Irish Quarterbacks past, present, and... future? (LOTD 6/14)

Comparisons aplenty from fans and periodicals. On a similar note, DiveRightIn, a poster on IrishEnvy, has a breakdown of some of the pre-season expectations. He cites the WWL as making a comparison of Alabama in '07 and '08 to the Irish in '08 and '09. In '07, Bama started 6-2, lost their last four, including an embarrasing loss to Louisiana-Monroe on Senior Day, and finished the year with a convincing bowl win against Colorado. The Tide had 9 returning starters on offense and five on defense. They began the year at #24 in the polls, and played in a BCS bowl game.

The Irish, in similar fashion, started out 5-2 last year. They went on to lose four of their last five, including an embarassing loss to Syracuse on Senior Day. As we all know, the Irish beat Hawaii convincingly in the bowl game. This year ND returns 10 on offense, 6 on defense, and starts the year at the back of the top 25. The comparisons are encouraging, though I think a lot of Alabama's improvments have to do with having a great coach, and Weis has yet to prove himself to be near the same level as Nick Saban. Nevertheless, it lessens the blow of the struggle the Irish faced down the stretch.

ESPN has a comparison of Jimmy Clausen's first two seasons against #1 draft choice Matthew Stafford's first two season's at Georgia. The numbers are pretty similar.

Player A-406 of 685 (59.3 percent), 4,426 Yds, 32 TDs, 23 INTs
Player B- 329 of 604 (54.5 percent), 4,272 Yds, 26 TDs, 23 INTs

Player A, who has the better numbers of the two, is Clausen. Couple this with the disparity in talent between Georgia in Stafford's first two years and ND in Clausen's first two years and you have plenty of reason for encouragment. Stafford went on to post the following numbers in his junior season: 235 of 383 (61.4%), 3,459 yds, 25 TDs, 1o INTs. If we can get similar numbers from Clausen then I would be willing to predict a BCS bowl for the Irish.

Sticking with Clausen, Heisman Pundit has a list of his top 10 QBs, and Clausen missed out, being labeled to the "Honorable Mention" list. HP points out the receiving corps that Clausen has to throw to as reason for optimisim. Colin Kaerpernick also makes the "Honorable Mention" list, with HP tabbing him as "A physical freak who should be well known after the opener against Notre Dame." I expect Kaerpernick to have a good game against the Irish, though in a losing effort. Aaron Corp, USC's starting QB, and Tate Forcier, Michigan's starting QB, make the list of "National Breakout Stars on the Scene".

Moving on to recruiting, there appears to be a battle heating up over Ohio quarterback prospect Andrew Hendrix. Ohio State is vying for the recruits services with the Irish, and Ohio State has had to renew interest after losing out on Nick Montana. Both OSU and ND currently have offers out to Hendrix, and he appears to be the top priority at the position for both schools. Similarly, both schools are looking to take only one QB recruit, so we have ourselves a battle.

Hendrix came close to committing to the Irish after an unofficial visit early last week, but came short of pulling the trigger. He then took an unofficial visit to the Buckeyes later in the week. ESPN's Bill Kurelic reports that Hendrix will make another unofficial visit to the Irish when the team is back next week. If I had to guess (and it's only speculation), I would think that Hendrix will commit to the Irish while on campus next week. Again, it's only speculation, but I think that the QB recruit wants to meet some of the players, get a better feel for what life is like as an ND football player, and to see more of the town. If all goes well we could get the QB we are looking for, but OSU won't go down without a fight, especially after losing out on Montana.

BlueandGold.com has a story up regarding Brady Quinn's attempt to take over the starting QB position for the Cleveland Browns. Quinn has the fans on his side, but lacks the experience of Derek Anderson. The great equalizer, BnG points out, is that both QBs are facing a new system with the entrance of new head coach Eric Mangini. Mangini has said that he is going to look for leadership qualities in his new quarterback, qualities that we know Quinn posseses based on his four years at Notre Dame. Now he just has to display those at the next level. Quinn says of the responsibility:

“It’s extremely important and something I take pretty seriously. Obviously, a play call starts in the huddle. That’s where everything kind of goes from there. If you don’t have control of the huddle, if you’re not effectively communicating to the other guys, you’re going to have some breakdowns as you get out of the huddle and get to the line of scrimmage. It’s tough. You have to have a solid feel for the offense. You’ve got to know what you’re talking about, know everyone’s job including your own.”

I expect to see Quinn starting for the Browns next year, based on their financial commitment to him and the pressure on Mangini to get the fans on his side in his new gig. The two QBs seem to have equal amounts of talent, but Quinn has the bigger upside and the brighter future, not to mention the accolades and pressure of being tabbed a first-round draft choice.

That's all for today. Not much news from the general CFB world, so we'll stick with the Irish today.