Position Analysis: Quarterback
by: IrishFan
July 23, 1999

I figured I would do the quarterback positional analysis first because it is the easiest. Everyone knows who the starter will be, there is absolutely no question about it. Jarious Jackson will be the QB who Notre Dame hangs any hopes of a national title on in 99.

There are a few questions surrounding Jarious though. Has his knee fully recovered? Will his play be affected by the injury? Will the injury make him a little more cautious while he's playing? These are all questions that will be answered during summer drills. There are/were rumors circulating around the net that Jarious' knee is not totally recovered. As of now they are just that, rumors. We haven't heard from any one that he is not totally well.

The question still remains though, will this affect his play. We will have to wait and find out. Every time a player gets an injury, especially severe ones, it tends to make them more cautious. A running back might be afraid to cut back hard, a wide receiver may be afraid to lay out for a pass over the middle, or a quarterback may be afraid to scramble around. Just from watching Jarious play and from the things I have heard and read about him I don't think he will be afraid to scramble around at all.

If you think back to the 1st half of the Gator Bowl, Jarious was tentative at first, but in the second half put the injury behind him an concentrated only on the game. Jarious is smart enough to know he can't think about the injury much when he plays and is mentally tough enough to put it out of his mind.

Jarious will put up some big numbers for a Notre Dame quarterback. Notice I say Notre Dame quarterback. His stats probably won't put him into Heisman contention even though he means more to his team than just about anyone else in the country. I expect Jarious to throw for over 2,000 yards with close to 20 TDs, but I think 15-17 is more likely.

As for the rest of the QB's? Arnez Battle will be the back up. Arnez is the key to the future for Notre Dame and his development this year will have a lot to do with a possible title run in 2000, like many experts are saying. Kevin Rogers will work with Arnez a lot this season, and Arnez should see a lot more time in 99 than he did in 98. Arnez is going to have to make huge strides this year because he will be starting in 2000. He will develop nicely under Rogers and should take the torch from Jarious without any problem.

Eric Chappell will be the third string QB in 99. He had his chance to show us all his skills but it was clear he wasn't ready last year. He had only throw 1 collegiate pass before he was throw at the lions, well in this case the Trojans. Look for Eric to see some playing time also in 99 since he will most likely be the back up in 2000. He has a 5th year of eligibility left and will most likely take it.

Notre Dame is in great shape with quarterbacks this year. Last year when Jarious went down, ND was in serious trouble and lost the chance of getting 11 million from a BCS game. Rogers will have his backups more prepared in 99 than Jim Colletto did in 98. Even though I won't feel comfortable if Jarious goes down with Arnez as the starter (at least for this year), I will not panic about it.

Again, these are my humble opinions.. Feel free to argue/agree with them by emailing me at IrishFan@uhnd.com