The 36 Chambers have been opened and now we need only wait a little over 2 weeks before they are unleashed on the enemy. I wanted to take a moment and give you an overview of the 36 Chambers and break it down a little bit. For reference purposes, here are the links to the 18 separate posts:Chambers 1&2, Chambers 3&4, Chambers 5&6, Chambers 7&8, Chambers 9&10, Chambers 11&12, Chambers 13&14, Chambers 15&16, Chambers 17&18, Chambers 19&20, Chambers 21&22 , Chambers 23&24, Chambers 25&26, Chambers 27&28 Chambers 29&30 Chambers 31&32 Chambers 33&34 and Chambers 35&36.
Before I get into the overview, let me take this moment to explain what this list is once again. I do not believe in depth charts as most see them. There is a wider number of players that impact a team, than what the starting 11 on each side of the ball offer. So for me to sit here and just list of the 22 gameday starters, would isolate quite a few players that will decide victories and losses for the Irish. This list is a tally of those 36 players that I believe will make the most impact on the season as whole. Why 36? It fits with the Wu-Tang theme that I love so much. It would have been A LOT easier to stop at around 30, because the last 6 players (not the last 6 I posted, but the last 6 on my personal list) were toss ups with other players. I ‘ll talk more about this in a moment.
Quick sidenote… I list a player in what class they are ACADEMICALLY in, and not in what year of eligibility that they reside. Big difference.
Here is an overview of the 2010 Wu Am I list, as well as a quick look back at the 2009 list:
2009
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2 FRESHMAN: Jordan Cowart, Manti Te’o - 10 SOPHOMORES: Trevor Robinson, Kyle Rudolph, Michael Floyd, Kapron Lewis-Moore, Hafis Williams, Brandon Newman, Darius Flemming, Robert Blanton, John Goodman, Ethan Johnson
- 11 JUNIORS: Jimmy Clausen, Mike Ragone, Robert Hughes, Armando Allen, Golden Tate, Duval Kamara, Brandon Walker, Ian Williams, Kerry Neal, Brian Smith, Harrison Smith
- 9 SENIORS: Dan Wenger, Chris Stewart, Eric Olsen, Sam Young, James Aldridge, Toryan Smith, Darrin Walls, Raeshon McNeil, Sergio Brown
- 4 5th YEARS: Mike Anello, Scott Smith, Kyle McCarthy, Paul Duncan
There are some obvious misses in this list. The two that stand-out the most are in the sophomore class- which is generally the hardest class to predict. Newman, Goodman, and Williams never were big impact guys, although you could make a small case for Goodman.The list had 12/36 players in the sophomore and freshman class. 33% of the listed players were freshman or sophomore. That isn’t the best number to have heading into a season.
The senior class is right behind the sophomores in picking out impact players. There are always a few that are reaches, and sadly Aldridge, T. Smith, Wenger, and in some respect Sergio Brown were reaches.
2010
1 FRESHMAN: Tai-ler Jones- 8 SOPHOMORES: Manti Te’o, Theo Riddick, Shaq Evans, Cierre Wood, Ben Turk, Nick Tausch, Carlo Calabrese, Zach Martin
- 14 JUNIORS: Michael Floyd, Kyle Rudolph, Dayne Crist, Robert Blanton, Jonas Gray, Jamoris Slaughter, Darius Fleming, Steve Filer, Braxston Cave, Anthony McDonald, John Goodman, Kapron Lewis-Moore, Ethan Johnson, Trevor Robinson
- 10 SENIORS: Gary Gray, Armando Allen, Duval Kamara, Harrison Smith, Robert Hughes, Brian Smith, Taylor Dever, Mike Ragone, Emeka Nwankwo, Ian Williams
- 3 5th YEARS: Chris Stewart, Dan Wenger, Darrin Walls
As usual, I am already doubting myself on a few choices. This list was made almost immediately after spring ball, and I only changed it twice- and that was after a majority of posts and once fall camp started.
The numbers didn’t change much as the classes transitioned from 2009 to 2010. The 14 Juniors listed accounts for 39% of the total- which is a large number for any class. This Junior class was ranked as the #1 recruiting class in the country, and that should bear even more fruit this year. Two players dropped out (Hafis Williams & Brandon Newman) while 6 stepped up to the table.
The sophomore class is at its lowest total since I have been doing this in 2008. Of the 8 sophomores listed, two of them are “kickers” so if you took them out of the equation (they would probably be filled by a junior and a senior) that would leave us with only 6 sophomores and one freshman. The lower those two classes are… the better.
In all sincerity, this thing is a pretty big crapshoot. I am unsure on how the new staff will rotate players. Under Weis, you just had a better sense of who was going to play, so these lists were a bit easier to make.
There are some that are MIA from the Clan for one reason or another. I am almost certain that a few of these guys will have me eating dog shit before the end of the season. One can only hope. Here are the guys that just missed the cut:
- Kerry Neal
- Andrew Nuss
- Tyler Eifert
- Zeke Motta
- Deion Walker
- Matt Romine
Thanks again for following the Wu Am I series on Subway Domer. Here is one last video as we part ways. Go Irish, motherfuckers!
