Notre Dame Football: Is Jack Coan the best QB1 option for 2021?

Everyone just expects Jack Coan to be Notre Dame football’s starting quarterback in 2021 but that may be too quick of a judgement.

After landing the Wisconsin transfer quarterback this offseason, Brian Kelly will be forced to choose between Coan and a few guys he recruited. Second-year quarterback Drew Pyne could be the next star in the Kelly system, but it could also be third-year gunslinger Brendon Clark. Don’t count out incoming freshman Tyler Buchner, either. He was a top-70 recruit.

But the overwhelming consensus seems to point to Coan taking over as the starter when the season starts in September.

When the Fighting Irish take the field in Tallahassee against Florida State on Sept. 5, everyone seems to be expecting Coan to trot out there and give them the best chance to win. But why?

Coan was an average quarterback at Wisconsin, passing for 2,727 yards and 18 touchdowns with five interceptions on 69 percent completions. Those numbers may seem impressive, but when you consider the fact that he wasn’t all that great against the Big Ten’s best teams in 2019 and has mediocre down-field passing abilities, you take those numbers with a grain of salt.

Plus having Jonathan Taylor behind him really took the pressure off and he had his best receiving year with the Badgers in 2019. Coan had plenty of dump-offs to Taylor.

So is he really the best option for Notre Dame as QB1?

Who gives Notre Dame the best chance to win?

Coan has the experience and he led Wisconsin to the 2019 Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl appearance, losing to Ohio State and Oregon in those big games, but does he have the arm talent to lead the Irish?

Watching his throwing motion and lack of deep accuracy, I think the Irish would be best to try every option before just settling on Coan. Everyone is expecting Coan to win the starting job, but if there was a fair and open competition, Kelly may realize that Pyne, Clark and Buchner give the team a better chance to win early and often.

If I were to pick the ideal day one starter for the Irish in 2021, I’d go with Pyne because he got a year to learn behind Ian Book and he seems like the perfect Kelly quarterback. He could thrive under this coaching staff and Tommy Rees.

Coan may start the season as QB1 because of that experience and it’s exactly why he was brought to South Bend, but I’d be shocked if Pyne wasn’t the starter by Week 4 or 5.

Pyne and Buchner give the Irish the best chance to win but Kelly is still Kelly and I don’t see him starting a true freshman in Week 1.