BACKUPS
DeShone Kizer
People know the name DeShone Kizer now as failed NFL quarterback. That’s what happens when an awful franchise and a clueless coach force a quarterback that needed to sit and learn to play sixteen games. I’m never getting off that soap box.
Kizer played unexpected savior in 2015 when Malik Zaire was lost against Virginia due to injury and he never relinquished the hold of the starting job. A near College Football Playoff appearance in that season was lost more because of an inconsistent defense against Stanford rather than Kizer’s performance. The deep balls to Will Fuller were a thing of beauty and the thought of this being his first season starting seemed incomprehensible. He became the only Irish quarterback to throw for 20 touchdowns and run for 10 more in one season.
2016 was a mess. A season opening overtime loss to Texas that included a valiant performance (5 passing TD, 1 rushing TD) from Kizer may have been the high point as the Irish struggled to an inconsistent 4-8 season. The intriguing possibility of his pro potential teased both Kizer and NFL scouts enough that another year in South Bend, although maybe better for his long term success, was not a viable option. It’s a shame because a revitalized and reconfigured Brian Kelly with another year of Kizer and a running game headed by Josh Adams, Quenton Nelson, and Mike McGlinchey may have meant huge things in 2017.
Kizer was absolutely the most gifted physically and in terms of best single-seasons by a quarterback during this decade, I would put his 2015 up top.
Tommy Rees
Rees was always the guy who never really got a fair shake from fans because he wasn’t the top-tier recruit and he didn’t look the “part” of a Notre Dame quarterback. While he may not have been looking over his shoulder at someone else, everyone else was always looking for a better option. You don’t throw 61 touchdowns at Notre Dame if you can’t play.
The one thing you can say about Tommy Rees is that he was always there for Notre Dame when they needed him. In 2010 as a true freshman when Dayne Crist got hurt against Tulsa, there he was to lead them to a 4-0 record down the stretch including a bowl victory over Miami. After serving as the starter in 2011, he was replaced by Everett Golson in 2012 only to come in during specific important moments of that season where his steady hand was required. And in 2013 when Everett Golson was unable to play and a host of key contributors from the National Runner-Up team departed, Rees was there to pick up the reins and shepherd the Irish to a 9-4 record and yet another bowl victory.
Seeing him as the offensive play-caller in the Camping World Bowl against Iowa State gave me pause at first. But then I remembered. It was never his football smarts that were in question. He gave everything he had to the program and continues to do so.
Everett Golson
The aforementioned three quarterbacks largely were who they were from a football standpoint from the beginning of their career to the end of their career at Notre Dame. Of course I don’t mean in their head because with experience comes a heightened state of awareness and increased development. What I mean is how they were used and relied upon.
As a freshman in 2012, Golson was there largely not to screw anything up. Make the occasional big throw. Hand the ball off to Theo Riddick or Cierre Wood. Escape disaster and use your athleticism when necessary. And to his credit, he did it pretty damn well. Then he went away for a year with his academic issue. And in 2014, we saw a weaponized, Heisman version of Everett Golson that fans has expected when he was first recruited.
Through six games, the Irish were 6-0. Golson had 16 touchdown passes, four touchdown runs and was the most electric player Notre Dame has ever had at the quarterback position. Wait, let me read that back for you. THE MOST ELECTRIC PLAYER NOTRE DAME HAS EVER HAD AT THE QUARTERBACK POSITION.
A brutal loss (should have been a win on the last play) to defending National Champion Florida State showed what those Irish could be. But four straight losses after a 7-1 start spelled disaster for Golson. Malik Zaire was the new flavor of the month. But I do hope in time, people will come to appreciate Golson for what he was during a glorious year and a half of Notre Dame football.
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