Notre Dame Football: 5 reasons Phil Jurkovec should start in 2018

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - OCTOBER 01: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and his team wait to head on to the field for the start of the game against the Syracuse Orange at MetLife Stadium on October 1, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

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Incoming Notre Dame football freshman quarterback Phil Jurkovec has plenty of potential, but here’s why he should be named starter in 2018.

Notre Dame has the luxury of returning two quarterbacks with starting experience from a 10-win squad in 2017. The Fighting Irish bounced back from a 4-8 season in 2016 to a 10-3 campaign in 2017 and that was even with DeShone Kizer departing.

The Irish had to rely much more on inexperienced quarterbacks such as Brandon Wimbush, who started for most of the year, and Ian Book. Those two led the team to a nice comeback season, but a lot of the credit will go to the run game and defensive improvement.

Wimbush was looked at as a run-first quarterback who threw the ball as a second option. Book showed more accuracy, but is it enough to win the starting job in 2018?

Not if incoming freshman Phil Jurkovec has anything to say about it. The four-star Army All-American may not be an early enrollee, but he will compete for that starting job.

Here’s why he could just win it.

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