Quarterback Is Still A Need For Notre Dame In The Transfer Portal

Quarterback is always a hot topic at Notre Dame, and that has ramped up in recent weeks as rumors continue to swirl about the Irish landing a player at that position in the transfer portal.

Since the 2022 regular season ended, 10-game starter Drew Pyne has transferred out in part to the Irish staff telling him they are going to bring in a transfer, and also in part to the expectation that Tyler Buchner - who began the season as the starter - would be back in the starting lineup for the bowl game.

Buchner led the Irish to a 45-38 win after throwing for 274 yards, rushing for another 61 yards and accounting for five touchdowns. The Irish offense racked up 558 yards of offense and averaged 7.0 yards per play, both of which were the second best outputs of the season by that unit. During the win the sophomore from California showed the tools that led to him being a highly ranked recruit, and a player that had so many Notre Dame fans excited for his future.

Following the game the conversation about Notre Dame and the transfer portal at quarterback began to change. With how well Buchner played, even with the three interceptions, there is talk about whether or not Notre Dame still needs to look at the portal at all.

The answer to that question is simple ..... yes, of course, Notre Dame absolutely needs to continue pushing hard for as good of a portal quarterback as they can land.

There are a number of reasons for this, and it has nothing to do with Buchner's talent. I have zero doubt that Buchner can be a big time quarterback at Notre Dame, and perhaps that happens in 2023. Maybe it happens in 2024 after he takes a year to learn and develop. Maybe it never happens, but he showed his enormous talent in the bowl game.

Here are my reasons why it is still very important to bring in the best possible transfer quarterback that Notre Dame can land.

INJURY HISTORY

But the reality is Buchner has played one full season of football in the last five years. He was brilliant as a junior in high school, but he missed all but one game as a sophomore due to a knee injury, he missed his senior season because of California's Covid rules, and this season he missed all but three games with a shoulder injury. Buchner was healthy-ish last season, but even then he missed the Wisconsin game with a hamstring injury, and he had to leave the Virginia Tech game with an ankle injury. He also missed the Blue-Gold Game in the spring because of an ankle injury that he suffered walking down some stairs.

For me, if Buchner would have gone 30-35 for 450 yards, rushed for another 100 yards, accounted for seven touchdowns and didn't turn the ball over once my answer wouldn't change for the above reason alone. Notre Dame cannot afford to go into the 2023 season assuming Buchner will be able to stay healthy. If they don't go to the portal for a quarterback and Buchner gets injured the Irish will have to turn the offense over to a redshirt freshman (Steve Angeli) who has never thrown a pass in college, or a talented true freshman (Kenny Minchey) who missed almost half of his own senior season.

COMPETITION IS A GOOD THING

Competition is something that exists across the board at all the best programs. Notre Dame hasn't had much legitimate competition at quarterback in some time. There was never any doubt that Ian Book was going to start over Phil Jurkovec, and that Jack Coan was going to start over Drew Pyne, and that Buchner was going to beat out Pyne.

Should Notre Dame land a talented, veteran quarterback - like say, Sam Hartman of Wake Forest - it would certainly upgrade the Irish depth chart behind center. It would also create a competition this spring that if handled properly from a coaching standpoint will make this team stronger, and better, and will make both players in that battle much better players.

Let's say, for argument's sake, that Hartman does pick Notre Dame. If he beats out Buchner for the starting job, something he'll absolutely have to do, it means he's as good as the staff expects and he'll be ready to have an outstanding season with the Irish. Consider that Hartman would arrive at Notre Dame with 12,967 career passing yards and an ACC record 110 career passing touchdowns. Last season's transfer quarterback, Jack Coan, came to Notre Dame with just 3,278 career passing yards and 23 passing touchdowns.

Hartman has two seasons of production that surpass those career marks.

If Buchner beats out Hartman, something he'll get an opportunity to do, it means he has stayed healthy, he has grown his game, and he's ready to turn his immense potential into big time production.

Hartman and Buchner dueling over the next nine months would make both players much, much better. No matter who wins, if this battle rages the odds of Notre Dame putting a talented quarterback on the field that can generate a dominant, high scoring offense is greatly enhanced.

EXPERIENCE IS NEEDED

Buchner could end up being a star in 2023, but that's hardly a known commodity at this point. There is no doubt the young man has immense talent, and this is something I've argued in support of since he committed to Notre Dame. He has an incredibly bright future at Notre Dame, should he be able to stay healthy.

There is no question that Buchner needed the 2022 season to play out differently in order for him to get his development back on track. He's missed so much time, and the injury this season sapped him of much-needed game experience. As brilliant as he was at times in the bowl game, he also had three turnovers and missed a number of easy throws due to rushing his mechanics or not going through his read correctly.

Could that change in 2023, and could he make a big jump? Of course, but Notre Dame cannot afford to make that assumption and pass on bringing in a big-time quarterback.

Hartman would show up at Notre Dame with 45 career starts. If he did make the decision to come to Notre Dame there would certainly be an adjustment as he leaves the mesh offense of Wake Forest and jump into the pro style offense of Tommy Rees, but there's a floor with him that provides a great deal of security. Notre Dame would have a baseline with which to work next season that would give the offense a great chance to be really good.

Having Buchner on the roster to provide some dynamic ability, as protection should Hartman get injured and to compete with Hartman would make the offense better as well and would get him a season to really enhance his mechanics and feel for the Irish offense.

One of the few good things to come out of Buchner's injuries in 2022 is the fact he only played three games, which means he gets back a season of eligibility. That means he would still have three seasons to play, which would give him two more full seasons to be the starter once Hartman departs, should things play out that way.

WRAPPING IT ALL UP

It was exciting to see Buchner showing off his immense tools in the bowl game. Notre Dame needed him to show that ability, and the mistakes/turnovers are all correctable aspects of his game. If he is able to stay healthy and continues to improve his mechanics there is little doubt in my mind he could be a star player at Notre Dame.

Is 2023 the time that it clicks for him? Maybe. But at the end of the day adding as many talented players as possible is not a bad thing for Notre Dame, adding competition at quarterback isn't a bad thing, adding experience at quarterback isn't a bad thing, and that is why my hope is that the Irish still still makes adding a portal quarterback a priority.

If Buchner is what I think he is as a player and as a young man, he'll see it as a challenge the same way Bryce Young saw sitting behind Mac Jones as an opportunity to get better. If he handles it right, when the time comes for him to step back into the starting lineup he'll be a much, much better player.

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