It was once said the highest pressure position in all of college football was playing quarterback at Notre Dame.  Sure, when Beano Cook puts the pressure on you to win multiple Heisman’s and national championships, it’s nearly impossible to dispute the claim.

Times have changed a bit in recent decades and although the pressure on Notre Dame quarterbacks might not be the same as it was during the peak of the Lou Holtz era for ron powlus, but pressure comes with playing for the Irish still, no doubt.

Quarterback has also been perhaps the biggest difference between the elites and Notre Dame in recent years in the sense that the elites have an elite signal caller while the Irish put out good but far from elite players at the position recently.

If we look back since the year 2000 there have been some fantastic quarterbacks to wear blue and gold.  Which of those came in with the biggest hype in terms of recruiting rankings?  And which ones soared beyond the little hype the may have been surrounded by?

And which didn’t even play quarterback in college?

Here are the top 25 Notre Dame quarterback recruits since 2000 according to the 247Sports composite ranking system.

Evan Sharpley

Evan Sharpley
2005 recruiting class
3* prospect
.8556 rating

Luke Massa

Luke Massa
2010 recruiting class
3* prospect
.8576 rating

Christian Olsen

Christian Olsen
2002 recruiting class
3* prospect
.8667 rating

Ian Book

Ian Book
2016 recruiting class
3* prospect
.8681 rating

Tommy Rees

Tommy Rees
2010 recruiting class
3* prospect
.8795 rating

Brendon Clark

Brendon Clark
2019 recruiting class
3* prospect
.8796 rating

Everett Golson

Everett Golson
2011 recruiting class
4* prospect
.8937 rating

Steve Angeli

Steve Angeli
2022 recruiting class
4* prospect
.8962 rating

Andrew Hendrix

Andrew Hendrix
2010 recruiting class
4* prospect
.8999 rating

DeShone Kizer

DeShone Kizer
2014 recruiting class
4* prospect
.9073 rating

Avery Davis

Avery Davis
2017 recruiting class
4* prospect
.9078 rating

Drew Pyne

Drew Pyne
2020 recruiting class
4* prospect
.9164 rating

Malik Zaire

Malik Zaire
2013 recruiting class
4* prospect
.9300 rating

Kenny Minchey

Kenny Minchey
2023 recruiting class
4* prospect
.9323 rating

Tom Zbikowski

Tom Zbikowski
2003 recruiting class
4* prospect
.9331 rating

Zach Frazer

Zach Frazer
2006 recruiting class
4* prospect
.9406 rating

Brady Quinn

Brady Quinn
2003 recruiting class
4* prospect
.9422 rating

Phil Jurkovec

Phil Jurkovec
2018 recruiting class
4* prospect
.9593 rating

Tyler Buchner

Tyler Buchner
2021 recruiting class
4* prospect
.9684 rating

C.J. Carr

C.J. Carr
2024 recruiting class (verbal commitment)
4* prospect
.9761 rating

Demetrius Jones (T-4)

Demetrius Jones
2006 recruiting class
4* prospect
.9792 rating

Brandon Wimbush (T-4)

Brandon Wimbush
2015 recruiting class
4* prospect
.9792 rating

Gunner Kiel

Gunner Kiel
2012 recruiting class
5* prospect
.9878 rating

Dayne Crist

Dayne Crist
2008 recruiting class
5* prospect
.9886 rating

Jimmy Clausen

Jimmy Clausen
2007 recruiting class
5* prospect
.9988 rating

Story originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire