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Does Mauk Picking Missouri Mean No QB for Notre Dame in the 2012 class?
Posted by Eric Murtaugh on July 7th, 2011 under Football
Mauk had 85 total touchdowns and threw for 5,670 yards as a junior in 2010.
Let the quarterback talk continue!
Maty Mauk, considered one of Notre Dame’s top targets for the quarterback position in the 2012 class, verbally committed to Missouri this morning.
With the other top target Gunner Kiel seemingly slowly walking away from an Irish offer and towards Alabama, Oklahoma, or Indiana, it appears as though Notre Dame will not snag any highly rated signal callers in this class.
Does Mauk going to the Tigers mean the Irish will completely pass on a quarterback though?
It’s still early, and the coaching staff will have plenty of time to flip a highly rated recruit or even sign a 3-star prospect late in the game, but I’ve been on record as saying Notre Dame should pass on a quarterback this time around.
“But we need to take a quarterback every single year,” you may remark.
Well, it’s not that simple.
First of all, the goal is to have solid depth at quarterback and Notre Dame most definitely has that right now.
Some may point to the fiasco last year as proof positive that there needs to be a QB every cycle, but now Hendrix and Golson have fully entered the equation.
What’s more, when was the last time Notre Dame had legitimate depth at quarterback like they do now?
Can you even name a backup besides Evan Sharpley?
And come on, we had Evan Sharpley as a backup for a long time! That’s a far cry from where the program is at right now.
Perhaps Hendrix and Golson are unproven, but I’m willing to bet they are as talented of players at QB as we’ve seen in South Bend outside of Quinn, Clausen, and Crist…and I mean that going back into the late 1990′s.
Sure, someone could transfer or get injured and leave a precarious hole in the depth chart, yet the same is basically true even if you bring on another quarterback in 2012, and in most cases that would actually virtually guarantee a transfer.
Just look back to 2007 when Notre Dame signed Clausen.
At the start of that ill fated season, the Irish actually had good depth at quarterback (if a lot of inexperience), but Zach Frazer and Demetrius Jones read the writing on the wall and transferred, leaving a huge hole under center.
So while passing on a quarterback for 2012 is a risk, it is much more risky in my opinion to bring in another quarterback and almost guarantee a transfer.
That’s basically been my whole issue with the numbers right now.
This won’t be an overly large class, we have very good depth and talent at QB right now, and plenty of eligibility left.
I never saw the need to bring in Mauk, just to see Hendrix transfer.
At the same time, it’s definitely not an easy decision to make if you’re part of the coaching staff, but it is one I think should be, or shall I say, CAN be made this time around.
As far as Mauk is concerned, I was never that enamored with him.
My scouting report: A poor man’s Everett Golson, meaning he has the same size as Golson, but not the athleticism or arm as the South Carolina product. Plays in a wacky offense that will hamper his ability to adjust to the college game as an underclassman. There are some character concerns in that his commitment would entail a lot of the same baggage Tate Forcier brought to Michigan (another player Mauk is also compared to skill-wise). Does not have a fundamentally sound throwing motion, although he has good arm strength, there’s just not a lot of evidence that he’ll be a precision passer in a more conventional spread offense in college. Passing numbers are very impressive, but plays very weak competition. Athleticism and speed are good, although a 5.9 YPC is nothing special against substandard competition and large running lanes created by constant 5-wide formations.
Needless to say I think Mauk is overrated as the No. 10-19th best quarterback in the country according to the three main services.
However, he could have been a perfect addition to Notre Dame in the sense that he would have added to the depth, been allowed plenty of time to develop, and possibly not forced Hendrix or Golson to transfer.
But that is a risk I would be unwilling to take right now if I was head football coach in South Bend.
For whatever reason, Mauk was very high on the Irish board and the relations seemed to cool considerably over the past few months. We can only speculate as to why that happened, but it might be prudent to get used to the Irish not picking up a quarterback for 2012.
Best of luck to Mauk at Mizzou.
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chrishaines
July 7th, 2011 at 11:30 pm
The Irish are deep at QB with too many holes to fill before becoming deep at other positions.
I would like to see the Irish take:
2 RB
1-2 more WR
2 more OL
1 more DB
1 SDE
1 SDE/NT hybrid
1 LB
That’s 9-10 more for a class of 20-21.
July 8th, 2011 at 3:58 am
I like the looks of that Michael.
