After a slow start to the season, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are building significant momentum, largely driven by the emerging play of young quarterback CJ Carr. While the raw statistical data does not yet rank Carr among the nation’s elite, a legendary Notre Dame figure and current analyst, Brady Quinn, is urging the college football world to disregard the numbers and “go watch the tape,” proclaiming that “No one is playing better at quarterback in the country than CJ Carr.”
This praise, coming from a former Notre Dame quarterback, might seem biased. But Quinn’s assessment is rooted in a critical distinction between a quarterback’s current productivity and his game processing. While Carr currently ranks 27th among Power Four quarterbacks in PFF grade (see below)
and sits outside the top tier in Expected Points Added (EPA) per dropback (also below),
his on-field performance is exhibiting the non-statistical earmarks of elite, stellar quarterback play.
The key to understanding Quinn’s bold take is the concept of a lagging indicator. For a young, developing quarterback, elements of the position like reading the defense, hitting the checkdown, making quick, correct decisions, and maintaining technique must stabilize before the high-end statistics follow.
Quinn is observing that the game is slowing down for Carr and the he is doing a good job managing the game and making solid decisions on each snap. These are the classic signs of a quarterback achieving mental mastery of the position. The belief is that the production is simply waiting to catch up to the efficiency and precision Carr is displaying on film.
This theory is supported by a curious statistical disconnect within the Notre Dame offense. While Carr’s individual PFF passing grade ranks 27th in the country, the overall Notre Dame passing offense is ranked 16th by PFF. This gap suggests that Carr’s effective, game-managing play is already lifting the performance of the entire offense, a strong indicator that his raw personal numbers are poised to converge with the team’s success and vault him into the top 20, 15, or even 10 quarterback rankings.
Historically, Notre Dame has had great teams and great seasons, with success often attributed to Freeman’s culture, depth, defense, and running game. While they had solid QBs in South Bend, they were never the strength of the team. That era looks like it’s over for the Fighting Irish. Carr’s emergence as a potential superstar fundamentally changes the ceiling for Notre Dame.
If Carr can maintain his current trajectory and his production catches up to his performance, he provides a dimension that Notre Dame has often lacked in its playoff pushes. The team has already shown resilience, navigating a brutal start to the season that included tough, one-score losses to quality opponents like Miami and Texas A&M. Now, with a legitimate, improving quarterback who is earning serious praise from those who evaluate the film, Notre Dame becomes a very scary team.
It’s important to note that an established, veteran analyst (like Brady Quinn is) would not risk their credibility by making such a strong claim without merit. Carr’s continued improvement in processing and decision is a sign that Notre Dame is on the upswing. If the Fighting Irish can remain relatively healthy and leverage what is becoming elite quarterback play, they become an undeniable national championship contender. As the regular season enters its final stretch, the rest of college football has been warned: the numbers on CJ Carr are only part of the story, and the best is yet to come.
Disclaimer: The content of this article was originally published as a YouTube video on the SMI College Football Show YouTube channel. With AI assistance, the publisher of the video created this article based on the content of that video.
