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Link: Notre Dame Football Whats Ifs: Malik Zaire Doesn't Get Hurt
Kizer was perceived by many as having the least potential of the three. That certainly did not turn out to be the case, but I do recall hearing on this board that ultimately Wimbush would be the heir to Zaire. Kizer was not rated as highly as the other two coming out of high school and I also recall people having concerns with Kizer's struggles in the spring game that year. Now it seems obvious that Kizer was clearly the most complete quarterback.
Kizer was dreadful in the Blue Gold game that year and there were questions about whether or not he would ever be ready to be THE guy. Then Zaire went down against UVA and he came in and looked like anything but a true sophomore who hadn't played before.
It's a shame that how the QB situation was handled in 2016 probably really messed with Kizer's development and that we never saw him at his peak. Given how his NFL career went, it's an even bigger shame that he didn't come back in 2017. Imagine that 2017 team with Kizer at QB.
The more we talk about what ifs for ND QBs, the crazier it is to me that we're entering year 11 for Brian Kelly and he still hasn't produced a single elite QB to date.
What if that bad quarterback with an attitude problem had continued starting? Uh, bad things would've happened?
If memory serves me, he then started a grand total of one game at Florida before losing the job to a freshman, never to be seen again.
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What a trifecta !!
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All reports at the time indicated that Kizer was not particularly good in practice, but when he got in the game, he was a different player. Remember what he looked like in the 2015 Blue-Gold game? He looked awful that day. He was a different player when he stepped onto the field against UVA.
Part of the reason he didn't run away with the QB job in 2016 was because he wasn't as sharp in practice.
Point being, if Zaire doesn't get hurt against UVA, there would not have been a 2016 QB competition.
they didn’t let Zaire even throw the ball in his first start against LSU
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My recollection is that he was struggling against Virginia before he got hurt. If they lost that game, without Zaire getting hurt, then there would have started a clamor for the next QB, but if Zaire pulled that game out and assuming he played well, Kizer wouldn't have ever gotten his chance. I agree Kizer was the better QB, but that's based on what we know now, not then.
Notre Dame's defense let up in the 4th quarter which is why we needed Kizer's heroics in the first place. Zaire's first half was rough, but the drive before he left the game Zaire hit Fuller with the bomb TD and he had ND on the move at the time of his injury too. If he doesn't get hurt there, Notre Dame probably keeps its foot on the gas and even with BVG calling the defense it likely doesn't get close enough to matter.
There was simply no comparison between Malik Zaire and Deshone Kizer.
Kizer was easily the better quarterback, and could make all of the throws. Zaire was put in more of a nurturing position, where he was simply asked to not make mistakes.
The fact that he had some pretty good numbers in 2016, despite not having a true #1 WR (St. Brown did step up his game towards the end), shows that he was the man for the job.