Film Don't Lie | Tyler Buchner
It might feel like a stretch to take a commitment from a quarterback coming off an ACL injury who has only played one season of high school football. In that season the player only threw 37 passes as well.
Yet, it make sense to do so just like it made sense for programs like Alabama, Georgia, and Michigan to offer Tyler Buchner. It only takes a glimpse of his talent to know that Notre Dame just picked up a player with the potential to be special.
Buchner is already rated as one of the top quarterbacks in his recruiting cycle and he’s only going to get better. Irish fans should be very excited about this first commitment for their 2021 class.
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 205
Projected Position: Quarterback
ISD Grade: 91 (4-star)
National Average Grade: 91.1 (4-star)
What he does best:
Buchner checks all of the boxes with his raw talent. He’s a lacrosse player who was previously committed to Michigan in that sport and he’s a very good athlete with good speed. A strong runner with good lateral agility, he will be a dual-threat that can be used in the running game in Notre Dame’s offense.
The arm strength he showed as a freshman and in a camp setting at Notre Dame was remarkable for someone at that stage of his development. He can sling it and generates great torque with his upper body. It just looks easy throwing the ball for him like on this throw rolling to his right where he can flick it easily with his wrist to make a play like this.
He throws a nice high arching deep ball and has nice touch on the fade, but everything about this plays sums up what he is capable of. Pocket awareness, athleticism to avoid the rush, resetting his shoulders while moving to his left, and then delivers a strike for the touchdown.
That’s a play that not many quarterbacks can make and Buchner did it as a high school freshman.
What he needs to improve:
There are unknowns about Buchner because of his inexperience that involve everything from his overall accuracy, ability to read defenses and to go through progressions. These are all critical parts of the position and he’s someone who is going to need every rep he’ll take over the next two years before moving on to the next level.
What’s his ceiling?
The whole reason why Buchner is an elite prospect has to do with his ceiling. Those raw tools aren’t something that can be taught, which is exactly what made Phil Jurkovec such an exciting prospect back when Notre Dame had offered him even though he did not have much film available at the time.
Even if you look at how Buchner was physically put together at Notre Dame’s elite skills camp prior to his sophomore year, he looks like someone who would be ready to enter college football right now. And he’s only going to get bigger and stronger.
It will be interesting to watch him progress over his final two high school seasons, but I think his athleticism and arm talent are outstanding. If he puts the rest of the pieces together, he can become one of the top quarterbacks in college football.