Can Brian Kelly Really Make a Bad Decision When Choosing a Quarterback?

All right now that we got the introductions out of the way, let’s get down to business...FOOTBALL!

We’re almost three weeks away from kickoff in Austin and still the biggest story that surrounds the Irish is the quarterback situation. Will it be DeShone Kizer? Will it be Malik Zaire? Or will it be some combination of both?

I feel Irish fans are pretty split on who they want to start and for good reason. You have the reliable and experienced player in Kizer. Then you have the freakishly athletic Zaire, who we’ve only seen glimpses of, albeit they were impressive glimpses. So this brings the question, “Can Brian Kelly really make a bad decision with either guy?” To be blunt, the answer is no.

I’ll admit I’ve been Team Kizer all along. He showed me everything last season to warrant him getting the job. He has the big arm, which also is accurate. He never seems to get rattled in big situations. For the most part Kizer was the main reason why Notre Dame was ever in the game against Clemson and Stanford last season.

At 6’4” 230 lbs, you’d think Kizer would be a big lumbering type of athlete, but he’s not. He has some sneaky athleticism. He’s not as much of a freak as Zaire, but he can turn on the jets and run away from you if need be. (See the Temple game last year) To me, Kizer is the complete package. He has the physical tools, intangibles and experience.

With that being said, I wouldn’t be upset if Zaire was tabbed to be the starter. While we’ve only seen a few in game situations from him, I get the inclination that Zaire also possesses many of the same qualities of Kizer. Zaire also has a huge arm and as mentioned before he’s an absolute freak of an athlete. By all accounts he has the mentality to succeed as the starting quarterback. If you watched any of the Showtime series last year, you saw that even when he was hurt Zaire was engaged with the team and always helping. That tells me he’s a team guy and wants to win bad.

While I do think Kizer deserves the job, I don’t think Kelly can go wrong with either. Both guys will give the Irish offense a run/pass option that you need from your quarterback in a spread offense. Most importantly, both have the ability to lead.

Even if the guy he picks doesn’t work out, you couldn’t blame Kelly’s choice because both are excellent football players.

While it will be a tough decision for Kelly, it seems impossible to make a bad one. Because whoever he picks, the Irish offense will thrive either way.