Notre Dame Football: Will Brandon Wimbush be taken in 2019 NFL Draft?

Beyond the possible success of Notre Dame football in 2018 lies the volatile 2019 NFL Draft stock of its potential starting quarterback Brandon Wimbush.

Notre Dame football could run into an issue if the starting quarterback that leads the offense out on the field in Week 1 against the Michigan Wolverines doesn’t perform up to par. Brandon Wimbush should carry the slight edge in the quarterback battle over Ian Book and incoming freshman Phil Jurkovec entering fall camp.

However, there is still a stigma in the air about Wimbush’s throwing ability. He showed no ability to improve his passing accuracy and pocket presence in key games down the stretch last year. It cost the Fighting Irish a chance at the College Football Playoff when it once looked like the team was in great position to finish top four.

At first glance, the passing stats for Wimbush look solid for the entirety of the 2017 season. However, his completion percentage and passing stats against the Miami Hurricanes and Stanford Cardinal are more telling of the Wimbush narrative from last season. The losses to both Miami and Stanford were two of the only three games where Wimbush didn’t have a single rushing touchdown.

Part of the reason why Wimbush couldn’t find as much room to run in those two losses was the lack of effectiveness and rhythm in the passing game. When Wimbush could open up the field to use his legs or hand it to star running back Josh Adams, the Notre Dame offense ran smooth.

Wimbush’s completion percentage fell below 50 percent by season’s end. He was also yanked from the Citrus Bowl before Book led Notre Dame to victory over the LSU Tigers in the fourth quarter. That win over LSU was the other of the three games where Wimbush didn’t get into the end zone using his legs.

Moreover, to understand the potential for Wimbush to take his career to the next level we need to understand his past trends. There was a ton of hype surrounding Wimbush entering last season. That hype built through a nice early season run for the Irish. It collapsed behind Wimbush down the stretch, though.

In most imaginable scenarios, it would either take a miraculous turnaround for Wimbush’s arm or a position switch for a selection in the 2019 NFL Draft to become possible. Wimbush is a natural athlete that is as speedy as they come at quarterback. But, Wimbush has made a position switch before to help out his career and team at the time and he could do it again to make it to the NFL.

As either a tight end or wide receiver, Wimbush could impress NFL scouts with his measurables. Or, he could come back to Notre Dame for one more year if he sees some progress with his accuracy throughout the 2018 campaign. It would take a ton of faith from an NFL team to take the chance on Wimbush assuming similar circumstances after this season.