Notre Dame Can Afford To Take A Youthful Risk At Quarterback

The Irish program is mature enough to roll the dice on an inexperienced quarterback to grow into the system.

Notre Dame quarterbacks CJ Carr (13) and Blake Hebert (12) during a Notre Dame football spring practice at Irish Athletic Center on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Notre Dame Quarterback Battle

Notre Dame has respect & credibility as a program to take a shot

The Notre Dame football program gained a lot of long-sought-after national respect and credibility from the accomplishments of the 2024 team. No, the Irish didn't win the championship, but many 30-year-long barriers were broken through.

The program just played its longest season ever, which included a 13-game winning streak and three more major postseason victories than the program has had in three full decades. Along with the on-field success, Marcus Freeman is coming into his own as a coach.

Off the heels of his 2024 campaign, Freeman has enjoyed a rise in his status as a top-level coach who is beginning to prove himself on the biggest stages in the sport.

Notre Dame is now in a very stable position as a program. The culture is strong, recent results have been positive, and momentum is pointing upward. These considerations all lead me to one conclusion. The Irish are ready as a program to "roll the dice" by naming one of their young QBs the starter for 2025.

Red army ☘️@SteveAngeli_125 | @kenny_minchey | @13Cjcarr | @rezac_anthony | @BlakeHeberttt #GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/VCxH7YMbPY

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) March 21, 2025

The time is now to go young and grow at quarterback

Everyone around Notre Dame respects and likes Steve Angeli.

He's been a loyal Irish soldier and has performed well when pressed into duty, most notably against Penn State in the 2024 playoff push. That being said, I believe that Kenny Minchey and CJ Carr both offer a higher physical athletic ceiling than Steve does, despite having less experience.

Notre Dame finished second in the country last year despite mega-injury problems and an offense that was limited through the air. This indicates to me that now is the perfect time to go all in on a QB that has the ability to open the pass game up and attack the one area of the team that could be nitpicked as not being good enough during the 2024 run.

There is risk involved with naming an inexperienced young player as the starter, but the upside could lead to a championship given where the rest of this program is at.

Marcus Freeman has the credibility now , and he has the program in a good enough place, to travel down this path.

Fortune favors the bold, and the time is right.

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