Tag: Oronde Gadsden II

Early list of the top 2024 NFL draft prospects to watch at key positions

Wer’e taking an early look at the top 2024 NFL draft prospects for the Philadelphia Eagles to watch at key positions

The Eagles are just 22 days from the start of training camp, but it is never too early to look at the 2024 NFL draft.

Next spring will see guaranteed locks like Heisman Trophy Winner Caleb Williams (USC), Marvin Harrison Jr. (Ohio State), Drake Maye (UNC), Joe Alt (Notre Dame), Brock Bowers (UGA), and Olumuviwa Fashanu (Penn State) all battle to round out the top five.

With teams around the league praying to be on the clock, here’s an early of the top 2024 prospects at critical positions.

Know your foe, Syracuse: Which Orangemen could give Notre Dame problems

This one won’t be easy for the Irish

The Irish have yet to host a ranked opponent this year, having to travel away from South Bend each game. This week they face an opponent that is very similar to what they do, play very good defense and have enough offense to get them the win in Syracuse. The Orangemen have plenty of upperclassmen to help them achieve those goals. Find out below which ‘Cuse players could give the Irish problems Saturday afternoon.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Tale of the Tape: Top Receivers – Michael Mayer vs. Oronde Gadsden II

Think Mayer has a shot to win this matchup?

Notre Dame is extremely grateful for [autotag]Michael Mayer[/autotag]. Without the tight end, there’s no telling how worse shape the offense would be in. That’s not to say the Irish have been horrible on offense, but hardly anyone else on that unit has impressed to the point where there is a large group of people saying they look forward to watching them play every week. There must be a bunch of pressure on Mayer on game days.

Syracuse’s leading receiver is Oronde Gadsden II, the son of a former NFL receiver. Perhaps because he’s actually a receiver as opposed to a tight end, he’s been more efficient with his opportunities. While he might not be what an outsider would call spectacular, he’s been a critical piece to the Orange’s success this year. Look for him to give the Irish trouble if the defense is unable to slow down Garrett Shrader’s passing.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Swinney thinks this Syracuse wide receiver is a ‘real problem’

Wide receiver Oronde Gadsden II has been a pillar for the Syracuse offense this season. With the 24-9 win over NC State, Gadsden picked up his third game with more than 100 receiving yards this season. The performance helped him earn the award of …

Wide receiver Oronde Gadsden II has been a pillar for the Syracuse offense this season. With the 24-9 win over NC State, Gadsden picked up his third game with more than 100 receiving yards this season. The performance helped him earn the award of ACC Wide Receiver of the Week.

Under offensive coordinator Robert Anae, Gadsden has been playing more as an inside flex receiver this season, and this position for the sophomore seems to be really meshing well in the Orange’s offensive unit.

“No. 19 [Gadsden] has really come and emerged as their go-to guy,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said on Tuesday. “Gadsden is a big-bodied, slash tight end, receiver type of a guy. He’s a really good player.”

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native has led his team with 507 receiving yards on the season, and in just his second year in the program, he continues to improve each game — which is what deems him as such a threat coming into their matchup against the Tigers.

“The same thing with him, from the start of the season to where he is now, he has really emerged as their guy,” Swinney said. “You see it in their plays calls. You see it in their schemes. They scheme him up in different ways, they’re throwing him touchdowns in the backfield, running back wheel routes, to slot, to the field, they got him everywhere. They do a good job at creating opportunities for him with a lot of back-shoulder balls.”

Swinney emphasized what Gadsden does well is being versatile. Gadsden can make big plays in the end zone in high-pressure situations, and that’s what he’s shown this season. In Syracuse’s win over Purdue, with just seven seconds left on the clock, Gadsden caught a game-winning 25-yard touchdown reception.

Swinney knows this kind of offensive talent in Gadsden, alongside both quarterback Garrett Shrader and Sean Tucker, makes the receiver a “real problem” for the Clemson defense.

“They beat Purdue on the last play, 20 something seconds, one-on-one in the end zone,” Swinney said. “Their guy [Gadsden] was better than Purdue’s guy. So, he’s a real problem.”

It’s not just the talent of the receiver that creates opportunities for the Syracuse offense, but also the continuity and confidence of its offensive line. The offensive line not only plays physical football, but also is riding high on confidence going into this week, which makes them a particular challenge for the Clemson defense.

“The key to them is the guys up front,” Swinney said. “I think this offensive line is playing really good football. Playing together. You can tell they like it and got the mentality.”

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!

Burn This Play: Purdue gives up last-second game-winner with worst possible coverage

Purdue allowed a last-second game-winning touchdown to Syracuse by playing the worst possible coverage for the situation.

We all hate prevent defense. All it prevents, the old saying goes, is winning. But there are times when the best possible thing to do is to roll everybody back, play your defensive backs in the parking lot, and throw any kind of aggressiveness right out the window.

The Purdue Boilermakers had the opportunity to make this decision with seven seconds left in their game with the Syracuse Orange. And it could be said that they failed the decision matrix about as spectacularly as they possibly could. Up 29-25, they played single-high press man with a blitz against quarterback Garrett Shrader, and Shrader knew exactly what to do with that: Throw a game-winning touchdown pass to Oronde Gadsden II.

Which, of course, is exactly what happened.

It could be said that some of the better football minds out there were not happy with the coverage.

Gregg Williams-esque? Verily. This allows us the opportunity to bring up the play that led to Williams’ firing as the Jets’ defensive coordinator. We move back to December 6, 2020. With five seconds left against the Raiders in Week 13, the Jets were trying to pick up their first win of the season, and they were well on their way to doing so. They were up 28-24, and Derek Carr had to get the ball in the end zone from the Jets’ 46-yard line for anything to happen in an impactful sense.

Of course, when your defensive coordinator is Gregg Williams, and you want a guy to call a Cover-0 (no deep safeties) jailbreak blitz just to make sure something good WILL happen for the Raiders… well, you’ve got the right guy.

Yeah, that’s man-across coverage with no deep help and an eight-man blitz against rookie receiver Henry Ruggs Jr. who ran a 4.27 40-yard dash at his scouting combine. Seems less than optimal, but what do we know?

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky was similarly unimpressed with Purdue’s defensive concepts.

While I am not one of the better football minds out there, I will add that the blitz element of this defensive strategy pretty much doomed this thing before it even happened.

And it was not Purdue’s only boneheaded play of the day to Syracuse’s benefit.

Syracuse DT Caleb Okechukwu gets a THICC-SIX touchdown against Purdue

Oh and Purdue also did this.

Syracuse remained undefeated with the 32-29 win, while Purdue dropped to 1-1. And when you give up a gimme touchdown with the worst possible coverage, and you go on a penalty spree at the worst possible time, and you allow a THICC-SIX touchdown by throwing when you shouldn’t, it’s pretty clear that you’re doing everything you can to prevent winning.