It doesn't take much foresight to see that a logjam may be forming in South Bend.

And it has nothing to do with traffic!

Rather, it involves those seeking to succeed Brady Quinn as the starting signal-caller in 2007.

At first blush, the Notre Dame quarterback situation looks to be getting mighty congested. Crowded even. Finding some elbow room is beginning to be a problem.

And with space filling up so quickly and with playing time at a premium, history says that invariably people will soon begin jumping ship. The question isn't whether defections will occur but rather how many might take the plunge.

So look out below!

With the recent announcement that much ballyhooed QB recruit Jimmy Clausen had gone Irish, it appears the Golden Domers might have an overabundance of bodies at the position.

And it doesn't take a mathematician to envision a potential numbers crunch. It's a surplus that might even tax the resourceful Charlie Weis.

So how do you resolve such a quandary? Will the second-year Irish coach have to make like Houdini to figure a way out of this seemingly complicated mess?

If indeed there's a dilemma here, Weis doesn't seem to be sweating the details. Meeting and mastering daunting challenges is an area in which he excels.

Besides, the Irish mentor believes that circumstances like these generally work themselves out. Things will get fleshed out in due time.

Weis only need adhere to one of his guiding principles. Let the players battle it out on the field until a best man emerges. After that, Weis simply moves forward and deals with any subsequent ramifications.

It's the honest approach of a straight-shooter.

It speaks well of Weis and the young men involved that the coach continues to load-up at quarterback. It shows that Weis is guaranteeing nothing and that being the Irish starting QB is a job that must be fought for and earned. Reputation alone won't get you far. Effort, smarts and ability will win the day.

For the talented athletes who have joined the QB fray, it means that they're unafraid of bonafide competition nor are they bashful about having to prove why they should be the chosen one.

It's easy to go to a place when the job has been handed to you. It's quite another thing to put yourself on the line with nary a promise or assurance to sustain you. It takes guts to willingly face the unknown fully aware that some of your most heartfelt dreams hang in the balance.

It speaks well of a player that doesn't shrink from such a test.

So let's take a quick peek into what might lie ahead concerning this fascinating, compelling and possibly controversial quarterback scenario.

Unless some catastrophe befalls him, Brady Quinn will continue his assault on the record books and take virtually all the snaps this upcoming season. But beyond that, it's anyone's guess as to how things might play out.

Here are the prospective candidates that hope to grasp the torch once Quinn passes it along.

Junior David Wolke was Quinn's backup last year but his prospects to be a factor in the QB derby are extremely remote. Wolke has thrown but three passes in anger and one of those was picked off.

The fact that Wolke hasn't generated any real excitement among the coaches is telling. The reality is that his 22-yard run against Pitt during mop-up duty might be the highlight of his ND career. He is a longshot at best to earn any playing time now or in the future.

Michigan product Evan Sharpley has some upside and is a versatile athlete. Along with wideout Jeff Samardzija, he currently spends his time toiling for the Irish baseball team.

Sharpley was crisp in the Blue-Gold spring game when he hit on 10 of 12 throws for 112 yards. That performance probably moved him past Wolke on the depth chart although nothing has been made official.

Entering his sophomore season, Sharpley is fully cognizant that he must make a quantum leap this year or else his window of opportunity will close. To write him off completely would be premature but it doesn't figure that he can repulse the challenge of the trio of acclaimed freshman who will enroll within the next eight months.

One of the young guns coming in is the 6-4, 215-pound Zack Frazer. Owner of the Pennsylvania state record for passing yards in a season (3,674), Frazer is the prototypical pocket passer who can zing it.

Frazer is on record as saying he expects to immediately compete for the number 2 job. Given his pedigree, that's possible and he must be considered a threat to someday earn starting status. But Frazer will have to really step-up and max-out his skills for that to happen.

Demetrius Jones is a newcomer who truly bears watching. Blessed with a strong arm, the 6-4, 202-pounder can also scamper and scramble. That throw-run combo makes him doubly dangerous and tough to defend.

The Gatorade Player of the Year from Illinois passed for 25 touchdowns as a senior and rushed for over 1,000 yards as a junior.

Confident in his ability, Jones proclaimed that he'll be heard from in 2006. We'll see. But because he's such a dual threat, the odds are good that he can make a mark in South Bend.

Which brings us to the California glamour boy, Clausen. Hailed as the most dynamic QB to come out of the state since John Elway, Clausen reeks of star power.

At 6-3, 207-pounds, he not only has the physical skills that impress but he also has a perceptible presence.

His high school career has simply been off the charts. Undefeated as a starter (27-0), the powerful passer has tossed an amazing 88 TDs in contrast to just 11 interceptions.

He's polished, poised and driven. He craves a challenge. And reading between the lines, you get the sense that he expects to compete for the starting job the minute he steps onto campus next January as an early enrollee.

The fact that he'll be a mature 20 at the time and will have the benefit of going through spring practice, can only hasten his assimilation of the Weis playbook. His prospects for making an impact from day one are considerable. Jimmy Clausen's ceiling seems almost unlimited.

With such a crowded field, there's no telling how things will sort themselves out but it should make for great theatre.

It's going to be captivating watching dynamic young turks like Frazer, Jones and Clausen duke it out to see who will occupy arguably the most celebrated spot in all of college football. That of being the Notre Dame starting quarterback.

It figures to be the most riveting story coming out of spring ball circa 2007. It will transfix the Irish nation. Like a page-turning novel, you won't be able to take your eyes off of it.

Every aspect of this monumental competition will be scrutinized and dissected. There will be daily accounts of who’s doing what and how the pecking order shakes out at that particular time.

You'll come to know more about these three QBs than you do about your immediate family. There will be a media frenzy the likes of which you haven't seen in years. It's going to be the mother of all plot lines.

And when all is said and done, the victor in this passion play will have been steeled by this titanic struggle. He'll be battle-tested and ready.

For the vanquished, they'll just have to take pride in having waged the good fight and patiently wait for their time to make a contribution. Or simply move on.

Yes, a QB crush seems to be dead ahead. But Weis realizes it's better to have too many than not enough. Because being great in high school doesn't always translate to stardom in college. You must bring in numbers to insure the fact you'll find someone capable of being special.

The question is who will be that someone? A year from now, we'll probably know.