CJ Carr Earns Highest Praise from Notre Dame Great

Just how high is CJ Carr's ceiling at Notre Dame? Really high, if you ask one Notre Dame great

Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr throws a pass in the second half of a NCAA football game against Texas A&M at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Through five games, CJ Carr has been everything and more Notre Dame could have asked for from a redshirt-freshman quarterback. That's not to say he hasn't had some bumps along the way, but his play has been at a level most hoped for but certainly didn't expect.

A week ago, we examined some of the national praise Carr has received and wondered if the Texas A&M game had just one play gone differently, would Carr be atop the Heisman Trophy projections right now?

Well, a week later and one of the very best to ever do it at Notre Dame is clearly all aboard the CJ Carr hype train.

Brady Quinn Shares Massive Praise for CJ Carr

Oct 28, 2006; Baltimore, MD, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback (10) Brady Quinn drops back for a pass against the Navy Midshipmen in the second quarter at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD. / James Lang-Imagn Images

When it comes to Notre Dame's all-time quarterbacks, the record book is littered with the name "Brady Quinn". The former Fighting Irish great, turned Fox Sports analyst holds essentially every Notre Dame passing record there is, but according to him, those might just be in jeopardy with Carr's arrival.

Quinn took to social media on Tuesday to offer an ultimate compliment to the current Notre Dame signal caller.

People will think this opinion is bias, but go watch the tape. No one is playing better at QB in the country than @13Cjcarr. Probably a week away from getting more hype but I’ll leave this here now.

— Brady Quinn (@Brady_Quinn) October 7, 2025

Quinn wasn't done quite yet, though, offering quite the response to one of his commenters.

He will be the best

— Brady Quinn (@Brady_Quinn) October 7, 2025

Carr has no doubt been phenomenal, and if Quinn is right, that'd mean great things for Notre Dame in the years to come.

CJ Carr Plan Going Exactly as Planned for Freeman, Irish

Quinn's praise is great, but taking it a step further, this is the dream scenario playing out for Notre Dame.

Sure, if you could have it back you'd write a different ending for both the Miami and Texas A&M games to start the year, but going forward, things haven't looked brighter for Notre Dame in quite some time.

In recent years it has been one-and-done for most Notre Dame quarterbacks. Riley Leonard was great, but it was one year. Sam Hartman was in South Bend just one season, while the Tyler Buchner-Drew Pyne experiment essentially lasted just one season as well.

Whether you agree with Quinn on just how high Carr is on the national quarterback rankings list, you can't argue that he's been outstanding. That's just five games into his career as Notre Dame's starting quarterback.

Despite the early-season losses, Carr and Notre Dame are still very much in the College Football Playoff conversation, and he has the experience from those thrillers that he's built off of.

What will Carr look like by season's end and hopefully when the College Football Playoff comes around? And what might he look like as a player a year from now, with more development and experience?

Exactly what Marcus Freeman and company were hoping for in having a starting quarterback be in South Bend for a few years, that's what.

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