'13 OH QB Malik Zaire (Notre Dame Early Enrollee)

[BobbyMac]

It's a bleacher report article so they are not really asking the tough questions here. At this point I would find it foolish for Malik not to be given his medical season and keep it shut down till the spring.

He's not eligible for a redshirt this year.

If he could've been ready to go by Jan. 1 and they needed him then sure. It's my understanding he wouldn't be 100% ready till March.

 

[Cackalacky]

He's not eligible for a redshirt this year.

If he could've been ready to go by Jan. 1 and they needed him then sure. It's my understanding he wouldn't be 100% ready till March.

If he is not gonna be ready till March then this article is pointless. Lol. Would he be able to get a medical or sixth year?

 

[IrishSteelhead]

'13 OH QB Malik Zaire (Notre Dame Early Enrollee)

It would be suicide to put a guy who has been in a boot for 4 months in the starting lineup for a playoff game and think he's going to be amazing. Kizer starts and plays. No questions asked.

He's not taking any snaps this season. The article was talking about naming him the de-facto starter even IF Kizer leads them to the playoffs.

 

[woolybug25]

I'll tell you one thing. If we got to the playoffs, and Malik was available, you better bet your ass that Kizer would have the green light to run whenever he wanted. With Malik ready to roll if he got banged up. It would be sweet to watch and to hell with hoping for a medical. I doubt Malik would trade a chance to play for a title for a medical year.

Why is everyone assuming that's not possible if he gets the boot off in two weeks? The playoffs aren't until January.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

I'll tell you one thing. If we got to the playoffs, and Malik was available, you better bet your ass that Kizer would have the green light to run whenever he wanted. With Malik ready to roll if he got banged up. It would be sweet to watch and to hell with hoping for a medical. I doubt Malik would trade a chance to play for a title for a medical year.

He should have the green light to run from the Stanford game on, and if he doesn't, what would be a good time then?

 

[BobbyMac]

If he is not gonna be ready till March then this article is pointless. Lol. Would he be able to get a medical or sixth year?

His freshman redshirt wasn't because of injury. Had it been he could have applied. Now if he goes down again before the end of game 5, he could apply and have a good case. That would really suck for DK and BW if he continues to win the starting job upon returning. I would just about guarantee some post graduate movement by one or two of the QB's if that happened.

 

[Cackalacky]

His freshman redshirt wasn't because of injury. Had it been he could have applied. Now if he goes down again before the end of game 5, he could apply and have a good case. That would really suck for DK and BW if he continues to win the starting job upon returning. I would just about guarantee some post graduate movement by one or two of the QB's if that happened.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[BobbyMac]

Thanks for the clarification.

I got a freshman redshirt and 6th year from the NCAA. It's sorta my specialty here at IE.

 

[woolybug25]

He should have the green light to run from the Stanford game on, and if he doesn't, what would be a good time then?

He will not have a full green light and we certainly won't call run first game like we did against LSU last year. If we know that we have Malik available in the case of Kizer getting banged up, instead of a true freshman, then we can do that. It would be an entirely different scenario.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

He will not have a full green light and we certainly won't call run first game like we did against LSU last year. If we know that we have Malik available instead of a true freshman, then we can do that. It would be an entirely different scenario.

You really think we wouldn't go balls out to win a playoff game?

 

[koonja]

BK runs DK when we're up 20 with 1 minute to go. I think he has the green light. BTW, IMO, the fact that we've done twice what I just said is moronic.

 

[T Town Tommy]

He should have the green light to run from the Stanford game on, and if he doesn't, what would be a good time then?

Agree. Win the next two games without putting him in harm's way as best you can. Starting with the Stanford game, you have to do what you have to do to win the game. If he goes down, then so be it. Better to burn out than to fade away. (shameless Def Leppard plug)

 

[woolybug25]

You really think we wouldn't go balls out to win a playoff game?

We better.

Going "balls out" and running your only option at QB 25 times are entirely different things.

 

[koonja]

If anyone could come back, how's Jarron Jones doing? He tweeted like 2 months ago that he'd be back this year. Doubt he is, but that'd be awesome.

 

[Section20Row27]

I had a thought...admittedly fairly ridiculous (I had been drinking)...that both MZ and DK in the backfield at the same time would be awesome and extremely hard to defend. Could you imagine as a defense having to prepare for 2 QB's who both could run and pass in the game at the same time? I think that would be epic!

 

[Cackalacky]

You really think we wouldn't go balls out to win a playoff game?

We better.

Going "balls out" and running your only option at QB 25 times are entirely different things.

 

[arrowryan]

I had a thought...admittedly fairly ridiculous (I had been drinking)...that both MZ and DK in the backfield at the same time would be awesome and extremely hard to defend. Could you imagine as a defense having to prepare for 2 QB's who both could run and pass in the game at the same time? I think that would be epic!

My high school did that. I think that is something you'd need a whole summer to practice and not just a few weeks.

