At this point, no team, even top contenders, can be viewed as perfect, as ESPN recently postured questions for each top-25 team including Notre Dame.
The Irish return one of the top defenses in the country, and quarterback CJ Carr is back to lead the offense in his second year starting. You’d think after throwing for 2,741-yard with 24 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions wouldn’t be a question, but for ESPN it was. It was “Is CJ Carr ready to shoulder the load?”
David Hale, who wants to know the answer, was complimentary of Carr saying “he often looked like a superstar… he’ll enter this year as one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy.” It looks like Hale isn’t concerned about the talented quarterback, more about who didn’t come back.
The running back duo of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, who were both taken in first-round of the NFL draft leaves a huge hole as Hale points out. He’s stating the obvious, but there is plenty of confidence in Aneyas Williams, who should be the starter. It’s hard to imagine running back being an area where Notre Dame struggles.
Hale would like to see Carr take a leap against top competition, as he points out that his stat line against Football Power Index top-40 opponents wasn’t elite status. While the completion rate was high at 63%, it was a lot of short completions (6.3-yards per dropback) and resulted in just a 48.9 quarterback rating. Carr also had a near 1:1 touchdown to interception ratio, which needs to be better.
This question is very valid, as it does seem like many are just anticipating Carr to take a massive step right away. I think we see him having a bit of a slow start, as the offense needs reps to gel with so many new components. Carr will eventually find his way, improve on his play against top competition, and should be talked about as a top-5 overall prospect in the 2027 draft.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: ESPN’s top question for Notre Dame has to do with quarterback CJ Carr
Reporting by Michael Chen , Fighting Irish Wire / Fighting Irish Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Michael Chen , Fighting Irish Wire | USA TODAY Network
