Tag: Records

Where Michael Thomas ranks amongst all-time Saints WRs

If the Saints and Michael Thomas are heading toward a split, here’s where the wideout stacks up amongst all-time WRs in franchise history, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

After having reworked his contract, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas looks like he could be on his way out this offseason. That’s a disappointing end to what was an exhilarating opening to the 2022 season in which Thomas played a large role in the Saints mounting their largest come-from-behind victory in franchise history against the Atlanta Falcons. But unfortunately, injuries have continued to mount up for the two-time All-Pro keeping him off the field for the better part of the last three seasons.

When healthy, Thomas is one of the most dominant talents at wideout in the league. He became the first pass-catcher in Saints history to bring in 100 or more receptions in a single season back in 2017 and would then go on to cross the century mark the two seasons following. And famously, in of those seasons (2019) he broke the NFL single-season receptions record with 149. However, since then Thomas has appeared in just 10 games totaling 56 catches for 609 receiving yards. He also has 3 touchdown receptions during that time, but all of them took place in his trio of 2022 games.

If this is it for Thomas, he’ll be remembered as a great Saints player, one of the best receivers to don the black and gold. Even though his injury history may distract from that point here and there. To illustrate just how good Thomas has been for New Orleans despite his relatively short time with the team, here is where he ranks amongst some of the best Saints receivers of all-time:

Seven Tide players mocked to go in the first two rounds of the NFL draft

Crimson Tide expected to dominate the NFL draft yet again!

Despite missing out on the College Football Playoff in 2022, the Alabama Crimson Tide was still one of the most talented teams in the entire country. Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr. have been the consensus top two picks in the 2023 NFL draft for some time now.

It is no secret that the Crimson Tide have dominated the draft, especially under head coach Nick Saban. In April 2023, Saban looks to extend his streak of 41 players selected in the first round and 14 straight years of having a player go on the first day of the draft. What he does in Tuscaloosa continues to be unprecedented.

As for the players, Draftwire predicts seven members of the Crimson Tide to hear their names called in the draft’s first two rounds. Alongside Anderson and Young, Brian Branch and Jahmyr Gibbs are both selected to go in the first round as well.

Despite all of the losses, the expectation in 2023 will still be a national title.

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Notre Dame football: Michael Mayer’s best photos with Fighting Irish

GOAT.

As expected, tight end [autotag]Michael Mayer[/autotag] is headed to the NFL draft.  He’s the most complete tight end in college football, holds just about every possible tight end record one can have at Notre Dame, and is going to make an NFL team really happy when his name is called in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.

Mayer goes down as the most accomplished tight end in Notre Dame history as he sits atop the programs records for receptions, yards, and touchdowns by a player of that position.  Notre Dame has certainly been able to withstand tight end talents moving on to football’s highest level in recent years but let’s not get it confused – you don’t simply replace Michael Mayer in 2023.

The move makes all the sense as what else does he have to prove in college?  Go get the big boy paycheck instead of just NIL money, play for hopefully at least a decade, eventually go back and finish your degree and dominate life the entire time through.

As he sets off to get ready for the NFL draft, let’s take a look back at some of the best photos from Michael Mayer’s career at Notre Dame.

Report: Mark Ingram II likely done for the year with knee injury

Mark Ingram II is likely done for the year with a knee injury. He’s a free agent after in 2023, meaning he may have already played his last game as a Saint:

This is just unfortunate. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram II is out 4 to 6 weeks with a “slight tear of his MCL” in his knee after Monday night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, though the injury won’t require surgery. With just five weeks left in the regular season, odds are Ingram’s year is over. He’s been limited with a knee injury in practice earlier this year, and he recently missed three games due to an MCL strain. It’s unclear whether this is the same knee, but what is certain is that he’ll be out of action for a while.

If that’s the case, he may have already played his last down with the Saints. Ingram’s contract is up after the season and he’ll be a free agent in 2023. There’s no guarantee that the Saints will re-sign him, and there should be enough options out there at running back that other teams will choose to get younger at the position. It would be a tragic, disappointing way for Ingram’s career to close out, but that’s likely where we’re headed.

Still, Ingram has a ton of accomplishments to look back on. He is the Saints’ all-time leader in rushing attempts (1,451), rushing yards (6,500) and touchdown runs (52), while also tacking on 264 receptions for 1,804 receiving yards and 5 touchdown catches with New Orleans. That’s doubly impressive given how much work Ingram put into his skills as a receiver coming out of college.

He also only has 17 fumbles in his Saints career, which ties Mike Strachan for 18th in franchise history. Ingram caught an undeserved reputation as someone who practiced lax ball security early in his career, but the fact is few players have carried the rock as often as Ingram and fumbled less often in Saints history. Of the franchise’s 10 players to log more than 700 rushing attempts, Ingram has the third-lowest rate of carries per fumble at 85.4 (only Alvin Kamara, at 95.9, and Pierre Thomas, at 136.3, are better).

Few running backs — and few players at all, to be blunt about it — have been as dependable and durable for the Saints as Ingram. He’ll turn 33 in a few weeks on Dec. 21 and may have to consider retirement in the months ahead. We’ll see what’s next for him and New Orleans, and while things aren’t ending how anyone would have liked, there’s no other way to look back on his Saints career but as a success.

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NFL great congratulates new Notre Dame record holder

Classy move by a Notre Dame great!

Saturday’s senior day game with Boston College wound up being a blowout of epic proportions for Notre Dame. The Irish dominated from the opening kickoff on the cold and snowy South Bend afternoon.

One of the many highlights came on the final play of the first half. Notre Dame defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey sacked Boston College quarterback Emmett Morehead. It was the 25th career sack by Foskey, a Notre Dame record.

