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Notre Dame Football Recruiting

Film Don't Lie: 2019 QB Cade McNamara

July 17, 2017
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Recruiting moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.

The second part isn't a true statement, it's more of an excuse to include a line from Ferris Bueller, but the first part definitely is. The pace of recruiting is at a much different rate than even five years ago. Notre Dame has 64 offers out to members of the 2019 recruiting class. They have to do this to keep up with everyone else and early commitments are more important than ever.

Just like on the field, the quarterback often leads the pack when it comes to building a recruiting class. That's why it's important to find a good fit early in the process as a foundational piece for the future. The Irish appear to have just that after landing a commitment from quarterback Cade McNamara (Reno, Nevada).

Notre Dame's first 2019 commitment doesn't have a big offer list and isn't near the top of the (way-too-early) rankings. He's just an athletic kid that impressed the Irish coaching staff to earn an offer. And, oh yeah, his film shows he can ball too.

I really like this pickup for Notre Dame and had him ranked as a 4 star prospect after watching his film when he was first offered. Let me show you why.

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 186

Projected position: Quarterback

ISD Grade: 91 (4 star)

National Average Grade: 88.2 (3 star)

What he does best:


It's tough to gauge arm talent when a kid is still a sophomore, which is why it's important that the Notre Dame coaching staff had a chance to work him out in person at a camp. I don't see someone who has a natural arm where they can rocket it down the field from any arm angle. He needs to be sound mechanically to make deep throws.

Fortunately, he shows really good balance and solid footwork to utilize his lower half to help deliver the deep ball really well. We don't see him under throwing his receivers.

This throw is as beautiful as it gets. He drops this dime right in the bucket over the shoulder of his receiver off play-action where he gets himself set and might as well start hugging his linemen the moment it leaves his hand.

via GIPHY

This next one is almost a carbon copy in terms of footwork, but it's down the seam instead of the sideline. The receiver is running under it to get to it rather than waiting for it.

via GIPHY

The accuracy and touch on his deep throws are outstanding. So many right-handed quarterbacks aren't comfortable rolling to their left as well, but that isn't the case with McNamara.

via GIPHY

The most impressive thing with these and so many other throws? The receivers aren't breaking stride. That makes them not just big plays, but touchdowns. It's a big reason why he threw 46 of them last season.

McNamara might not be a dynamic dual-threat, but I like his mobility as well. He can be a factor in terms of moving the chains with his feet like he does on this scramble. Everyone is covered and he wisely tucks it after making the first man miss.

via GIPHY

Is he going to be a threat to take it the distance? More than likely he won't be, but he's a good athlete that has a lot more juice as a runner than his future position coach. He's also got "escapability" to avoid the rush.

This is a great example of sliding away from pressure coming right into his face and showing a quick release to get rid of the football for a completion.

via GIPHY

The next play is even better when he appears to be surrounded by the rush, but manages to get out of the pocket and improvise by flipping the football to a receiver. What should have been a sack becomes a positive play, although I'm sure his coaches don't want to see this from him too often. Of course, they want to see him throw within the structure of the play, but it's not a bad thing to have a little bit of Brett Favre to his game.

via GIPHY

Even though he might not be in an offense that uses it a lot (at least I didn't see it), he does look like a terrific fit to run the RPOs (run pass option plays) in this current Notre Dame offense. This throw is not a true RPO, it looks like more a called fake bubble screen, but it's the same kind of action where he has to release the ball quickly from a non-perfect angle.

via GIPHY

Once again McNamara delivered the football to his receiver and gave him a chance to make yards after the catch. Notre Dame is going to be running an offense that relies heavily on YAC and it's definitely a great thing to see him hit so many of his receivers in stride.

What he needs to work on:


I mentioned that he is strong mechanically when throwing the deep ball and that's why he does such a nice job with it, but there are time he isn't as sharp on short and intermediate throws. That's not uncommon for young quarterbacks and he needs to tighten that up because he doesn't appear to have the kind of arm that will bail him out when his mechanics aren't where they need to be.

Obviously he needs to develop physically over the next few years. He has plenty of time to do it, but it's going to be interesting to see where he is by the time he reports to campus as a freshman.

He rushes some of his run fakes and needs to do a better job selling play-action consistently. As long as he keep repping it and stays disciplined, that should not be something to worry about in the long term.

One thing I didn't see is him running the zone read and that goes hand in hand with the run fakes. He can't help the kind of offense he plays in if it doesn't ask him to do that, but he will be asked to do that at Notre Dame. Attention to detail is going to be very important for him as he's not likely ever going to be the prototype quarterback.

I loved seeing this play from where he looked off his first read and then had a quick release to find his second receiver.

via GIPHY

That was good, but I'd certainly like to see more of this from him as a junior where he is going through progressions in the pocket and not just hitting his first read so much in his highlights. It's just part of the maturation that needs to happen with every quarterback.

What is his ceiling?


One of the reasons I really like McNamara is he is going to eventually be a lot better than he is today. He is mobile with good feet and an above average arm. Some of the deep ball throws are exceptional and at a much higher level than some of the highest rated quarterbacks in the recruiting class. I see a lot of really great things from him and he's only a sophomore. He has a lot of physical development left to do and I think he can be a better runner than he showed on film if given more of an opportunity.

I'm actually not really sure why more didn't watch his film and think more highly of him as a prospect, but if I'm higher on him earlier than most, so be it. Maybe it's because he is from Nevada and doesn't play for Bishop Gorman or play in another state traditionally produces quarterbacks?

Whatever the reason, the film doesn't lie. He is a really good prospect and in my opinion a better prospect than some others that are currently ranked higher than him and have more impressive early offer lists. We'll see where he is ranked by the time they finish ranking these quarterbacks 18 months from now. I think can develop into a very good player at the next level and is his skill set fits Notre Dame's offense really well.

 
 
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