Notre Dame Is Trending In The Right Direction At Quarterback
There is no more polarizing position at Notre Dame than quarterback, and the position holds the key to Notre Dame going from the good program it's been most of the last 13 seasons to being one that can compete for championships.
Studying where Notre Dame has been, where Notre Dame is and where Notre Dame needs to be at quarterback is a very interesting endeavor. It's also one that should be encouraging.
It is often said that Notre Dame has lacked talent at the position, but I don't believe that's true, at least for much of the period discussed above. Notre Dame put some very, very physically talented quarterbacks on the field from 2010 to 2016, but the talent at the position has taken a dip in recent seasons.
There is no question that Notre Dame must improve its skill at quarterback, and that has been happening over the last year and will continue to happen once the portal is opened up.
REBUILDING AND REFITTING THE ROOM
Taking a glimpse into the future the position should create excitement with Notre Dame fans. Sophomore Tyler Buchner is a talented player, the Irish are involved with some talented transfer players, the Irish have gamer freshman Steve Angeli and 2023 commit Kenny Minchey and 2024 commit CJ Carr are among the best quarterback prospects in the country.
A case could be made that Notre Dame's quarterback room is about to be as talented as it has been at any point outside of the 2014 and 2015 seasons. One big difference, however, is that Notre Dame is finally starting to recruit quarterbacks that fit the system.
Former head coach Brian Kelly was erratic with the type of quarterback he would recruit, and far too often the system wasn't tailored enough to their talents.
Talent at quarterback is important, but the talent has to fit the system. Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has shown far more consistency in the type of quarterback he pursues since Kelly departed. When looking at the prospects that Notre Dame pursued in 2023 and 2024, all of them are have carryover from a traits and skill standpoint. They are very smart, accurate quarterbacks with at least above average arm strength, they are pocket passers with enough mobility to do damage.
According to sources, Minchey was the sharpest quarterback at the Elite 11 Finals this summer, and Carr is considered an incredibly high IQ quarterback. They can also spin the football in impressive fashion.
So why does this matter?
FIT + IMPROVED TALENT = PRODUCTION JUMP
Since Rees took over as the offensive coordinator the efficiency of the quarterback position has gone way up, and this has been in spite of the talent at the position being less than it was in prior seasons. With all due respect to Ian Book, Jack Coan and Drew Pyne, they aren't in the same category from a physical talent standpoint as past quarterbacks like Everett Golson, DeShone Kizer, Malik Zaire, Brandon Wimbush or Dayne Crist.
The production and efficiency, however, has been much better in recent seasons despite not having the same level of talent, or close to it in my view.
From 2020-22 (including the 2019 Bowl Game), Notre Dame's starting quarterbacks have produced a passer rating of 150.22, while the quarterbacks from 2010-16 had a rating of just 137.79. If you look at the rating of quarterbacks since Rees became the full-time quarterbacks coach the rating is up to 150.54.
Notre Dame's yards per attempt the last three seasons is 8.1, compared to 7.7 from 2010-16. The TD-INT ratio the last three seasons is 63-16 (115-29 since 2018), compared to 162-81 the previous stretch. Quarterbacks have completed 65.1% of their passes (64.4 since 2018), compared to 59.6% the previous stretch.
Rees often gets criticized for a lack of development at quarterback, and there's no question the play at quarterback has not been nearly good enough to play for championships, that's not up for debate. I think a case could be made, however, that Notre Dame got the most it could out of Book and Coan, and although I think Pyne could produce more with more experience, the fact is Notre Dame's backup quarterback just had the program's best single season ratings mark since Jimmy Clausen back in 2009.
In fact, the three best single season passer marks since 2010 all came with Rees coaching the position.
Pyne - 2022 - 155.27
Book - 2018 - 153.96
Coan - 2021 - 151.83
Kizer - 2015 - 150.06
Book - 2019 - 148.52
The only quarterback in that list that possessed big-time arm talent was Kiser. None of those other quarterbacks have the natural physical tools of players like Minchey, Carr or even Buchner.
How do you not ask yourself what the production would look like if the talent was greater.
That leads me to this question, what will the offense look like if Rees can get a quarterback with big talent, that fits his offense, is finally put in charge. When look at the talent Notre Dame is acquiring at running back and on the perimeter, and the fact Harry Hiestand is building the offensive line, Notre Dame is a highly productive quarterback away from being the kind of explosive offense you need to win a championship.
Notre Dame's quarterbacks under Rees have been very efficient, but they haven't been big time from a production standpoint. Efficiency, to me, is as much about scheme, preparation, play-calling and technique as it is talent. Production, however, requires all of that but also requires more talent.
If Notre Dame lands one of the transfer quarterbacks I believe they will pursue, the next 3-4 years with that player, Buchner, Minchey and Carr will guarantee that Notre Dame also has the talent to take that big jump.
The ingredients are coming into place, and now it is time for Rees and the Irish offensive staff to put it all together and get the offense to become consistently dominant. Once that happens Notre Dame will take that big leap we have been waiting on.
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