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Doc 5: Best QB transfers that didn't play in 2013 -- No. 1 Gunner Kiel

Graham Watson

This offseason we will count down various topics from Monday through Friday, bringing you the top five of the important and definitely some not so important issues in college football. It's the Doc Five, every week until we will thankfully have actual games to discuss.

TOP FIVE QB TRANSFERS WHO DIDN’T PLAY LAST SEASON

NO. 1: GUNNER KIEL, CINCINNATI

When Gunner Kiel decided to early enroll at Notre Dame, it created some bad feelings at a lot of places.

Kiel had originally committed to Indiana and then to LSU. He changed his mind at the last minute and spurned the Tigers for the Irish, which caused LSU coach Les Miles to have some unsavory words for the top-ranked quarterback in the 2012 class.

But Kiel’s Notre Dame experience didn’t turn out the way he expected. Even with his early enrollment, he was unable to beat out Everett Golson and spent the year sitting on the bench while the Irish marched to the national championship game.

After the season, coach Brian Kelly announced that the quarterbacking competition would be open and even told Kiel he’d have a chance to be starter, but Kiel wasn’t sold and transferred to Cincinnati.

Kiel sat out last year, grew a beard and learned coach Tommy Tuberville’s system. He enters spring ball, which started this past week, as the No. 1 quarterback, and Tuberville has said multiple times that the position is Kiel’s to lose.

Cincinnati had a strong passing offense with now-departed quarterback Brendon Kay in 2013. It ranked 18th in the country with 303.6 yards per game and half of the team’s offensive touchdowns came through the air.

Kiel will get a strong challenge from junior college transfer Jarred Evans as well as freshman Hayden Moore and senior walk-on Michael Colosimo. Fifth-year senior Munchie Legaux, a former starter, won’t be available for the spring while recovering from a knee injury, but will challenge to be starter again in the fall.

Of all the quarterbacks on this list, Kiel was the most hyped. He has yet to live up to his billing as the top prospect of 2012, but he’ll definitely have a chance in a wide-open American Athletic Conference.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter