Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/561665
BY ANDREW OWENS D uring this season, like any other, Notre Dame's fate will depend largely on how 10 key perform- ers produce in head coach Brian Kelly's critical sixth season with the Irish. This list is a look at the 10 players on Notre Dame's roster that hold the power to swing this pivotal season one direction or the other based on their individual play. It's not a list of the 10 most athletic or talented players on the roster, although several of them would make that countdown as well. Four months from now, when it comes time for the 2015 season post- mortem, we believe many of the ques- tions of why the Irish fared the way they did will likely be answered by parsing the performances of the mem- bers of this list. 1. QB MALIK ZAIRE Everything starts with the quarter- back, both at Notre Dame and around college football. Everett Golson has transferred to Florida State, so the program's fate under center depends solely on Zaire, barring an injury. Golson took the Irish to dramatic heights (a yellow flag away from a win at No. 2 Florida State to reach 7-0) and devastating lows (22 turnovers and a four-game losing streak to end the sea- son). With Zaire, Notre Dame will likely opt for a more balanced attack than what was featured last season, and the left-hander is the ideal player to run the read-option due to his comfort in the looks to go along with the physique of a bruising running back. The ultra-confident Zaire has honed in on the details that Kelly thinks could make him a playoff-caliber quarter- back. "What he's really done a very good job of is really begin to focus in on that everything is not important. There are only a few things you need to focus in on," Kelly said. "He wanted to focus in on everything, so we really had to get his eyes on some very important detail things. He's done a much better job of being more lasered in that focus. "He was sometimes thinking about way too much minutiae. It wasn't that it was not football-related; it was just too much information. When he and I kind of really said, 'Look, if you could keep it a lot simpler and focus on these things,' it's been really good for him. KEY INDICATORS Our picks for the 10 Irish players that wield the most influence on the outcome of the 2015 season