John Goodman Can Out Throw JaMarucs Russell?
Dayne Crist told the SBT that sophomore wide receiver John Goodman can actually out throw all of the Notre Dame quarterbacks.
Quarterback may not be Goodman’s best position, but it’s the one in which he displays the most freakish talent. Both incumbent starter Jimmy Clausen and backup Dayne Crist admitted Goodman can throw the ball farther than either one of them.
Crist even went so far as to say that Goodman could throw farther than Oakland Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell, the standard in the NFL for arm strength.
Charlie Weis has talked about potentially using Goodman as the emergency/wildcat quarterback at times this spring, but hasn’t given him a lot of reps because of the injuries at wide receiver and Goodman’s impressive play at receiver. At first I thought it was just Weis trying to get a little too cute with the offense as he’s done in the past (see the spread offense installed prior to the 2007 season), but the more I hear about Goodman at quarterback, the more I think he possibly be used in some capacity at the position.
Goodman played quarterback his senior year of high school and if he can climb the depth chart fast enough to see the field as a receiver, he could give Weis some flexibility with some trick plays. Goodman’s also received some high praise from classmate Robert Blanton – a rarity for Blanton when it comes to talking about wide receivers.
While Goodman didn’t play as a true freshman, its seeming more and more likely that Goodman could see the field in more than just mop up duty as a sophomore this fall. He’s added seven pounds of weight since the Hawaii Bowl according to the SBT article and has received multiple compliments about his speed this spring. He’s also seen a lot more reps than he may normally have because of some minor injuries to Duval Kamara and Michael Floyd throughout the spring combined with Golden Tate’s missed time for baseball.
My only concern with Weis tinkering with Goodman at quarterback is that we’ve in the past that Weis can sometimes try to do too much with the offense instead of focusing on the fundamentals. Considering how inconsistent the Irish offense was in 2008, I just hope Weis has the offense fine tuned before he starts adding wrinkles for Goodman at QB.
It will be interesting to see how much Goodman plays and what he can do on Saturday. As of right now though, “Goody” is my dark-horse candidate for offensive MVP honors in the Blue/Gold game.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
If Crist has to go on the field in place of Clausen, all Weiss has to do is whisper in his ear: “Brigade 9″!
The Irish will be BCS champs by end of season, guaranteed.
valpodoc, that’s the exact line of thinking this team cannot have this year. It’s the reason why we go 9-3 and 7-6 and 3-9. If we slip up this year just get back on the horse!!!!! Can’t be quitters. Gotta start being grinders. Putting some 10-2, 9-3 seasons back-to-back could actually he a good thing for this program to start showing some consistancy again and maybe the recruits will come in every year then with no drop of years. We’ll be scUM, MSU, and BC this year I guarantee it.I think the only losses we have are U$C, Pitt, and Stanford. Focus team focus. Don’t give up because you lose one game. Every game is a big game. This season is the start of something special I believe.
No worries JC, I want to see us stomp on USC just as much as you do.
Awe gee Frankie,
I am sorry half my post agreed with your assessment relevant to Goodman. And I ran over with irrelvant USC material from a few posts back. In which, I also brought up the merit of what Goodman might bring to the table.
Don’t want to be accused of being lecture-monious, gee, not on this site.
Flee flicker to the slot back? Golden Tate wide open…touchdown. On other thoughts, MSU will be the litmus test. Lose that game and USC,BC and maybe Pitt seem much more formidible. Gotta beat Sparty, gotta finish.
Frankie, I thought your analysis about Goodman was interesting. What I like about this situation is the potential depth it provides Weis and his coaches on offense.
With the minor injuries the team has, I am not too certain the game this Saturday will show us that much.
Your post is about Goodman and what he might bring to the offense. It isn’t directly about whether we can beat USC.
Yeah, we need to see his arm in action, however, I agree – don’t get cute this year. Especially when Clausen appears to be headed into a clear leadership role. I can see Goodman pushing Crist, but not Jimmy. Frankie, I will give you credit for last year when you said Crist wasn’t ready, you were right and I was wrong. However, I think Crist is much improved but, Clausen appears to be way ahead improved and ready for a break-out year based on practice reports. I just hope the B&G game demonstrates some obvious real progress and everyone is hitting on all cylinders. There is no real reason we can’t beat USC this year, the talent and experience matches up. We may not have the equal depth, but we sure have equal talent and experience at the starting positions. As long as everyone stays healthy, I don’t see a 35+ advantage this year. If anything the tables can be turned if we’re hot and their not coupled with the right mojo of 5-0 when we play them. I know, all big if’s and somehow we can’t wish it true – but hey, it is time to kick their @sses for it is long over due.