Malik Zaire

[seanscarborough]

He's my favorite to start next year. I love Kizer and love Zaire- happy either way, I just think Zaire gets the nod again. He opens up the offense more, has a great arm and good speed. Just don't see him sitting, not with his leadership and swagger. If he does in fact transfer, that guy can start wherever he wants day 1. (LSU, Bama, Florida, USC, UCLA, Michigan, Ohio State etc etc)

Thoughts?

[piratey]

Originally Posted by seanscarborough

He's my favorite to start next year. I love Kizer and love Zaire- happy either way, I just think Zaire gets the nod again. He opens up the offense more, has a great arm and good speed. Just don't see him sitting, not with his leadership and swagger. If he does in fact transfer, that guy can start wherever he wants day 1. (LSU, Bama, Florida, USC, UCLA, Michigan, Ohio State etc etc)

Thoughts?

Are we basing this solely on 2.5 games of play? Because Kizer's body of work is definitely more expansive....

[irishrush]

I think Kizer is going to be tough to unseat. I actually like Kizer's cool leadership better than Zaire's more emotional personality. Just my taste.

They will give us a nice one two punch. I'd like to see Zaire in the red zone more.

[seanscarborough]

Not necessarily his body of work, but rather his potential. Malik is dynamic and electric - it's hard to ignore how much talent he has! But Kizer is the collected general back there. Malik clearly wins the talent battle. We'll see if he can be as poised as Kizer though. Something tells me Malik will find a way.

[NDNorm]

Originally Posted by seanscarborough

He's my favorite to start next year. I love Kizer and love Zaire- happy either way, I just think Zaire gets the nod again. He opens up the offense more, has a great arm and good speed. Just don't see him sitting, not with his leadership and swagger. If he does in fact transfer, that guy can start wherever he wants day 1. (LSU, Bama, Florida, USC, UCLA, Michigan, Ohio State etc etc)

Thoughts?

I like Malik for all those same reasons. Body of work to gauge him on? Of course much smaller than Kizer's, but there's an "it" factor w/Malik that I can't ignore. Love the intangibles.

Having said that, we can't go wrong either way, and I REALLY hope he doesn't consider a transfer.

[Dardo]

Originally Posted by seanscarborough

Not necessarily his body of work, but rather his potential. Malik is dynamic and electric - it's hard to ignore how much talent he has! But Kizer is the collected general back there. Malik clearly wins the talent battle. We'll see if he can be as poised as Kizer though. Something tells me Malik will find a way.

I'm not sure I agree. Kizer has thrown the ball really well most of the year, and he throws the best deep ball I've seen from an ND QB outside of Clausen. He is also a very good runner from the QB spot. Malik is obviously a better runner, but I'm not sure how big the gap really is.

[IrishGuy]

Originally Posted by seanscarborough

He's my favorite to start next year. I love Kizer and love Zaire- happy either way, I just think Zaire gets the nod again. He opens up the offense more, has a great arm and good speed. Just don't see him sitting, not with his leadership and swagger. If he does in fact transfer, that guy can start wherever he wants day 1. (LSU, Bama, Florida, USC, UCLA, Michigan, Ohio State etc etc)

Thoughts?

I honestly think Zaire's injury cost him more than a year of playing.

Kizer has the most experience, has shown traits that Kelly favored in Rees, can run the whole offense, and didn't exactly stink up the joint with his play.

Though I do not think Kelly would go into the Spring without saying that the competition for QB is open....the reality is that Kelly will likely only be watching the battle between Wimbush and Zaire for who is #2.

[TheRizz]

That's what we have sprint for boys. And I'm sure Kelly will say it's to close to call after 15 practices.

Buckle your seat belt

[AlabamaDuck]

It is going to be some very tough competition especially when Wimbush is thrown in.
Zaire had one good game where his passing was very accurate but it usually isn't that good. He has a strong arm but being less accurate than Kizer and maye Wimbush, will hurt his chances.
From now till August, Kizer will improve a lot. JMO

[Green Goblin]

I wouldn't mind seeing the speedier Zaire in the redzone running the option.

You can put Kizer in between the 20s. He can withstand the hits.

[VCDomer]

Originally Posted by Dardo

I'm not sure I agree. Kizer has thrown the ball really well most of the year, and he throws the best deep ball I've seen from an ND QB outside of Clausen. He is also a very good runner from the QB spot. Malik is obviously a better runner, but I'm not sure how big the gap really is.

My personal favorite for the starter next year is Malik. Kizer does throw a nice long ball... but his touch on short passes needs ALOT of work IMHO. I also believe he is way to slow to react. Maybe that will come with more experience, but my gut tells me it will be Malik who wins the starting job.

[LasVegasIrish]

Originally Posted by Dardo

I'm not sure I agree. Kizer has thrown the ball really well most of the year, and he throws the best deep ball I've seen from an ND QB outside of Clausen. He is also a very good runner from the QB spot. Malik is obviously a better runner, but I'm not sure how big the gap really is.

I'm with you Dardo. I cannot believably say that Zaire is more talented. In fact, I think I can make a stronger case for Kizer. If we are talking about a foot race? Ok give me Zaire...but I think they have similar arm strength and Kizer demonstrated tremendous dual threat ability as the season went on. I remember the play against Temple where he just ran past secondary players for an 80 yard score. The guy can run a little.

On top of that, I think he shows better pocket presence and awareness, touch on his throws, and rare accuracy for a freshman.

