Gunner Kiel: Next Peyton Manning Would Be Insane Not to Geaux to LSU

Gunner Kiel drank too much eggnog on Christmas to announce his decision on the target date. 

All Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and LSU fans want for Christmas is the No. 1 rated quarterback prospect in the class of 2012.  Kiel could announce his decision any day and fans of the three schools will be on the edge of their seats until his mind is made up.  While the decision seems complicated to the young QB, he’d be nuts to sign anywhere but LSU.

According to the Indianapolis Star, Kiel planned to make his decision by Christmas day, but that didn’t happen.  The passer that reminds Rivals.com of Peyton Manning would be wise to select the No. 1 team in the nation.  Notre Dame may have the prestige, but reputation isn’t going to give Kiel the best opportunity to win in college or prepare him for the professional level.

First off, let’s just eliminate the Commodores from the discussion.  Since 1983, Vanderbilt has finished with a winning record just once; that’s a complete joke.  They've won a single bowl game since 1955; NFL scouts should question Kiel’s intelligence if he chooses Vanderbilt over the countless teams that offered him a scholarship.

Onto the legitimate contenders; sure, Notre Dame is in Kiel’s home-state of Indiana, but he has to realize that he won’t be able to stay in-state forever.  The Fighting Irish haven’t won a respectable bowl game since 1994.  If Kiel looks at Notre Dame’s recruitment in the past decade, he’d see that they always get a top-notch quarterback and every single year, they’ve fallen short of expectations.

Kiel must avoid becoming the next Fighting Irish failure at all costs.  At LSU, not only would he have superior talent around him, but the competition he’d face off against in the SEC would prepare him greatly for the next level.  There isn’t a logical choice apart from joining Les Miles and company.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer. Follow him on Twitter.