Notre Dame Football: Brandon Wimbush follows recent Irish quarterback trend
Notre Dame football is using its fourth straight dual-threat signal caller in 2017. However, will he be able to fill DeShone Kizer’s shoes?
If you’ve followed Notre Dame football since 2012, then you’ve seen a constant with dual threat quarterbacks under center. Head coach Brian Kelly started this trend after reaching the national title in 2012 under Everett Golson. This year’s likely starting quarterback, Brandon Wimbush, will try to emulate not only Golson’s success but the other recent signal callers.
Wimbush will likely be the starter because of a few factors. First, he’s a playmaker. It takes just a few minutes of his high school highlight tape or his 58-yard touchdown run against UMass in 2015 to see that (Video courtesy of Varsity Highlights). His sense of where defenders are while he’s in the pocket is unbelievable. He can escape and make back-breaking runs look easy, because of the type of athlete he is.
Furthermore, Wimbush throws the ball effortlessly. With a flick of the wrist, he can sling the ball 65 yards on a line. He’s got great zip and velocity on the ball, and he can make any throw from all platforms. He doesn’t throw with perfect footwork, but he has such a powerful arm, he doesn’t have to. Especially for the college game, Wimbush will cause lightning-in-a-bottle type of plays.
Wimbush’s 6-foot-2, 225-pound frame makes him a bigger scrambler. He won’t have to worry about injuries as much as most dual threat passers. He’s in a similar frame to Malik Zaire and DeShone Kizer, in terms of weight, not height.
In addition, his style of play fits well in Brian Kelly’s wide open spread offense. Kelly used Kizer’s big arm to his advantage in 2015 and 2016. The two leading receivers over the last two years averaged 20.3 and 18.5 yards per catch respectively. Wimbush will be no different pushing the offense vertically.
The team returns all but one starting receiver from last year including leading receiver Equanimeous St. Brown. At 6-foot-4, 205-pounds, Brown and Wimbush could give defenses nightmares simply because of Wimbush’s downfield arm.
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Now, he hasn’t seen extended in-game action. He played some in a reserve role in 2015 and redshirted in 2016. The team’s spring game on April 22nd will try to remove the murkiness behind his game and whether he can win the job. However, his game and abilities are the most likely to take the job.