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Notre Dame QB CJ Carr is coming off a tremendous redshirt freshman season in 2025. Where can Carr improve the most this fall?
Notre Dame football enters the 2026 college football season with massive expectations surrounding redshirt sophomore quarterback CJ Carr.
Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish are bringing back significant talent on both sides of the ball while welcoming a group of newcomers who should contribute to a team with national championship aspirations. Carr, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound pocket passer, delivered an impressive redshirt freshman campaign that has the program feeling confident about its trajectory.
In 12 games last fall, Carr threw for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns while completing nearly 67% of his passes and throwing just six interceptions. He averaged 9.4 yards per attempt and 14.1 yards per completion with a 168.1 passer rating. All of those marks are extremely high for a first-year starter.
As a pure pocket quarterback, there is a lot to like about Carr. He has natural arm talent and a strong ability to process information pre-snap and post-snap.
The next step in Carr’s evolution
The one area of concern heading into the 2026 season is Carr’s ability to keep defenses honest with his legs. This doesn’t necessarily mean as a runner. Carr carried the ball 41 times for just 33 yards and three touchdowns last fall, an average of 0.8 yards per carry. That rushing output is never going to be a significant part of his game, and honestly, it doesn’t need to be.
What Carr does need to become is a player who can pick up an occasional first down when nothing is there in the passing game. He also needs to be someone who can execute a designed run now and then to catch a defense off guard.
The biggest improvement, though, centers around his consistency as a scrambler and his ability to work outside the structure of the offense.
There were too many times last season when Carr made troubling decisions after breaking the pocket and playing on the run. Some will remember his first touchdown pass against Miami to wide receiver Micah Gilbert, where he created something out of nothing. They won’t remember all the other blunders that occurred when he escaped the pocket.
What consistency looks like for Carr
Carr needs to become a much more consistent decision maker when working outside of structure. Nobody is expecting him to become Kyler Murray or Lamar Jackson. He is not one of those quarterbacks who can routinely extend plays and create with his athleticism. But when Carr is put into adverse situations, especially with the offensive line and skill position groups he has returning this season, he needs to avoid hurting his team.
At the core, Freeman and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock want to run the football and establish an offensive identity that keeps the offense on the field. Carr cannot put Notre Dame in harm’s way too often. That concern doesn’t stem from his play inside the pocket, where he rarely makes egregious mistakes. The question is whether he can maintain that same level of processing and decision-making when things break down around him.
Can he be the more consistent version of himself when the play goes off script? Can he remain a steady processor and make sound decisions in those moments? That is the next question in Carr’s development, and answering it is what will determine whether Notre Dame can make a legitimate run at a national championship this season.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: Notre Dame QB CJ Carr's biggest area for growth heading into the 2026 CFB season could separate the Fighting Irish
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