Everyone knew there would be a quarterback competition at Notre Dame heading into the fall. How many knew it would be between redshirt freshman DeShone Kizer and incoming true freshman Brandon Wimbush is the true question.
The departure of Everett Golson to Florida State via the graduate transfer rule upended the balance of Notre Dame’s depth chart at quarterback. Suddenly, Malik Zaire sits alone at the top while his future backup remains unclear. But Wimbush, who will arrive to campus in June, is preparing himself for the increased timetable.
“I was really shocked,” Wimbush said to the media upon hearing word of Golson’s transfer. “I had the mindset of coming in and redshirting and being able to learn and get acclimated for a year. With [Golson’s transfer], my mind changed immediately.”
Now that the battle lines are drawn, it’s time to get better acquainted with the combatants.
QB, DeShone Kizer
The six-foot-four-inch, 230 pound Toledo, OH native was a 4-star recruit rated as the No. 9 dual-threat quarterback in the nation coming out of high school, and held offers from the likes of Alabama, LSU and Michigan State. According to head coach Brian Kelly, Kizer’s signing represented a turning point within Notre Dame’s program.
“[DeShone’s] going to be able to do the multidimensional things that we love,” Kelly said after receiving Kizer’s signed letter of intent on National Signing Day. “All three of the quarterbacks, we finally – all do the same things.”
Though listed as a 4-star, Kizer’s skill set was closer to the 3-star side of the spectrum than the 5-star coming out of high school, but was still a coveted prospect due to his high ceiling. The former Toledo Central Catholic standout possesses a large frame as well as mobility, and though he didn’t produce eye-popping numbers in high school, his status as a multisport athlete led some analysts to label Kizer as a raw prospect with huge upside once fully focused on football.
The downside to Kizer’s game can be found in his inconsistency. He arrived to South Bend needing to improve his footwork, which is largely responsible for his occasionally inaccurate throws. And through no fault of his own, Kizer’s opportunity to improve was stunted due to the quarterback competition between Golson and Zaire, leaving DeShone with very limited practice repetitions.
QB, Brandon Wimbush
Wimbush, a six-foot-one inch, 212 pound native of Jersey City, NJ was a 4-star recruit tabbed as the No. 4 dual-threat quarterback in the country this past recruiting cycle. His talent led some of the nation’s best programs – such as Alabama, LSU and Ohio State – to offer scholarships and was impressive enough that Kelly launched a full press to successfully poach Wimbush from the list of Penn State commitments.
“As a quarterback you have to have a presence, and he has an incredible presence and a leadership about him where he makes others around him better,” Kelly said about his most recent quarterback signee. “He lights up the room. He’s a thermometer guy.”
While Kelly may praise Wimbush’s leadership potential, his physical ability shined during his senior year at St. Peter’s Prep where he completed 76-percent of his passing attempts with 22 touchdowns compared to one lone interception. The New Jersey prep star also showcased his dual-threat ability by averaging over 11 yards per carry on the ground. Those physical tools earned him praise during practice week at this year’s Under Armour All-America game, where analysts raved about his lively arm strength.
Though it’s difficult to determine a “downside” to Wimbush’s ability prior to his enrollment at Notre Dame, Wimbush did struggle during the actual Under Armour All-America all-star game. He completed only three of his six passing attempts for 44 yards and one interception, appearing uncomfortable with the increased speed of the competition.
True freshman Brandon Wimbush may be more physically gifted and college-ready coming out of high school than DeShone Kizer was, but Kizer has the added benefit of one full year within Kelly’s system, even if Kizer has lacked practice repetitions to date.
Overall, Kelly would undoubtedly still prefer to redshirt Wimbush his first year on campus. Preserving a year of eligibility creates extra separation between Zaire (three years of eligibility) and Kizer (four years of eligibility) as well as providing needed stability to the position. Wimbush besting Kizer for the No. 2 spot this early could make Kizer a transfer risk, which would be a major setback for Notre Dame’s depth chart as Kelly and staff’s main quarterback target for this recruiting cycle, Dwayne Haskins, committed to Maryland just recently. Despite the benefits of Kizer securing the backup position behind Zaire, Kelly will allow the competition to settle itself, and if Wimbush is the better option, he’ll get the nod.
Notre Dame fans that were looking for a quarterback competition to track this fall will still have one – just not the one they expected.
Scott Janssen is a blogger for the Huffington Post and has written several nationally-featured articles, including an appearance on MSNBC as a sports contributor. He talks football 24 hours a day, much to the chagrin of his wife and those around him. Scott can be reached at scottjanssenhp@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter.
#dammitgunnarwhydidyoutransfer
I swear to god… Bruce Johnson is the most brilliant troll ever.
Any realtion to Chuck Johnson?
did golson ever watch: knute rockne, all american?
Guys, I wasn’t declaring Kizer a bust. There was an earlier article and some posters seemed to be writing off Kizer based solely off spring practice. I agree with you guys. We’re no where near declaring Kizer a bust, but it seemed some fans are hitting the panic button already.