I’d probably add another linebacker and subtract an offensive lineman, but other than that, I totally agree.
Mike D. said:
July 8th, 2011 at 7:09 am
I’m glad he didn’t end up with us, and I’m also glad we’re not losing Kiel to Missouri.
Eric, do you know if Devin Fuller is still considering us? Like Baratti, he’s a QB that can also play DB.
July 8th, 2011 at 8:04 am
I’ve heard next to nothing about Fuller in conjunction with Notre Dame.
Anyone else hear different?
Chris said:
July 8th, 2011 at 10:18 am
Crist has two years of eligibility remaining, Rees has three, Hendrix has four and Golson five if he keeps his redshirt. Where exactly would a QB fit? Maybe next year if Crist goes pro, or if someone transfers, but as of now Notre Dame has plenty of options and eligibility at QB.
Quick tangent; why exactly did Charlie Weis recruit Demetrius Jones? That guy was never going to fit into a Charlie Weis offense, and seeing Weis try to adjust his offense for Jones for a half was brutally painful. I feel bad that good athletes like Carlyle Holiday (who played receiver in the NFL) and Demetrius Jones were wasted playing QB here in offenses ill-suited for them. Willingham got stuck with Holiday (remember Pat Dillingham, his backup? Good lord), but what the hell was Weis thinking with Jones?
July 8th, 2011 at 11:38 am
Chris,
That was probably Weis’ biggest folly, other than never putting a good defense on the field. That was an early sign that things were not going to be pretty from there on out.
bill said:
July 9th, 2011 at 4:12 am
Mike D
According to Scouts, Fuller, Old Tappan, N.J., is a 4* and the 7th ranked QB, 6’0 185. He continues to have the Irish on his list along with about 20 other top schools.
Marty Healy said:
July 9th, 2011 at 9:33 am
By Dec /Jan all of these recruits will have played out their senior seasons. Many of these recruits stock will have risen, many will have fallen(injuries). By that same time ND will have probably played 3 if not all 4 quarterbacks. Thru their play, injuries, declaration to the draft, ETC. ETC. the focus will be much clearer as to our needs. MAYBE!!
Kelly can put out the “Help Wanted” sign then if need be. This may be true for many other positions along the roster. (although we need a running back) ND’s appeal to recruits (or at least their parents) has risen over the past 6 months. No need to sign recruits who may end up with poor Senior seasons, injured, etc. Many of these might flip.
Marty Healy said:
July 9th, 2011 at 10:03 am
“Many of these might flip. ” was not in reference to the players injured or having poor seasons, rather to all others!
Oh and by the way, Eric Thanks for that series of articles you wrote on the depth position by postion grouping. They were Great! I refer back to those all the time for eligibility, names, etc. you made me feel as if I might know something!! LOL
burger22 said:
July 9th, 2011 at 10:25 am
Yeah I’m not too worried. With the depth we have we can afford to miss out on a QB this recruiting cycle. If the staff is focusing on high school juniors already then that should put us in good position going into next year. I do think Kelly is right and we should get a QB every year but we can afford to miss this time around. There are plenty of other holes to fill.
burger23 said:
July 9th, 2011 at 10:29 am
Stupid iPhone. That comment was from me not some n00b calling himself burger22.
Zach said:
July 9th, 2011 at 10:34 am
The ND staff really only focused on 2 pure QB targets this cycle, Gunner Kiel and Maty Mauk. They tried to push Mauk for an early commitment and he slowed down and they cooled on him late. The loaded depth chart is a part of what both Kiel and Mauk were concerned about. The staff for the last couple of months has really focused on evaluating the class of 2013 QB targets which is a much deeper class. I personally believe that Golson is better than either of these guys the staff pursued this spring.
borromini said:
July 9th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Kiel is a better pure passer than Golson. Golson is better suited for the Irish spread.
July 9th, 2011 at 6:31 pm
Marty,
Your welcome…those posts are always fun to do.
From what I’ve seen of Kiel, I think he’d be a great fit in this offense. I don’t really get how people think he’s strictly a pro offense QB. He runs plenty of shotgun, option read in his H.S. offense and runs pretty well for a big guy.
With that said, if the No. 1 QB in the country comes to Notre Dame, one of our guys is transferring. That’s a 100% guarantee.
And since Golson and Hendrix have so much upside and are better runners, the coaching staff probably figures we’re better off right now. And you know Kiel knows this…hence he’s not coming to South Bend.
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