With Deuce Knight officially (finally) decommitting, ND will turn the page and try to grab another QB for the 2025 class. While it's not ideal to try to do this in October, ND has apparently been talking to QBs behind the scenes for a while because they had very little confidence Deuce would stick. ND also was able to get Kenny Minchey to flip from Pitt in November 2022, so ND can still get a good player here, just not one with the upside of Deuce.

Based on what I've seen, it seems like these guys are or could be targets:

Bryce Baker (UNC): 4-star, #128 overall, #11 QB - His name has been thrown around and given the shakiness of the UNC program / Mack Brown's impending retirement, this could be a legit possibility.

Ty Hawkins (SMU): 4-star, #185 overall, #15 QB - He is from IMG, but no idea if he's had any communication with the staff. ND is also trying to flip SMU's top WR recruit, Jalen Cooper.

Malik Washington (Maryland): 4-star, #266, #23 QB - His name has been mentioned, and I would have to imagine he'd strongly consider given Mike Locksly is probably on his way out.

Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele (Cal): 4-star, #284 overall, #24 QB - He's been blowing up since a great performance at the Elite 11 this summer, and he will likely rise in the rankings. His name has been thrown out there the most, but he is apparently close to flipping to Oregon (who already has a Top 247 commit). Will be interesting to follow.

Bear Bachmeier (Stanford): 4-star, #339 overall, #27 QB - He was going to commit to ND, then Knight took his spot (basically, ND told Knight he had to commit or they would let Bear take his spot, so Knight committed). Apparently, the whole situation rubbed Bear the wrong way, and it seemed like ND could never get back in it with him. Some have reported that Bear is now open to ND, but with his brother at Stanford (as a WR) and with the way his recruitment went down, I'd be shocked if he ended up as ND's QB this cycle.

There's a long way to go. All of these guys are committed, so there probably won't be a ton of concrete reporting, but we should get some clarity sooner than later. Since it's a bye week, I wouldn't be surprised if Freeman, Denbrock, and Gino visit some of these guys.

Also, @Big23Head probably knows more about this than me, so feel free to chime in here.

If Bear would reconsider, I think he is the obvious choice. Kid is a tank. Plus, that name just oozes college qb who is a gamer and winner.

27 minutes ago, estimebicep said:

If Bear would reconsider, I think he is the obvious choice. Kid is a tank. Plus, that name just oozes college qb who is a gamer and winner.

I agree.  Something about the name screams future stud.  Wouldn't mind seeing him in South Bend

4 hours ago, tneun89 said:

With Deuce Knight officially (finally) decommitting, ND will turn the page and try to grab another QB for the 2025 class. While it's not ideal to try to do this in October, ND has apparently been talking to QBs behind the scenes for a while because they had very little confidence Deuce would stick. ND also was able to get Kenny Minchey to flip from Pitt in November 2022, so ND can still get a good player here, just not one with the upside of Deuce.

Based on what I've seen, it seems like these guys are or could be targets:

Bryce Baker (UNC): 4-star, #128 overall, #11 QB - His name has been thrown around and given the shakiness of the UNC program / Mack Brown's impending retirement, this could be a legit possibility.

Ty Hawkins (SMU): 4-star, #185 overall, #15 QB - He is from IMG, but no idea if he's had any communication with the staff. ND is also trying to flip SMU's top WR recruit, Jalen Cooper.

Malik Washington (Maryland): 4-star, #266, #23 QB - His name has been mentioned, and I would have to imagine he'd strongly consider given Mike Locksly is probably on his way out.

Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele (Cal): 4-star, #284 overall, #24 QB - He's been blowing up since a great performance at the Elite 11 this summer, and he will likely rise in the rankings. His name has been thrown out there the most, but he is apparently close to flipping to Oregon (who already has a Top 247 commit). Will be interesting to follow.

Bear Bachmeier (Stanford): 4-star, #339 overall, #27 QB - He was going to commit to ND, then Knight took his spot (basically, ND told Knight he had to commit or they would let Bear take his spot, so Knight committed). Apparently, the whole situation rubbed Bear the wrong way, and it seemed like ND could never get back in it with him. Some have reported that Bear is now open to ND, but with his brother at Stanford (as a WR) and with the way his recruitment went down, I'd be shocked if he ended up as ND's QB this cycle.

There's a long way to go. All of these guys are committed, so there probably won't be a ton of concrete reporting, but we should get some clarity sooner than later. Since it's a bye week, I wouldn't be surprised if Freeman, Denbrock, and Gino visit some of these guys.

Also, @Big23Head probably knows more about this than me, so feel free to chime in here.

Good list to start. I think it will really hone in now that Deuce went public. JKS is getting increased attention as the season has gone on. He would be my #1. I would place Bear on the lower half without seeing his senior film. There are other potential targets I could envision but nothing with legs right now.

Jks would be awesome. Bear in my eyes is just another short qb we are used to seeing at ND.  

We should take an athlete who thinks he’s a qb only to learn he’ll be really good at another position.  That’s probably our best bet.

JKS is my choice.  Just to hear announcers try and say his name before a play is over...

I wouldn't fault Bear whatsoever for telling ND to kick rocks.

Watching SMU play U of L at the moment and thinking if I was the SMU commits why would i even think about flipping to ND. Thats what an offense should look like. 

47 minutes ago, Jburkdd12 said:

Watching SMU play U of L at the moment and thinking if I was the SMU commits why would i even think about flipping to ND. Thats what an offense should look like. 

I agree. SMU’s Jennings looks really good. He’s fast as hell, accurate and everything about their offense is quicker hitting than ours. 

Louisville on the other hand would have a great offense but they drop a ton of catchable balls. 

On 10/5/2024 at 12:26 PM, Frankus said:

Louisville on the other hand would have a great offense but they drop a ton of catchable balls. 

but they had freaky catches against ND last week that kept them in the game... 

18 hours ago, NDhoosier said:

but they had freaky catches against ND last week that kept them in the game... 

I credit those freaky catches of being fresh and ready to be free even if they were coming off injury. I remember being injured in high school and the first game back I was fresh and out-running guys. Those guys have been playing daily and weren’t fresh. It was the next week and the soreness that was the hardest. I saw two plays where those Louisville receivers just missed it off their hands. I credit that to the second week soreness and fatigue. 
Their all-conference safety decided to quit the team the day of the game. So, there’s that too.