Tyler Buchner Holds The Key To The Notre Dame Offense
When you look at the Notre Dame program in recent seasons there were certainly areas where the Irish were playing at a level that allowed it to compete for a championship. In other areas the Irish were not up to par, and for the most part the offense has been the unit where most of that "not quite good enough" resided.
Offseason coaching changes and the return of some very talented players give the offense plenty of potential. Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees is coming into his own and he'll have a much, much better supporting cast this season. The offensive line is talented and deep, there are talented pass catchers and the backfield should be quite good.
Notre Dame must get better on offense, it must start playing championship football on offense. All of those pieces are good, but if Notre Dame is going to take that final leap and play championship football on offense it must get dynamic play at quarterback, and that is where sophomore Tyler Buchner comes into play.
After missing his senior season due to California canceling its fall football season, Buchner was able to shake off the rust a bit last season, passing for 298 yards (60.0% completion rate) and rushing for 336 yards while accounting for six touchdowns.
If Buchner can seize hold of the starting quarterback role and make a freshman to sophomore jump that comes anywhere close to players CJ Stroud (Ohio State), Bryce Young (Alabama) and Tyler Van Dyke (Miami) made last season in their sophomore seasons the offense will be incredibly hard to defend. Notice I didn't say he needed to match their gigantic leaps, he just has to follow the pattern of lightly used player to playmaker.
Stroud didn't attempt a single pass as a true freshman in 2020 and he rushed for just 48 yards, but as a true sophomore he jumped up to 4,435 passing yards and 44 touchdowns.
Young passed for just 156 yards and had minus-23 rushing yards as a true freshman, accounting for just one touchdown. As a true sophomore he won the Heisman Trophy after passing for 4,872 yards and racking up 50 touchdowns.
Van Dyke didn't complete either of his two attempts as a true freshman and he had minus-7 rushing yards. As a sophomore with the Hurricanes he threw for 2,931 yards and 25 touchdowns (just six interceptions).
If Buchner can go anywhere between Van Dyke and the Stroud/Young combination from a total yards/total touchdowns standpoint he'll give the offense everything it needs to make a huge leap.
Buchner is a unique player compared to the other players that I just mentioned. They were mostly pocket passers, but Buchner is more of a dual threat talent. He is a dynamic runner, but Buchner is a better passer than some want to give him credit for. This is a young man that passed for 4,474 yards and 53 touchdowns as a junior in high school.
Buchner becoming a playmaker for Notre Dame makes the rest of the unit much harder to defend. The rising sophomore brings an impact running ability that mirrors what Brandon Wimbush brought to the 2017 offense, and we saw how hard it was to defend the Irish running backs when Wimbush was going off.
If Buchner can use his experience absorbing the offense over the last season to make better decisions, to throw the ball more accurately and give some level of consistency in the pass game stopping the Notre Dame offense is going to be hard for any defense.
Buchner doesn't need to throw for 4,000+ yards like Stroud and Young, he doesn't need to complete 70% of his passes, he doesn't need to sit in the pocket and beat teams start to finish. He'll need to be a weapon in the pocket, but with his running ability he can do damage in ways that Stroud and Young could not, and that's the all-around impact that Buchner can bring.
It all sounds good, but now Buchner needs to show he can get the job done. He'll need to quickly beat out Drew Pyne in the fall for the starting job, he'll need to continue enhancing his grasp for the offense and then be ready to play in front of some very bright lights.
The closer Buchner gets to being that player the better the Notre Dame offense will be in 2022.
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