Notre Dame post-spring positional breakdown: quarterbacks (2024)

College football fans of my age will feel old when they look at Notre Dame’s roster and see Ron Powlus, III listed as a quarterback. The son of the former mega-recruit heads the back of the pack in the quarterback room and was the fourth and final quarterback to see action during the spring game in May.

If Powlus or any of the others listed in this group see game action in 2021 it means Notre Dame is leading by an insane amount of points or that injuries have entirely decimated the position.

Others:
No. 8 – Cole Capen, 6-4 1/2, 227 lbs., Senior/Junior, Yorba Linda, Cal.
No. 11 – Ron Powlus, III, 6-2 5/8″, 215 lbs., Freshman, Granger, Ind.
No. 27 – Chase Ketterer, 5-11 3/8″, 194 lbs., Soph./Freshman, New Carlisle, Ind.

QB-4: No. 7 Brendon Clark, 6-1 5/8″, 212 lbs., Junior/Sophom*ore, Midlothian, Vir.

Clark is the quarterback you’re most likely to forget about on the depth chart but he comes with the most experience at Notre Dame of all battling for playing time in 2021 and beyond.

Clark played in two games in 2019 as a freshman and against Pitt in 2020 before aggrivating a knee injury that originally occurred in high school. Because of that knee injury Clark was unavailable to practice this spring which puts him behind the eight ball entering the summer.

QB-3: No. 12, Tyler Buchner, 6-1, 207 lbs., Freshman, San Diego, Cal.

Buchner is the clear-cut favorite to be the future of the quarterback position at Notre Dame but even after impressing mightily in the spring game, plenty is working against him.

He missed his sophom*ore year of high school football due to an injury and didn’t play as a senior because of COVID-19 postponing California high school football until spring when Buchner had already enrolled at Notre Dame.

Buchner can absolutely wing it and can throw on the run whether he’s moving to his left or right. He can also tuck and run, something he’ll probably be taught to do a bit less of in the college ranks.

At one point Buchner was a five-star recruit and he enters with the most attention since Gunner Kiel in 2013, but if all goes according to plan he won’t see a whole lot of the field in 2021.

At least not early on.

QB-2: Drew Pyne, 5-11 1/2, 194 lbs., Sophom*ore/Freshman, New Canaan, Conn.

Pyne is essentially the forgotten one of the group as he was a four-star recruit in the 2020 recruiting class but was pretty much forgotten about by some the second that Buchner announced his commitment.

For whatever reason though, I keep getting Ian Book-like vibes from Pyne.

His teammates love him and even with a talented transfer coming in for 2021 and an incredibly gifted true freshman on the roster, Pyne has impressed and made it an actual quarterback competition when that was anything but the expectation once Jack Coan announced his intentions.

Jack Coan, a transfer from Wisconsin, is the assumed starting quarterback entering 2021.

Coan lifts the floor for quarterback production and should prevent any incredible slide that Notre Dame fans may fear with the loss of Ian Book.

Coan injured his foot before the 2020 season at Wisconsin and lost his starting job as a result but presents tremendous poise in the pocket. He’s not Ian Book when it comes to being able to scramble but he’s not a statue, either, but one should think maneuverability more so than someone who will tuck and run with much regularity.

Coan’s touch on deep balls should also help a group of receivers that will enter 2021 with a lot of potentials, but very few things known.

I won’t make the promise that Coan won’t be challenged for the starting job by the mid-point of the year, but barring injury it seems like it’d be a significant upset at this point if the starting job for the opener at Florida State went to anyone else.