessary shots at the kid for justifiably wanting to leave to get to a place where he can better improve his NFL draft prospects in a better defensive scheme, but there is merit to his observation.

I am with phatcat in that I wish we had moved on from JON after 1 year, if we had we might still have BJo on our roster. For now though, I guess I will hope for drastic defensive improvement in year 2 under his leadership.
The missed tackles were certainly an issue in 2021, but data has shown that stat can vary greatly from year to year. Very similar to drop rates for WRs.

Scheme/positioning/weather/factors less related to actual the play of the individual can lead to higher missed tackle rates. Due to football being a small sample size game, anyone critiquing Joseph’s effort/heart due to missed tackles (imho) is WAY off base. The blame should rightly be placed at the feet of Jim O’Neil and his track record of ineffective coaching.

Brandon showed quite a bit in his time at NU. Even if the ‘Cats rebound on defense in 2022 (hard to imagine it getting any worse), they will miss a player like Joseph when matched up against the more talented rosters in the conference.
 
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First of all, it's not that great of a safety class. Other than Hamilton there is no clear first round safety prospect. Secondly, Brandon entered the portal the day after the NFL Advisory Committee sent out their evaluations to underclassmen that had requested them. Had they given him a first or second day grade, he would not be heading to ND, he would have declared. He is a 3rd day pick right now and will stay that way unless he shows he is a willing and able player in run support.
He needs to show more than that Corbi. Right now he’s too small for his game speed and too slow for his limited size for the NFL. If he had the physical tools of a top 100 draft choice, he would probably be a better, more consistent tackler and have chosen to declare.

Coaches don’t make a top NFL draft choice. Schemes and better rosters are largely meaningless. Only God and hard work can put you in the rarified air of being a top 100 draft choice. Without His help, all the coaching, schemes and hard work in the world won’t bridge the gap.

Good luck to the young man.

GOUNUII
 
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Good luck to Joseph in his future endeavors, but ND could take a step back next year. Don't know absolutely what situation ND will be in. However, although popular, their new head coach has no previous head coaching experience. From what I hear, ND felt pressured to select a permanent head coach when they still had the possibility of making the college football playoff because having an "interim" coach might have been a slight ding in CFP committee evaluations which consider a team missing key personnel (coach or player). Again, Notre Dame does retain some key staff and players for 2022, but I don't know if joining a program with non-established head coach and quarterback change is the best situation if the supporting cast to get you better is part of the evaluation.


Who knows if Marcus Freeman will be a Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma) or Ryan Day (Ohio State) in being a young first time college head coach to lead an elite program by continuing to maintain their predecessor's excellence or if Freeman will falter like Jimmy Lake (Washington) or Gerry Faust (Notre Dame - when hired the 45-year old Faust had high school coaching experience only).
 
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Freeman was talked about as a candidate by columnists before the ND opening. While not for a school at the level of, say, Florida or USC, he would have probably gotten a job if he wanted to move on at a school like Washington State or someplace like that.
 
Brandon Joseph has averaged more tackles per game the last two years than Kyle Hamilton. Brandon Joseph ranked 45th amongst all DBs this year in total tackles per game this year so you can knock off the “willing and able” shit. He certainly can improve, especially on angles, and he feels like playing for Marcus Freeman gives him a better chance than playing in a scheme cooked up by noted failure Jim O’Neil. When you have backs running through the DLine and LBs untouched it makes the job of a safety significantly harder so I’m not sure why anyone that is putting tape together would want to play for our defense again.
Hey kappa, offset the wager to gonu
Condition: His new name can't have any of the following letters: c, k, g, o, n, u.
Let's go, gonu!!!
 
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I hope things work out for Joseph. ND does not take a lot of transfers, so safe to say that they are bullish on Joseph and have a need after losing Hamilton. I cannot blame Joseph for trying to give himself a better opportunity in life. That is the American Way, and always should be. Best wishes to him.

