Notre Dame Quarterback Battle Winning Predictions

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have two gifted quarterbacks, but head coach Brian Kelly has yet to decide who his starter will be when the 2016 regular season opens in a few weeks. Kelly’s headache can be your fortune thanks to the value-packed Notre Dame Quarterback battle betting odds we’re offering. Now, let’s find out if the starter will be DeShone Kizer or Malik Zaire when the regular season kicks off.

A Closer Look At The Fighting Irish Quarterback Battle Winning Predictions

DeShone Kizer -375 Malik Zaire +270        

Malik Zaire

The 6-1, 225-pound Malik Zaire clearly looked like the future at Notre Dame – until suffering a season-ending ankle injury last season. Now a senior, Zaire completed 65.0 percent of his passes a year ago while throwing for 428 yards and four touchdowns with no picks in just two games before suffering a season-ending injury.

DeShone Kizer

As a sophomore last season, DeShone Kizer led the Irish to a 10-1 record, with his only loss coming against No. 1 Clemson. The 6’4”, 230-pound Kizer stepped in for an injured Zaire and completed 63.0 percent of his passes for 2,885 yards with 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions from Week 2 on. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to earn him the starting spot outright this season.

Expert Analysis and Prediction

Malik Zaire is the more athletically gifted of the two quarterbacks, although DeShone Kizer is also a dual-threat signal-caller. The left-handed Zaire is tough to prepare for and the kind of playmaker that gives defenses absolute nightmares while the 6-4, 230-pound Kizer has more of the next-level tools and pocket passing ability that will translate to the next level. While head coach Brian Kelly announced on Wednesday that both quarterbacks will play in the Irish’s regular season opener against Texas, I’m going with Malik Zaire to be named the ‘starter’ that plays the more significant minutes in 2016. Kizer has one more season remaining and I suspect that fact weighed in Kelly’s decision to go with a two-quarterback system – at least until it proves detrimental to one or both signal-callers. Right now though, I’m going with Malik Zaire to become Notre Dame’s eventual starter in 2016!

My Pick: Malik Zaire