Now...that's not a shot at Zaire, as I believe he has tremendous talent as well, but I thought he lacked touch on throws and was more Golson-Esque in the pocket. Not turnovers, but more likely to take off and run instead of keep his eyes down field when the play broke down or pressure was there.

[Kid Gloves]

Two words:

Deshone. Kizer.

Enough said.

[IRISH812]

This is going to be a really tough situation. Most people are going to say it's a great situation to have, but Kelly has to be careful how he handles it. I think the team loves both Zaire and Kizer, but I still fear the locker room may be divided on who they want to start much like Ohio State this year. As much as I'd love it if we found a way to play both of them, the best move is to just pick a starter and give him the reigns. If the person who loses out on the job transfers then so be it. No matter what the case is, if ND loses next year you know the blame will be on Kelly for picking the wrong QB.

[seanscarborough]

Originally Posted by Kid Gloves

Two words:

Deshone. Kizer.

Enough said.

I see what you're saying...but Malik was the starter for a reason to start the season. And they both had essentially the same amount of experience and Malik won the competition...

[irishwavend]

If Zaire is smart, he stays around and finishes up. Sees how things go... If they don't go well, he always has his 5th year transfer option.

[Franco]

Originally Posted by Dardo

I'm not sure I agree. Kizer has thrown the ball really well most of the year, and he throws the best deep ball I've seen from an ND QB outside of Clausen. He is also a very good runner from the QB spot. Malik is obviously a better runner, but I'm not sure how big the gap really is.

Definitely agree except that I Kizer throws a much better deep ball than Clausen. I rarely saw Clausen actually lead his receivers on over-the-shoulder long bombs

[Franco]

Originally Posted by seanscarborough

I see what you're saying...but Malik was the starter for a reason to start the season. And they both had essentially the same amount of experience and Malik won the competition...

Yup, he was the starter because he had more experience in the system than Kizer, and had more gametime experience than Kizer

Now Kizer has 5 times the game experience of Malik so there is no advantage anymore...you can't beat live gametime experience

[seanscarborough]

Originally Posted by Franco

Definitely agree except that I Kizer throws a much better deep ball than Clausen. I rarely saw Clausen actually lead his receivers on over-the-shoulder long bombs

Let's not forget Zaire's 60 yard dime that he dropped to Will Fuller after half time against UVA.

I like them both. The problem is, as a fan, you want all your favorites to start and well- we have three stud qb's. We shall see gentleman!

[Franco]

Originally Posted by seanscarborough

Let's not forget Zaire's 60 yard dime that he dropped to Will Fuller after half time against UVA.

I like them both. The problem is, as a fan, you want all your favorites to start and well- we have three stud qb's. We shall see gentleman!

lol totally...I want all three to succeed and will be sad to see one inevitably leaves

[OKCIrish99]

Originally Posted by Green Goblin

I wouldn't mind seeing the speedier Zaire in the redzone running the option.

You can put Kizer in between the 20s. He can withstand the hits.

Agree completely. I'd like to see this along with Zaire used as a 3rd down qb also. It'd be lunacy to replace Kizer after his play last year.

[WeaverIrish]

Originally Posted by seanscarborough

I see what you're saying...but Malik was the starter for a reason to start the season. And they both had essentially the same amount of experience and Malik won the competition...

He beat a Kizer who has said that he had no confidence coming into the year, a Kizer who thought that he should switch sports, this is clearly a different Kizer. Also it is hard to say that Zaire is clearly more talented when we have seen what Kizer is capable of.

[Franco]

Originally Posted by OKCIrish99

Agree completely. I'd like to see this along with Zaire used as a 3rd down qb also. It'd be lunacy to replace Kizer after his play last year.

ohh how about Kizer, as the QB, with Zaire to his left, and Prosise (or whatever other RB) to his right

That would be a killer redzone package...

Direct snap to Zaire, with big bodied Kizer blocking for him like a fullback!
Handoff to Zaire who fakes the run and throws it to a wide open receiver in the end zone!!!

[Kid Gloves]

Originally Posted by seanscarborough

I see what you're saying...but Malik was the starter for a reason to start the season. And they both had essentially the same amount of experience and Malik won the competition...

I hear ha, but IMO Kizer has made up for all that with the experience and game play this year. I remember in one of the Season with ND showtime episodes, Kizer referenced his poor play and lack of confidence over the Spring and Summer. I think that really affected him. Once he was thrust into the starting job he had to perform and I think that restored and grew his confidence.

I can tell you this, I think Kizer will be a top QB NFL prospect with his abilities. I don't think Malik will be a NFL QB prospect. I am going with Kizer for my money. And this is no knock against Malik either as I am a big fan of him and his abilities as well. I just think Kizer has the IT factor. You don't come from behind on as many drives as he did late in games without it.

Also, people forget that the big victory we had against LSU was also do to Golson making some nice plays with his arm. It wasn't all Malik.

[OKCIrish99]

Originally Posted by Franco

ohh how about Kizer, as the QB, with Zaire to his left, and Prosise (or whatever other RB) to his right

That would be a killer redzone package...

Direct snap to Zaire, with big bodied Kizer blocking for him like a fullback!
Handoff to Zaire who fakes the run and throws it to a wide open receiver in the end zone!!!

Give me Malik in shotgun with the option to pitch to Adams on the left and Prosise on the right. Malik/Adams/Prosise would be a lethal option set.