Now that unfettered free agency has hit college football, it has become a game of musical chairs, at least for the QB position. It is unusual for a starter to transfer, but we have seen a few. After an initial few years of lots activity, I think the portal calms down for underclassmen. 3,000 guys in the portal is fairly nuts right now.
 
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Good luck to Joseph in his future endeavors, but ND could take a step back next year. Don't know absolutely what situation ND will be in. However, although popular, their new head coach has no previous head coaching experience. From what I hear, ND felt pressured to select a permanent head coach when they still had the possibility of making the college football playoff because having an "interim" coach might have been a slight ding in CFP committee evaluations which consider a team missing key personnel (coach or player). Again, Notre Dame does retain some key staff and players for 2022, but I don't know if joining a program with non-established head coach and quarterback change is the best situation if the supporting cast to get you better is part of the evaluation.


Who knows if Marcus Freeman will be a Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma) or Ryan Day (Ohio State) in being a young first time college head coach to lead an elite program by continuing to maintain their predecessor's excellence or if Freeman will falter like Jimmy Lake (Washington) or Gerry Faust (Notre Dame - when hired the 45-year old Faust had high school coaching experience only).
As for his surrounding cast on defense, both DE Foskey & DT Ademilola announced they are coming back yesterday, and both were expected to be early round draft choices.
The other Ademilola announced he was also coming back, and the other starting Safety (Houston Griffith) also announced he was coming back.
Only player who is leaving is WR Austin, and all the other guys announced they are coming back other than Hamilton & Kyren Williams obviously.
Hamilton played less than half the season (injury), so the entire two-deep on defense will be back minus two DL.
ND loses Coan, Williams, Austin & Madden on offense out of the entire two-deep.
So ND will return a lot next year on both sides of the ball, but have a tough schedule.
 
Freeman was talked about as a candidate by columnists before the ND opening. While not for a school at the level of, say, Florida or USC, he would have probably gotten a job if he wanted to move on at a school like Washington State or someplace like that.
He turned down Duke (confirmed) and two other P5 HC jobs (not confirmed), along with G5 jobs.
 
He could have just as easily done that at NU. The part I like the least about all this is the implication, which with Joseph's statement is not even subtle anymore, that Brandon attributes his sub par draft evaluation to not being surrounded by great teammates and coaches at NU. Not only is that inaccurate but I find it offensive. A backhanded, low class move in my opinion.
The NIL issue I know for a fact from the inside. He wasn't going to be able to do that at NU. He also raised his profile and his draft stock by moving to a national level defense. Whatever his playing weaknesses, playing on one of the worst defenses in the nation last year wasn't helping him at all. It hurts me when any of our players leave before graduating, given the fact that we tout that the NU degree is worth a lot. However, I feel the calculus has changed now with NIL - big players can get paid in college and the first or second rounders who can do their tenure in the NFL can probably make as much over a lifetime as the average NU graduate (I don't have numbers to support this, just a back of the napkin calculation).

Was it low-class? I don't think so, but can see why you do. It was a move to get him more exposure and a bigger payday - and that's in his self interest and what matters to him. Ultimately, it was on us and our coaching staff because we didn't offer a better option. Would he have stayed if Hank was still around and our D was top 10? We will never know.

We say we offer it all - a top 10 education and a top 10 team. I know that was used in our recruiting. We lost the top 10 team, and the top 10 education is becoming less of a factor in today's world. I fear we will not hit the big-time in this new world, unless we also change our calculus.
 
In the DC's defense on this one, if we didn't have our safeties provide run support then we were getting torched up front last year. Now that might be in part because the run fits in the front 7 were hurt by over-complicated or ineffective scheme, but it also was in part that our front 7 was just getting beaten. When that happens, you need your safeties to help. Also, in that situation BJo was being wasted sitting back in high coverage all day with no one throwing near him - trying to find other ways for him make an impact on the game sounds like a smart idea to me.
I don't disagree. But he was an ALL-AMERICAN playing ball hawk. Meaning he wasn't just good, he was the best. It would behoove him to find a defense that can support and showcase those talents while perhaps working on what corbi is pointing out on tackling and angles.

