Midweek Musings: Notre Dame Enters Important QB Stretch, Looking At The 2023 Wide Receiver Board

Thoughts on Notre Dame football, Fighting Irish recruiting and college football

Thoughts on Notre Dame football, Fighting Irish recruiting and college football.

CRUCIAL QUARTERBACK STRETCH AWAITS NOTRE DAME

The next year will be incredibly important for Notre Dame's present and future, and at the heart of all of that is the quarterback position. Notre Dame must get better quarterback play, more dynamic quarterback play, and that is especially true in the "big games." There is a two-step process to making that happen, and over the next year the Irish must strike big in two areas.

First is player development. Notre Dame must develop its current roster, mainly Tyler Buchner and Drew Pyne. Both have the potential to lead a potent and explosive Notre Dame offense, but let's be honest, Buchner panning out is the difference between Noter Dame going to battle with an excellent point guard quarterback (Pyne) or a put the team on your shoulders quarterback (Buchner).

Notre Dame absolutely must do everything possible to get the most out of Buchner, and the sooner the better. The next year, and more specifically the next eight months, will be the crucial development time needed for the talented freshman to turn into a legitimate starting caliber player. If OC Tommy Rees can get Buchner to be more comfortable in the pocket, make better decisions and be more consistent with his throwing mechanics there's no doubt he can be a game-changer. 

How the young signal caller develops in those areas will determine if he remains a quarterback whose game is about potential, or a quarterback whose game is about making plays in the here and now as both a passer and runner.

For Pyne, this is his chance to battle and beat out Buchner. He's a smart player that shows tremendous leadership ability. Pyne must become a more accurate passer and he too must continue developing better decision making and consistency. For Pyne to beat out Buchner he must master the offense, be a precise thrower and do a better job attacking down the field.

Whether or not Notre Dame is once again battling for a playoff spot next season, or competing for a championship in the next two seasons, will be determined by how it develops these two players.

It's not just about development for Notre Dame. The staff must also start bringing in more big-time quarterbacks on a more consistent basis. That discussion begins with five-star Dante Moore, an incredibly gifted, incredibly smart and incredibly poised young quarterback with the tools to be a truly special player. Notre Dame has a shot with Moore and it must find a way to climb over programs like Michigan, Ohio State and others in order to land him.

If it can't land Moore there are other very talented players on the board, and the staff needs to find a way to still make Moore feel like the No. 1 priority while also making players like Jackson Arnold and Christopher Vizzina feel the same way.

WIDE RECEIVER RECRUITING MUST IMPROVE

Notre Dame must hire a new wide receivers coach, and it needs to be a big hire for Freeman. Whoever he lands must do a better job developing the talented players he lands, but the new coach must also recruit the position better than we've seen in recent seasons.

For the 2023 class there is a handful of players on the board that Notre Dame's next receivers coach must immediately jump all over and try and get. First, there's a local flavor to the board.

Carnell Tate - Tate is a five-star caliber player out of Chicago, and he's a must-get for Notre Dame. Ohio State is the team to beat, but Tate must become priority number one for the new coach the minute he is hired. OC Tommy Rees and the recruiting staff have kept Notre Dame in the game with Tate, but ultimately them beating out the Buckeyes will be dependent on the new WR coach hire.

Malik Elzy - The 6-3, 200-pound Elzy brings some of the physicality, length and one-on-one ability that Notre Dame has always coveted. Noter Dame needs at least three receivers in the class, and Elzy could be a key component to that haul, as he's the most physically imposing receiver on the board right now. 

Notre Dame also needs more dynamic playmakers on the roster at wide receiver, something I've written and talked about ad nauseam the last two years. There are two national players on the board who would absolutely add that to the roster, and they must immediately become top targets for the new receivers coach.

Jalen Brown - Brown is another five-star caliber receiver on Notre Dame's board. The Miami native has elite speed, he's a dynamic player with the ball in his hands and he would bring explosiveness to the offense it hasn't seen since Will Fuller was in South Bend. He's a long shot but so far he's at least been receptive, and if the Irish make a splash with the new WR coach hire they could possibly become more of a player for him.

Rodney Gallagher - There's one northern prospect on the board that brings similar dynamic ability as Brown, and that would be Gallagher. Whether he's playing a wildcat quarterback, wide receiver, defensive back or dominating on the basketball court, Gallagher shows off elite athleticism and playmaking ability. He's the kind of after-the-catch weapon I've been begging Notre Dame to pursue for the last few cycles.

There are other players on the board who would fill this need as well, and Irish Breakdown will bring more and more coverage of that moving forward, but these are four must-know names on the board. If Notre Dame is able to land at least two players in this group it will be a strong class, and if it gets three from this group it would be an elite WR haul in my view.

BOWL RESULTS BY CONFERENCE

There were some very interesting bowl results. Some conferences struggled, some had big success. Here's a look at the overall record for the Power 5 conferences, the American Athletic Conference and the Mountain West Conference.

Big 12 - 5-2, .714
Big Ten - 6-4, .600
SEC - 5-7, .417
ACC - 2-4, .333
Pac 12 - 0-5, .000

Mountain West - 5-1, .833 (2-0 vs. Power 5)
American - 3-1, .750 (2-1 vs. Power 5, all SEC)

TWEET OF THE WEEK

One of my favorite plays from the Fiesta Bowl was the touchdown pass to Chris Tyree. I loved the check that quarterback Jack Coan made. Oklahoma State showed an all-out blitz, but instead of checking to a max protection, Coan checked to a free release that got Tyree wide open. It looked like the secondary might have an angle on him, but Tyree exploded and blew everyone away on his way to the end zone.

he goneeee ✌️@chris_tyree4 | #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/rPJUrjMGoa

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) January 1, 2022

FILM OF THE WEEK

My breakdown of the commitment of 2023 safety Peyton Bowen, a talented player with five-star upside.

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

Irish Breakdown Content

Notre Dame 2021 Roster
Notre Dame 2021 Schedule

Ranking The 2022 Signees - Offense
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Defense

Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board

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