Notre Dame QB Tyler Buchner Has Elite Talent, But Patience Is Needed
When the Notre Dame football team gets back together in February there will be two new faces in the quarterback room; graduate transfer Jack Coan and true freshman Tyler Buchner.
Coan will likely enter the 2021 season as the starter, but Buchner is the future at the position. Buchner is an immensely talented dual-threat quarterback that put up video game numbers in his only varsity season.
Despite his immense talent, patience is needed with Buchner. Perhaps he does step on the field as a freshman and seize hold of the position, but there's also a good chance - likely a strong chance - that he'll need a year to develop before truly being ready to make a real push for the starting role.
That's why Coan transferring in could be a very good thing for Buchner by removing a bit of the pressure or him to be immediately thrust onto the field as a true freshman, perhaps sooner than he would be ready to take on that role.
THE TALENT
Buchner has every physical trait you want in an elite quarterback. He has a strong arm, a quick release, accuracy and top-notch athleticism. If he continued his lacrosse career there are reports that he would have been one of the nation's premier players in that sport.
Based on my personal grades, only Phil Jurkovec and Everett Golson had grades as good as Buchner coming out of high school.
Here is a part of my analysis of Buchner.
"Buchner is an advanced passer that still has plenty of room to improve from both a physical and technical aspect. Buchner does not have a bazooka for an arm, but it still grades out. What makes his arm talent elite is that his arm strength is enhanced by an incredibly quick release.
"Not since Jimmy Clausen signed has a Notre Dame quarterback prospect showed the advanced feel for playing the position that Buchner displayed as a junior. His anticipation and timing are excellent, and there is snap after snap on film where Buchner is releasing the ball before his receiver is out of his break. His ability to throw receivers open is on the level you’d expect from a college quarterback, not a high school junior that missed all but one game the previous season.
"Buchner is incredibly diverse, which is part of the reason is intangible grade is so high. He can play a clean game from the pocket, he can be a gunslinger that changes his arm angles and throws on the run, and he look like a run-throw quarterback, evidenced by his 1,610 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns on the ground."
Buchner is the ideal modern quarterback, and it's easy to see why Notre Dame coaches and fans are so excited about what he will do at the next level.
To read my full film breakdown of Buchner read HERE.
PATIENCE IS NEEDED
Here's the issue with the incredibly high expectations that surround Buchner as he enters Notre Dame, he just doesn't have much experience. When a player with elite tools like Buchner shows up as a veteran is leaving it makes sense that fans - and coaches - would want to see Buchner on the field to replace Book.
It's never fair to put that kind of pressure on a freshman, unless he's a generational talent like Trevor Lawrence (2018) or if he's surrounded by truly elite talent like Jalen Hurts (2016). Even the best quarterbacks rarely see the field as a freshman.
It's an even more unrealistic demand for Buchner because of his lack of experience playing the position. Look, his junior season numbers were absurd, as Buchner threw for 4,474 yards, rushed for 1,610 yards and racked up a combined 81 touchdowns. I don't care what level of competition a quarterback faces, those are incredibly impressive numbers.
Josh DaFoe, SBLive
But that is the only season of varsity football that Buchner played in high school. He missed all but the first half of the 2018 season opener with a knee injury, and his senior season was canceled by the state of California. He hasn't been on the field since the 2019 season, and no matter how much work he is putting in on the practice field or with quarterback coaches, there's no replacement for on-field experience.
It would not be the least bit surprising to see Buchner need more time than normal to get back up to game speed from a timing standpoint, to get used to facing defenses for the first time in two years and to get his feel back for playing off platform, something you can't really drill without a real defense.
All of that will be happening as he's also learning a new playbook and getting comfortable with brand new teammates.
Now, I am not saying that Buchner should sit on the bench the whole season and only play 15-20 snaps, which is what we saw from the backup quarterbacks in 2020. The Notre Dame staff needs to prepare Buchner for battling for the starting role in 2022, and that can't happen with just practice reps. He will need live game reps, and finding opportunities in games against inferior opponents to get him live non-mop up reps would be a wise decision.
It could also prepare him should he be needed to play later in the season of his freshman season.
Buchner has the tools to break the curse of top-ranked quarterbacks not panning out at Notre Dame, but expecting him to walk on campus as a true freshman and beat out a veteran like Coan, and to dismiss talented players like Drew Pyne or Brendon Clark without breaking a sweat is asking a bit too much for a first year player. Patience will be needed .... and it should be worth the wait.
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