Rockne's Roundtable

I think Kelly's policy of only 4 QB's isn't that smart.
QB is the shakiest position on the roster especially at ND. If you're starting an underclassmen you're going to have trouble and QB's tend to bail every year at ND.

With only 4 QB's on the roster you're not taking into account that one of your QB's will probably bail and then you're freshman is a 3rd string. Then you're just an injury away from a Freshman backup.

I can't remember a ND Freshman QB who actually had a solid year beyond Matt Lo, Rees did a decent job a few years ago but our offense was limited.

Powlus is tabbed the starter and Falia splits
Quinn beats out Olsen for 2nd string and Olsen bails
Clausen beats out Jones and Zack and they split.
Rees beats out Crist and he splits.
Golson solidifies the job and Kiel realizes he'll be riding pine for 3 years.

Whether it's the policy or not, it's the reality, and if he wanted more than 4, he's not going to get it, anyway, so it's all rather moot. If you got a QB who is willing to be buried 3-4 deep in the depth chart over time, he's probably not worth his salt in the first place. We're probably lucky that Hendrix is a pre-med or he would have bailed, too. You can't carve up the football into five slices. A coach has all he can do to keep four happy.

Grabbing 5 QB's isn't that difficult. Rees was recruited to be that 5th year recruit, CW offered him because he needed depth and he felt Rees wouldn't mind sitting the bench.

Kelly Helsinki from SO Notre Dame would have been a good get for us this year. You need to go out and get that kid that's either looking for the best degree possible, is a bit undersized, a change of pace, or one who is a die hard ND fan

Grabbing the 5th isn't the problem. Keeping them is. When Weis took Rees and Hendrix there was only Crist ahead of them, so it's hardly an analogous situation. I agree you take one every year, but you're not keeping all of them, at least you won't if they were worth grabbing in the first place. With only 85 scholarships, and the quality of recruits we're competing for, you don't use a scholarship on the long shot what-if contingency that takes all your quarterbacks off the table. For that matter, Baratti could probably run the offense as well as any of the leftovers you're suggesting.

All I can say is your argument looks good on paper, but it's almost never going to work out that way, and there's plenty of history to support it. Your best hope, as I suggested above, is to get a guy like Baratti, who's going to be a contributor at another position, but if it comes to that kind of emergency, you work him in at QB.

Why don't you put the question out there to the board to see what they think about giving Massa or Bragg that last spot as opposed to getting a 4-star recruit at a position of need (and there's going to be a position of need, every year).

We did fine last year when we needed TR. Gunner with zero snaps under his belt might not have been better than #3 anyway. We have a lot of weapons and a good defense. No team in D1 (probably) can have a seamless transition when #1 goes down, but having a Senior backup with 18 starts gives me comfort.