Notre Dame Football: Top 5 MVP candidates for Fighting Irish

Oct 31, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer (14) runs for a touchdown as Temple Owls safety Alex Wells (21) pursues in the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

An argument can be made for any of the aforementioned guys on this list could be the team’s biggest MVP, but I have to go with DeShone Kizer. From the minute he took over for the injured Malik Zaire in the Virginia game he did nothing but impress all season long.

He never seemed to get rattled as he showed great poise. He led Notre Dame on two fourth quarter comeback wins against Virginia and Temple and he nearly had two more had the Irish been able to finish against Clemson and Stanford.

The redshirt freshman does have to deal with the unfair scrutiny that comes with being the starting quarterback at Notre Dame. He did a great job of dealing with that all year long. He seemed like a veteran rather than a first year starter.

Kizer finished the season with 2,600 passing yards and 19 TD passes. He also rushed for 499 yards and 9 TDs. His play really helped soften the blow of losing Zaire. Without Kizer’s outstanding play ND would have not been in playoff contention and probably wouldn’t have won 10 games. He without a doubt has to be the MVP of Notre Dame football.

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Much like the running back position, Notre Dame is going a decision to make at quarterback next season. Kizer, Zaire and Brandon Wimbush will all get their chance to make their case for the starting spot.