As Notre Dame prepares for a very interesting spring football session, many questions arise. One of them revolves around the Irish quarterback's room. Right now, Riley Leonard, Steve Angeli, Kenny Minchey, and CJ Carr are all excited to show what they can do. Each has special talents that have gotten them to this point in their careers, and this is the deepest quarterback room at Notre Dame that I can remember in a long time.
With this in mind, looking at the big picture at Notre Dame's quarterbacks, what style of quarterback do you prefer? Do you prefer a more traditional passer, like CJ Carr's project? Or do you prefer a more athletic dual-threat on mobile like Deuce Knight? I generally prefer ultra-mobile players with dual-threats, with exceptions that I'll discuss later. Let me explain why.
Any game can be successful
When I think about offensive football play calling, I think about odds. How can my team set up each play with a probability of success in their favor? For me, the easiest way to do this is to make sure that every pass play includes two plays. It is to do. Run or pass.
Mike Denbrock's latest protégé, Jayden Daniels, just won the Heisman Trophy with this philosophy. If no one was open, he would simply tuck the ball and run for a first down. Compare this to his more stationary QB. If a pass play doesn't work, this type of signal caller will burn the pass to the ground or throw it 10 yards deep into the crowd. This is a waste of downtime.
I also like the fact that even just the threat of a dual-action QB forces the defense to prepare differently for the run. I like knowing that my opponent has defensive concerns on every snap. To me, this is an odds game and I like having athletic relief on each pass play.
When should I choose a traditional dropback?
I think there are certain roster dynamics that allow traditional dropback passers to succeed at an elite level. Dynamics on the roster that the Irish don't have. If Notre Dame had Ohio State's wide receiver corps every year, it would have an offensive line that has proven to be a force against the best defenses it faces and a quarterback who is ultra-accurate and well-armed. There is no doubt about that. Let's go there. This is not the reality of most Notre Dames, even “modern” ones.
This type of quarterback has found success at places like Alabama and Georgia, where there is legitimate five-star talent all over the field. Notre Dame's roster is not yet available. With that in mind, it seems very realistic to roll the dice on his 2-on-1 play on offense.
conclusion
Notre Dame will be entering spring football in a position I don't remember them having at all. It's about having four quarterbacks that fans want to see more of, and each with a ton of talent. It's tough for us as a coaching staff to deal with this, but overall it's a huge problem.
Among the signal callers already on the roster and soon to be followed by Deuce, there is a wide range of different skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses. It will be important for Freeman, Denbrock and Gino to be able to accurately assess their respective floors, ceilings and developmental time frames moving forward. QB is the most important individual position in all sports, and the Irish need to effectively plan for each player moving forward to benefit the team and the players themselves.
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This story originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire
