Notre Dame was unranked in the preseason coaches poll, and that’s understandable given how they’re coming off a 4-8 season. Additionally, DeShone Kizer, the team’s starting quarterback and arguably best/most important player last season, left school early to play in the NFL.
The new QB1 in South Bend is Brandon Wimbush, who is inexperienced and thus an unknown quantity. However, he’s very talented, and brings a dynamic skill set to the table. He also has the advantage of not having to look over his shoulder this preseason, or worry about quickly getting the hook should he make a mistake.
Those are luxuries that Kizer simply did not have last season, as Coach Brian Kelly went with a quarterbacks 1A and 1B arrangement during the preseason, and into the opener at Texas. Kizer soon won the job, and had a great statistical season before moving on to the Cleveland Browns. QB 1B, Malik Zaire transferred to Florida, where he’s currently battling for the starting gig.
In most season of the Kelly era at ND there have been some question marks in the preseason depth chart at QB. This is probably only the second time in which the signal caller pecking order is settled.
Kelly told the media: “We know the No. 1 quarterback is Brandon Wimbush. But he’s competitive. Ian Book’s competitive. I think there is going to be competition there.”
Book is the definitive QB2.
“I really don’t have any worries other than that we continue to build on the process that we talked about with Brandon,” Kelly continued.
Although expectations for this team are modest at best, they do bare a couple resemblances to Kelly’s two best teams. In both 2012 and 2015, Notre Dame relied on a very strong offensive line, and they won with inexperience at QB. This year’s Fighting Irish obviously have inexperience at QB, but also again have a very stout OL, the strength of their team.
Kelly rejects the idea of adopting a ‘carry the load for Brandon Wimbush’ approach.
“I don’t know that I would go into the season and say, hey, the narrative is let’s take pressure off Brandon Wimbush,” he said.
“I don’t know that we’ll ever put it on Brandon to just sit back there and, you know, pick the defense apart. That’s not what we want him to do. That’s not what we’re going to ask him to do. We’re going to play the game to our strengths.”
“No, we want Brandon Wimbush would be one of the 11 guys and contribute with his strengths on the offensive side of the ball, and know that we’ll be able to contribute effectively.”
Wimbush, a 6-2, 226 junior from Teaneck, New Jersey, must take over a brand new scheme as Chip Long takes over as offensive coordinator. However, Wimbush does have the advantage of a deep stable of running backs to complement the talent and depth on the offensive line. He’s thrown just five passes total in his career up to this point, but the pieces are in place for him to have a true breakout season.
He’s actually drawn some comparisons to Tony Rice, the Irish’s last QB1 to win a national title. Athlon ranked every likely starting QB in the nation and they slotted Brandon Wimbush 31st out of 130.
He’s known for his great feet, dual threat abilities and if he delivers on half the promises that have been made pertaining to him, Brandon Wimbush will have a really special season. During the Kizer-Zaire QB controversy, many claimed that he was actually the guy on the roster with the best overall potential.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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