If anything, I would want a 2 qb system if we were to make the playoffs. If not, just stick with Kizer

 

[Cali_domer]

I had a thought...admittedly fairly ridiculous (I had been drinking)...that both MZ and DK in the backfield at the same time would be awesome and extremely hard to defend. Could you imagine as a defense having to prepare for 2 QB's who both could run and pass in the game at the same time? I think that would be epic!

Why not Three? Really confuse them.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Why not Three? Really confuse them.

4. The Four Hors.....err Guys That Can Throw a Football From the Backfield. Has a nice ring to it, may patent it now.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Agree. Win the next two games without putting him in harm's way as best you can. Starting with the Stanford game, you have to do what you have to do to win the game. If he goes down, then so be it. Better to burn out than to fade away. (shameless Def Leppard plug)

Shame. It was Neil Young.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Shame. It was Neil Young.

Is that the guy from Whitesnake?

 

[Irish#1]

Getting the boot off doesn't necessarily mean he's cleared to play. He also has to build that leg back up.

 

[johnnycando]

Getting the boot off doesn't necessarily mean he's cleared to play. He also has to build that leg back up.

Guaranteed atrophy a normal man couldn't quickly recuperate from, absolutely.

But- he's not the normal man.

 

[dublinirish]

11. Malik Zaire, Notre Dame

Will Zaire take the first snap for Notre Dame next fall? Or will DeShone Kizer hold onto the starting job after taking over for Zaire due to injury in 2015? The winner of this battle could be a few spots higher this fall.

- See more at: College Football's Pre-Spring 1-128 Starting Quarterback Rankings for 2016 | AthlonSports.com

Top3 is Watson, Mayfield and Barrett

 

[Old Man Mike]

Not hard to read this and believe that we have TWO top ten QBs going into 2016. Although you can only have one QB at a time [yeh I know about gimmick plays], that would say that overall our QB position is the best in the country. Offense should roll, despite no SuperWill and Gone-in-a-Flash CJ.

C'mon, BVG --- Safeties/Linebackers/Safeties/Linebackers --- we're so close, big fella.

 

[BobbyMac]

- See more at: College Football's Pre-Spring 1-128 Starting Quarterback Rankings for 2016 | AthlonSports.com

Top3 is Watson, Mayfield and Barrett

It's amazing how many media members are writing in MZ as the favorite. IF I were a media member not embedded with ND, I would pick DK as my ND representative in such articles. If I were using DK for this article I would rank him no lower than #6 behind only Watson, Mayfield, Barrett, Kaaya and Kelly. I might even move him up after I looked at who each team had returning on their O lines and receiving corps.

My Top 5 NFL eligible QB's... Kaaya, Watson, Kizer, Kelly & Kiel.

 

[koonja]

I'm at a loss because Malik looked like the best college QB I've ever seen against Texas, and kind of crappy against Virginia. Virginia's defense was underrated though, but still he didn't look sharp.

 

[BobbyMac]

I'm at a loss because Malik looked like the best college QB I've ever seen against Texas, and kind of crappy against Virginia. Virginia's defense was underrated though, but still he didn't look sharp.

Expectations were high after Texas and you're right, he didn't look good through the air in the first half.... but that's the beauty of a Malik Zaire. Here are some facts that get forgotten in the Kizer saved the day narrative.

Malik had 87 yards on 10 carries. 3 of those rushes were 15+ yards on scoring drives.

CBK went for a 2 pt conversion w/ Kizer running that didn't work. 1 point lost.

CBK elected to go for it on 4th down from the UVa 24 and turned it over on downs when CJ-P was stopped. There's 3 points left on the table.

Yoon missed a FG from the 17. 3 more points left on the table.

Malik was injured on the Uva 24 with the score 19-14. Could have already been 26-17 with the extra 7 points noted above.

Kizer comes in hands the ball off on the first play and CJ-P scores. Irish up 26-17 when it coulda/shoulda been 35-17.

My point is, MZ's running performance made up for his bad day through the air. Malik did his part to get the team in position to be up 35-17 when he got hurt (with some help from the trick play TD to start off the game of course. Had Kelly taken that FG instead of going for it, Malik had them in position to be up 32-17. Enough to win the game without DK's last minute heroics.

The current narrative is DK came in and saved the Irish from Malik's off day when in fact it was DK saving the day from CBK's play calling, BVG and his defense's poor performance... and to be honest, his own inability to move the ball at all on his first two drives that resulted in 3 and outs while UVa was retaking the lead. ((That is not to take away from his last drive. Once he got the first down on 4th and short he went 3-3 / 68 yds in the last minute and that was awesome.)

Winning ugly is a beautiful thing.

.

 

[ulukinatme]

Crusader hit the nail on the head. Virginia's defense was a little underrated, and honestly our offense as a whole was not performing well all game. It can't be pinned on Malik, more than anything it starts up front with the OL and we were struggling to pick up the blitz. Even before the OL though, it starts with the coaches. We should have executed more screens and tosses to the outside to keep them honest.

 

[Big23Head]

FWIW, he stayed in Arizona after the bowl game to get additional training and time in with QB coach Dennis Gile, per Scout. Expected to be full go for spring