Shortly after, the man who’s record he broke took to Twitter to congratulate Foskey.

Hopefully, a regular-season finale victory at USC is next up for Foskey before a pro career we can all hope is half as great as Tuck’s was.

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Isaiah Foskey becomes Notre Dame’s all-time sacks leader

Congratulations on a new record! Great way to celebrate senior day!

The first half of Notre Dame’s senior day contest against Boston College was as close to perfect as a half could be played.  The final play of the first half was undeniable perfection.

Already trailing 37-0, Boston College dropped back to pass on second down to try and get something going.  The problem with that?  The Eagles nothingness of offense continued as Notre Dame senior defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey put a bow on the first half in record fashion.

Foskey sacked freshman quarterback Emmett Moorehead for a loss of 11 yards an all-time Notre Dame record.  It was Foskey’s 25th career sack which is the most by a single player in the history of the program.

Check out some of the Notre Dame greats over the years who now all look up at Foskey on the all-time sacks list.

A deeper look into how Notre Dame owns the ACC

Notre Dame owns the ACC in football.

My colleague and man I am happy to call a friend Pete Fiutak at College Football News calls what Notre Dame football has with the ACC: “A friends with benefits deal”.  Look, Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake won’t be making a movie about it anytime soon, but it’s impossible to argue against Pete’s point.  Notre Dame keeps their independence while having to play a handful of ACC opponents annually for the foreseeable future.  Benefits indeed!

Listen, I’d rather have traditional rivals Michigan, Michigan State, Pitt, and Purdue on the schedule regularly. Instead we’re treated to regular meetings with Duke, Louisville, Wake Forest, and the sort.  It might not thrill the casual fan but it’s still a lot better than joining a conference full-time.

With the destruction of Clemson just over a week ago and Boston College headed to South Bend this weekend I thought it’d be a good time to take a look at Notre Dame and the ACC.  Notre Dame sits at 7-3 entering Saturday’s date with the Eagles with a 3-0 mark against ACC foes this year.

No. 13 North Carolina, Syracuse, and No. 9 Clemson all have suffered losses at the hands of the Irish this year.  We know nothing is a guarantee with Notre Dame at home this year (see Marshall and Stanford) but the Irish enter this weekend as a three-score favorite.  Win that game and they’ll again sweep the regular season series with the ACC, something they’ve done every year since 2018.

So I was curious – how many regular season wins against ACC teams does Notre Dame have since 2018?  And how does that compare to the rest of the league?

Here is the amount of regular season wins against ACC opponents each ACC team and Notre Dame have accumulated since the start of 2018, starting with the fewest.

Data as of November 15, 2022

Notre Dame’s chances of beating USC drop per ESPN FPI

How the computers see Notre Dame’s chances these final two weeks.

I’m in a love-hate relationship with ESPN’s Football Power Index.  I’ve said it before, will say it again, and rehash it another time or two just to be safe.  I love how it essentially tells you who would be favored if two teams met in a game.  I however can’t stand how it has obvious flaws that can’t seem to get fixed.

For the second year in a row, Texas has disappointed in terms of the national stage yet the 6-4 Longhorns are currently the seventh-rated team on FPI.  That’s one example and there are more but that’s not why you’re here.

FPI gives the chance of winning each remaining game for each team in all of college football.  We have followed this all year long as essentially a thermometer of how Notre Dame is viewed by a system that has no feelings, just formulas.

Here is how FPI sees Notre Dame’s chances in the final two weeks of 2022 and how those compare to what the formula said just a week ago.

Notre Dame football knocking on door of a program scoring record

If Notre Dame scores 35 points Saturday, they’ll accomplish a program feat for just the second time in 134 football seasons.

Notre Dame’s offense has been a trial in patience for most Fighting Irish fans this fall.  A slow start that featured losses against Ohio State and Marshall saw very few signs of life from the offense while even in wins along the way, there were headaches and issues.

Yet here we are in mid-November and the Notre Dame offense is on the cusp of doing something only done once in program history.

It hasn’t always felt great but without looking do you realize Notre Dame has scored 35 or more points each of the last four games?  Now let’s not kid ourselves, special teams and defense have both played an important role in those.

However, if Notre Dame scores 35 or more points against Boston College they’ll do so for the fifth-straight game, something that has only been accomplished once in the 134 seasons of Notre Dame football.

And if they can possibly do it twice to close the year it’ll be a first in program history.  Just in reading that tweet this morning and thinking about it a little it feels perfectly symbolic of Notre Dame football in 2022: you can try to explain it but it’s probably a lot better for your mental health if you don’t.

Here is a quick summary of each time Notre Dame has scored 35 or more points in four-straight games in a single season. You’re going to want to see the names of opponents and scores from some of the 1912 and 1900 seasons.  Oh how times have changed.

Notre Dame blocks yet another punt: Twitter reacts to insane Irish special teams

It was already insane. This is light years beyond that at this point.

It’s remarkable how quickly Notre Dame has gone from being a place where the special teams philosophy appeared to be “just don’t screw up” to a place where opponent’s punts are must-watch television.  That’s the case for the Irish under special teams coordinator Brian Mason however on Saturday they blocked yet another opponent’s punt.

This was their seventh blocked punt of the season which extends the school record.  It was also their fifth-straight game blocking a punt.  Honestly, watching Notre Dame go after a punt is like it was as a Bears fan when Devin Hester was getting ready to return a kick.  You can’t turn away because there is a significant chance, not just a possibility, that something special is about to happen.

Here’s how the college football world reacted to the latest blocked punt by the Irish on Twitter today.