I have no doubt Wimbush will be thrust into the competition early. Kizer is a good back-up when given ample time to perform which has not been the case. Holding him back will show now. I am always miffed by the lack of complete developing of the talent at hand. But, after a slip or two and just maybe Zaire leveling off, Wimbush will be the name college football wants to hear and see. Freshman mistakes will occur. But he’ll be right there playing. Hope he can get it together by season’s middle to end. Gonna be a long year.
It seems to me that both shaz and michael are right. There’s absolutely zero reason to write Kizer off. And, while BK will likely do all he can to preserve Winbush’s redshirt; when ND is recruiting top talent consistently, in modern NCAA football, we can’t expect players to gain an automatic training year.
It does say something that Winbush expressed a desire to do so though. I’d bet that the staff does that much more to make it less of an open competition; and more to prep Kizer for the season back up.
I definitely agree with Shazamrock. To even speculate Kizer a “bust” after extremely limited time is just flat out wrong. He was recruited for a reason, let’s not forget that. As many have commented, myself included, BK has not done the best job of allowing backups toget meaningful touches when opportunity has presented itself. I hope he changes that. If BW beats out DK for backup, either it means he’s gifted or DK isn’t as good as we hoped. It doesn’t mean he’s a bust however. Let’s see how this plays out.
Go Irish
My guess is BK will plan to redshirt Wimbush unless Zaire gets injured. Then will make decisions based on the nature of the injury. If it is a minor injury (a few plays, one or two games) Kizer gets the nod. If it’s a long term injury then I think there will be a competition and the best man wins.
Golson was the better passer now he’s gone Malik is the better runner so Kelly will use him in that way. Wimbush is both runner and passer with a strong arm. If he can take care if the ball like he did in Highschool he will be the backup Kiser will leave the same way Gunter Kiel did. Oh well that opens the doors for the next big fish.
If Wimbush is as good as projected, there’s no way he’s staying a 5th year to be a QB at ND. Nor did Golson. Nor will Zaire. So much for red-shirting to save a fifth year for your stars at ND. In today’s college football, if a player has star potential and believes he has a future in the NFL, the rule will be he’ll be leaving; schools are lucky to have them longer than three years. That’s the price of recruiting top tier athletes. If Kizer is better than Wimbush, then he’s the back-up. If he isn’t, then a red-shirt to preserve a fifth-year eligibility isn’t a sensible plan. Getting your best back-ups (regardless of year) ready to play ASAP, with all the injuries and early-outs, especially as QBs, is a no-brainer with today’s football reality. With the ‘irish Invasion’ and other advances ND has put forth, recognizing that stars will not stay a fifth-year to ‘win one for the Gipper’ is a healthy dose of reality fans need to realize. I’m not casting aspersions on today’s athletes. It is what it is.
As fans, our focus is ND. As star athletes, their focus is the NFL.
Wimbush is the real deal according to all my NJ sources. Probably would have redshirted if Golson was still there. Now who knows.
Declare him a bust?
You didn’t seriously just say that?
Based on a spring inter-squad game?
I would say it’s too early to declare the remote possibility of anything.
Kelly’s first, and top priority, is to win games regardless of who gets playing time and who doesn’t.
His next priority is to bring players along to the point that when they are given playing time they have a real and legitimate chance to succeed rather than just throw him in there when he isn’t ready and risk long term damage to his confidence.
Yeah, I felt last year at this time that Zaire had far too much skill and raw talent not to see the field in some capacity.
Kelly felt otherwise.
But when Kelly finally did put Zaire in, the kid had enough under his belt to be successful.
Now, this year, Zaire takes over the offense with enough poise and confidence to be a true leader.
Damian, I agree with your comments about BK missing opportunities to get our backup QB’s game experience in the past. It will be even more important this year – and more of a challenge as only Malik has any college playing time – and it is limited! Great talent available, we just need to give both of them a chance to get playing time. If we can redshirt Winbush it would be great – means no injuries.
I believe this is where the protracted battle to decide the starter this year will cost ND. There’s a real chance that Zaire’s aggressive running skills will se him come out of the game on occasion. Hopefully only for short periods, but bad breaks happen.
Next man in is a gigantic question mark. No reps so far, no game experience, and no opponents who can be counted on to lay down and give mop-up reps for a quarter.
I think BK will try to redshirt Winbush. I know Kizer did not light the world on fire this spring, but I still think it’s too early to declare him a bust and push him to number 3. BK will have to make a decision should Zaire get injured and misses games, but for a back-up QB, he’ll probably start with Kizer as number 2. I think what will be important for BK to do, though, is when the opportunity presents itself, to put Kizer in game situations and allow him to make some meaningful plays. There is nothing like real in-game “practice” time to guage a QB’s skills. That was one complaint I have with BK is he does not seem to put the number 2 guy in during blowout games when you can get some real experience against an opposing team.