I would say it was more than just 'in part' because of the scheming. We were misfitting gaps all year long. For me, the proof was going from a top 10 D under Hank to a bottom D the following year. Those types of drops don't just happen in a single year with just inexperience or loss of talent. They also happen with bad scheming/coaching, which we saw all year. We arguably have the smartest players in all of major college football, and Hank had us cranking for all those years. The simplest conclusion is that it was the coaching change. I hope I'm proven wrong. If we win the B1G west again next year, I'll take that as evidence that it was simply a learning curve. Anything short of that and I believe we have taken some big steps backward.
 
Naive. Only Brandon can take his game to the next level. What the people around him can do is mask his weaknesses. His NU teammates and coaches were able to do that in 2020 but not in 2021. Brandon took the easy way out because it was more expedient to find a program where his weaknesses could once again be masked than to put in the work necessary to truly become a great all around safety. That’s disappointing for me to see.
He makes a great point about the quality of the defense--NU is now one of the worst--no disputing that. Maybe, just maybe they will play him to make use of his strength, which was the case when he was so productive?
 
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I don't disagree. But he was an ALL-AMERICAN playing ball hawk. Meaning he wasn't just good, he was the best. It would behoove him to find a defense that can support and showcase those talents while perhaps working on what corbi is pointing out on tackling and angles.

I would say it was more than just 'in part' because of the scheming. We were misfitting gaps all year long. For me, the proof was going from a top 10 D under Hank to a bottom D the following year. Those types of drops don't just happen in a single year with just inexperience or loss of talent. They also happen with bad scheming/coaching, which we saw all year. We arguably have the smartest players in all of major college football, and Hank had us cranking for all those years. The simplest conclusion is that it was the coaching change. I hope I'm proven wrong. If we win the B1G west again next year, I'll take that as evidence that it was simply a learning curve. Anything short of that and I believe we have taken some big steps backward.
The best, most productive college players often have little chance of making it in the NFL. We need look no further than our own HC to see the best example of that. Or look more recently at Austin Carr. Nearly unstoppable and the BIG's WR of the year as a senior who went undrafted and has been at best a fringe NFL player.

The NFL doesn't care about college accolades. At all. What drives the entire draft is identifying and then projecting those who have the physical attributes and demonstrated capacity to make plays in competition against the fastest, most powerful and otherwise gifted athletes in the world.

GOUNUII
 
The NIL issue I know for a fact from the inside. He wasn't going to be able to do that at NU. He also raised his profile and his draft stock by moving to a national level defense. Whatever his playing weaknesses, playing on one of the worst defenses in the nation last year wasn't helping him at all. It hurts me when any of our players leave before graduating, given the fact that we tout that the NU degree is worth a lot. However, I feel the calculus has changed now with NIL - big players can get paid in college and the first or second rounders who can do their tenure in the NFL can probably make as much over a lifetime as the average NU graduate (I don't have numbers to support this, just a back of the napkin calculation).

Was it low-class? I don't think so, but can see why you do. It was a move to get him more exposure and a bigger payday - and that's in his self interest and what matters to him. Ultimately, it was on us and our coaching staff because we didn't offer a better option. Would he have stayed if Hank was still around and our D was top 10? We will never know.

We say we offer it all - a top 10 education and a top 10 team. I know that was used in our recruiting. We lost the top 10 team, and the top 10 education is becoming less of a factor in today's world. I fear we will not hit the big-time in this new world, unless we also change our calculus.
It is beyond me why anyone would get upset about a transfer in post NIL football. With huge numbers of players putting themselves out there for a payday, I would expect a lot of mid-undergraduate-career transfers as SOP. It is just business. Nothing personal. ‘Team‘ doesn’t mean anything beyond a single season.

