As the season is just about three weeks away, ESPN is ramping up their coverage of college football. They recently looked at which 25 players will be most impactful to the College Football Playoff race in 2022 and to no surprise it was a position group selected for Notre Dame.
The starting quarterback for the Irish came in second in ESPN’s rankings and although they believe that [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] will be the starter, [autotag]Drew Pyne[/autotag] was also mentioned as having importance as well.
Bill Connelly sees “at worst, a very good defensive front seven. The Fighting Irish are a top-10 team on paper, and if they get what they need from the QB position, they could easily be top-five.” Can’t disagree with Connelly there, as the season does hinge on quarterback play, as long as Buchner steps up.
It was noted that Buchner’s “big-plays-to-disasters ratio” last year was not great as a passer, throwing three interceptions in just 35 passes. If Buchner makes a big jump in the passing game, Connelly believes “he (Buchner) could bring a level of upside to the position that Irish fans haven’t seen in a while.”
In all reality, Buchner just needs to imitate one of his predecessors, [autotag]Ian Book[/autotag], by not making mistakes and taking advantage of what defenses give him. If Buchner can limit turnovers and keep defenses on their heels with his running ability, this could be a more complete team than the 2020 version that faced off against Alabama in the semi-finals of the College Football Playoff.
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