Charlie Weis pulled a fast one on the Notre Dame fan base today as he's narrowed the starting QB competition down from 4 potential starters all the way down to 3. Most had expected coach to narrow it down to 2 potential starters at the end of this month (today or
tomorrow by elimination (See, Dad! All that tuition didn't go to waste!)).
The "final 3" are Evan Sharpley, Jimmy Clausen, and Demetrius Jones.
"After concluding spring ball evaluations, Evan Sharpley, Demetrius Jones and Jimmy Clausen remain as the main contenders. Each of these three young men brought something unique to the QB competition. Evan ran the operation the best, Jimmy threw the ball the best, and Demetrius made the most plays. For these reasons, they will compete for playing time."
Some analysis (in bullet point form!), since we know you're dying to know what we think about this development.
- Weis is not approaching this season as a rebuilding year. He likes to win, and he likes to win now. And so he's keeping the 2 guys that give him the best shot to win right now in the race (Sharpley and Jones). Sharpley provides a consistent, trust-worthy ability to manage an offense. Sort of a "just don't lose it for the rest of us" style of play. Jones provides the wild-card physical ability that can break some big plays and keep a team in contention for some important games.
- Clausen has the ability to start, but needs polishing. He's throwing the ball the best. Great, so his mechanics/skills are the best, but he doesn't have the depth of knowledge/decision making skills of Sharpley. Yet. Given that Charlie isn't (we think) just accepting 2007 as a rebuild year, Clausen's got some work to do if he wants to start. It's quiet in South Bend in the summer, Jimmy (Believe me, I know.). Perfect chance to put in the work.
- We sincerely hope that Zach Frazer doesn't leave the team as a result of this announcement. He's "one of us" now. "Part of the family." And Weis is the sort of coach that will play the best player, meaning that the door isn't closed on Zach to move up the chart.
- Weis opted not to penalize DD for that little traffic stop/weed confusion from the past few weeks. At least not in the form of blowing him out of the running to start. I'll bet there were private ramifications, however.
- I don't think the old Lou Holtz maxim about "not having a number 1" holds just yet. A) We don't know if one of the "top 3" is a clear #1 in Charlie's mind. B) Charlie tends to like to go with the flow in tactics and strategy. He may just be going with the flow in a very competitive QB battle right here. C) By having a "top 3" rather than a "top 2" in the "QB Controversy" over the summer, you sort of dilute the overall pressure from media/fans on each of the contenders.
- There's another tidbit in the linked press release about summer training camp being held on the regular (fenced) practice fields rather than the traditional, wide-open fields near the bookstore. Meaning that the name of the #1 QB will not be made public until Georgia Tech's defense finds out just before the first snap of the ball. You and I think, "It's just Georgia Tech," but Charlie takes nothing for granted, including an element of surprise over an opponent - any opponent.
- More thoughts to come, maybe. Please throw in your 2 cents in the comments.
By gwzimm May 30, 2007 - 3:59 pm
Actually, if I were CW, I wouldn’t have committed to announcing ANYTHING until 10 minutes before kickoff this September. Why give anyone a head start on preparation? CW doesn’t owe anyone anything, least of all the media.
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By OC Domer May 30, 2007 - 4:08 pm
Hmmm. Of course the QB situation is most interesting, especially after Frazer announced in the Spring that he was sure he was the leading contender for the job.
Did Weis announce that all three of the remaining quarterbacks will get playing time in the season opener? No, wait, that was Jim Tressel. OSU opens with Youngstown State and Akron, so they have plenty of time to sort all that out. The Irish, by way of contrast, don’t have eight Fall scrimmages before playing a meaningful game.
I can see Evan Sharpley starting the opener (most time in the system) as JC gets acclimated to college play and takes over mid-season, while DJ brings the change of pace and spark off the bench as circumstances dictate.
Congrats to the team on their GPA. I graduated with just under a 3.00 for 4 years, and I wasn’t playing football. (Engineering major).
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By ForeverFaust May 30, 2007 - 5:07 pm
I can see Charlie starting Sharpley and also bringing in DJ during the game. I think Charlie’s offense is so complex for Claussen to learn in such a short time. Even if this guy is a genius, he still has to adjust to the college game. Give him time. If the offense is horrific by mid-season, then bring him in. Didn’t the same thing happen to Quinn? And we all know that Mother F@&%ing Tyrone’s offense was nothing even close to Charlies’s!
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By domer.mq May 30, 2007 - 5:10 pm
Actually, ForeverFaust, if it’s an issue of Clausen learning the offense, it’s sort of interesting. He’s had the same amount of time to learn the O as Brady did up to this point. Of course, Brady, in his first Spring with Weis, didn’t also have to adjust to college life.
I don’t think it’s a matter of learning the offense. It’s just a matter of building some savvy.
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By Tony Woltermann May 30, 2007 - 9:31 pm
Possibilities. CW was set to go to two until DJ’s recent brushwith the highway patrol. Then figured he better have a spare. Or: Evan really surprised CW with his progress so he was left in the mix. The thought of losing either DJ or JC if they were not in the mix was not acceptable. My early guess would have been keep JC and DJ as the two and ES would have stayed around because of his baseball connections. Pure speculation.
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