Sadly, NU has very few players on the roster who could dangle their names into the payoff pond and get a good high dollar catch. Brandon was one of them.
 
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The best, most productive college players often have little chance of making it in the NFL.

GOUNUII
Whether this is true or not is irrelevant to the transfer at hand. Everyone of those best players *believed* they could make it in the NFL and acted accordingly. Maximizing his chances, which means doing what he did and shedding us, was the best move for Brandon given that belief.
 
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Whether this is true or not is irrelevant to the transfer at hand. Everyone of those best players *believed* they could make it in the NFL and acted accordingly. Maximizing his chances, which means doing what he did and shedding us, was the best move for Brandon given that belief.
Do YOU believe Joseph’s chances of getting drafted in the NFL have improved by transferring to ND? If so, why?
 
Do YOU believe Joseph’s chances of getting drafted in the NFL have improved by transferring to ND? If so, why?
To paraphrase you, it doesn't matter what I think. It matters what he thinks. I know for a fact that one of the reasons that factored into his decision was NIL. The rest if it is just speculation we do to keep ourselves entertained.
 
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To paraphrase you, it doesn't matter what I think. It matters what he thinks. I know for a fact that one of the reasons that factored into his decision was NIL. The rest if it is just speculation we do to keep ourselves entertained.
I can’t speak to the NIL angle but I can tell you his motivation for leaving NU and entering the portal was an erroneous belief that he needed to leave NU to improve his draft stock. I’ll say again, it’s no coincidence he entered the portal the day after receiving his evaluation from the NFL Draft Advisory Committee. What other factors he considered to decide on ND after they became an option once he was in the portal is not relevant to the point I am making.
 
I can’t speak to the NIL angle but I can tell you his motivation for leaving NU and entering the portal was an erroneous belief that he needed to leave NU to improve his draft stock. I’ll say again, it’s no coincidence he entered the portal the day after receiving his evaluation from the NFL Draft Advisory Committee. What other factors he considered to decide on ND after they became an option once he was in the portal is not relevant to the point I am making.
He said it in his statement. He wants to play on a decent defense.
 
I can tell you his motivation for leaving NU and entering the portal was an erroneous belief that he needed to leave NU to improve his draft stock
The hubris it takes to write a statement like this is astounding. To think that corbi, a know nothing who has never been involved in football in a professional capacity, who doesn’t do anything more than watch football on tv and talk shit on the internet, understands better than the player himself on what he needs to do for his professional career. LMAO
 
I can’t speak to the NIL angle but I can tell you his motivation for leaving NU and entering the portal was an erroneous belief that he needed to leave NU to improve his draft stock. I’ll say again, it’s no coincidence he entered the portal the day after receiving his evaluation from the NFL Draft Advisory Committee. What other factors he considered to decide on ND after they became an option once he was in the portal is not relevant to the point I am making.
It's his decision and his future. Whether you believe he made the right or wrong decision is irrelevant.

What matters to our program, the one I support with fervor, is how does this affect it? I believe it will effect it deleteriously because it doesn't look good. Optics are often reality these days. We don't have a lot of names up on that wall - when one decides to leave before getting his degree, I believe it reflects negatively on the program to those looking from the outside. I believe that even more so given the circumstances of the last season.
 
Do YOU believe Joseph’s chances of getting drafted in the NFL have improved by transferring to ND? If so, why?
I’ll wade back into this conversation because this thread seems somewhat less horrible:
To answer your basic question, no, because he was very likely to get drafted anyway, but I do think it marginally improved his odds of moving up materially in the draft. Notre Dame is a lot less likely to have a hideous front seven next year than NU is, and that could help him a fair bit. Even if B Jo doesn’t improve much, a good front seven could allow him to showcase his strengths more which could move him up a bit. Not to a top pick, but something like from the seventh to the fifth round kind of thing. I also think it’s likely easier to showcase improved play vs the run if his job is simpler. If he has very limited and simple responsibilities against the run, it’s a lot easier to focus on that and show good production in that simple role than it would be if he’s required to carry a massive two way lift again. That could move him up further.

