Most of the sentiment seems to favor Malik on this thread but i really think some of that flows from disappointment in the way the team finished its last 2 games.
To keep perspective , Kizer was the 15th rated QB in the country , ahead of Conner Cook, Marquise Williams, J T Barret, Paxston Lynch etc, he was the highest ranked freshman in the country, only behind some Top level experienced starters like Mayfield, Watson, Seth Russell, Boynkin etc.
Malik had 2 starts, one was great & one was poor , he was 7/18 when he went out against Virginia , he was in a funk in the away setting and was not responding well to adversity in that game. Kizer came in and went 12/18 with a last second long TD to save the win.
Given Malik's play likely we lose that Virginia game that needed a complete turnaround at QB to pull it out.
Consistency from what we have seen clearly falls to Kizer , Malik had 2 starts, one great against Texas one Poor against Virginia. Kizer played strong against Clemson against terrific adversity , he pulled out the Virginia & Temple game on the last drive (a clear mark of a special QB)--and he ran a great last drive against Stanford that if there was any justice should have won that game too.
Only really bad regular season game for Kizer was BC out of 11 regulars season games, Malik had 2 games and was 50/50 one good one bad.
There seems to be little reason to expect that the Virginia game was an anomaly and would have been his only off performance. Likely 2 or 3 more weak games from Zaire and with our defense that would have translated to losses.
Kizer after a full season should be expected to make that big jump in year two especially after having the strongest season we have had at ND in years for a first year starter.
Where as Malik will have to find his sea legs coming back from injury and knocking off lots of rust.
Malik is the better runner but coming off a serious injury its highly optimistic to expect him to carry the ball 15 times a game like nothing happened.
Kizer has shown a lot-- 15th ranked nationally, leading us to only the second double digit win season in 10 years, he showed poise under pressure with two last second wins, he showed the ability to run and pass and has shown durability taking lots of hits.
Malik is a talented player but Kizer has put himself in great position to have a strong second season. What do we do when Malik has a 7/18 game again in his first three 2016 starts and we lose?
Likability just cannot be a factor in the decision or at least should not.
Malik has seniority in years but not in experience!