Of course, it’s possible he could do all that at NU so it’s no guarantee, but I do think taking the possibility of another year with horrible, slow LBs in front of him and a terrible D Line takes a lot of downside off the table and allows him to focus on specifically what he needs to do and not have all the other struggles to deal with.

I don’t think it’s a huge difference or a guarantee though.

It’s also sadly likely an immediate NIL boon. NU needs to get on top of this or we’re going to get bulldozed by it.
 
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Don't necessarily blame Joseph for leaving if he thinks it's in his best interest, but anyplace but South Bend.

Oh well...

Speaking of the Domers, my fear is that Freeman will be an upgrade for them over the screamer.
 
I do not blame BJ for the move, if he believed it would highlight his strengths and minimize his weaknesses being exposed. If he believes there were better possibilities of NIL endorsements that would also explain his decision. I believe it is a positive decision in the short term and possibly the long term for him

Here is an example that may make it easier to understand his decision. If you had the choice of attending Princeton, Duke, or in state Virginia, which school would you choose ? Now consider the decision if you had a $200-300 K college fund that you could keep the remaining money, depending on your decision. Now which school would you choose ? My son at age 18 had to make that decision
 
I do not blame BJ for the move, if he believed it would highlight his strengths and minimize his weaknesses being exposed. If he believes there were better possibilities of NIL endorsements that would also explain his decision. I believe it is a positive decision in the short term and possibly the long term for him

Here is an example that may make it easier to understand his decision. If you had the choice of attending Princeton, Duke, or in state Virginia, which school would you choose ? Now consider the decision if you had a $200-300 K college fund that you could keep the remaining money, depending on your decision. Now which school would you choose ? My son at age 18 had to make that decision
Is this Facebook? Princeton, hands down.
 
Joseph is absolutely making the right decision.

With Notre Dame, he’ll be in a competent defensive system, and his team will often be in the lead, and he’ll have the ability to show off what is the most dynamic part of his game (in-air ball skills).

With Northwestern, he’ll be in run support all season because the opposition doesn’t need to pass.

For what it’s worth, Joseph showed in a handful of chances that he is capable as a returner. Notre Dame isn’t afraid to let their returners return the ball (I assume, I haven’t verified).

I wish him the best. As others have said, perception is reality and it’s a bad, bad sign for the health of the program when a guy with his name on the building decides he has better chances to grow elsewhere.
 
Joseph is absolutely making the right decision.

With Notre Dame, he’ll be in a competent defensive system, and his team will often be in the lead, and he’ll have the ability to show off what is the most dynamic part of his game (in-air ball skills).

With Northwestern, he’ll be in run support all season because the opposition doesn’t need to pass.

For what it’s worth, Joseph showed in a handful of chances that he is capable as a returner. Notre Dame isn’t afraid to let their returners return the ball (I assume, I haven’t verified).

I wish him the best. As others have said, perception is reality and it’s a bad, bad sign for the health of the program when a guy with his name on the building decides he has better chances to grow elsewhere.
Agreed, and he is not the first Canary.
 
I can’t speak to the NIL angle but I can tell you his motivation for leaving NU and entering the portal was an erroneous belief that he needed to leave NU to improve his draft stock. I’ll say again, it’s no coincidence he entered the portal the day after receiving his evaluation from the NFL Draft Advisory Committee. What other factors he considered to decide on ND after they became an option once he was in the portal is not relevant to the point I am making.
I agree with every word of this post but one. Erroneous. Let's say the young man was entirely clear-headed and accepts the Corbi definition of his failure to perform at 1st/2nd round level this year. Now, I personally feel that a large part of this was JON's direction and defense, but let's say he just did poorly in his expanded role. When I say poorly, I mean now he is in UDFA level. So - he knows he needs to improve....

What would you do, give JON another year? Not me, I'd be outta there.
 
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