Who Will Be Notre Dame's 2026 Backup Quarterback?

After losing Kenny Minchey to the transfer portal, the Irish's QB2 role is up for grabs. This could make or break the season should Notre Dame lose CJ Carr for any amount of time

Nov 15, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr (13) calls an audible at the line of scrimmage against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Entering the 2025 football season, there was a high-level quarterback competition for the starting job between CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey.

Eventually, Carr won the job and ended up having a strong first season running the Irish offense.

As far as backups go, Kenny Minchey was a very comfortable safety blanket to have should he need to step in for Carr due to injury and run the offense. After losing Micnhey to the portal, Notre Dame now has a huge question to answer regarding the most important individual position in sports.

The worst-case scenario for Notre Dame in 2026 is Carr going down for an extended period of time

Notre Dame is one of the early betting favorites to win the national championship in 2026. CJ Carr is also an early favorite to win the Heisman trophy as well. With Jeremiyah Love and JD Price both heading to the NFL, this is CJ Carr's offense. He is the leader of this unit now, period.

With this in mind, the worst thing that could possibly happen to the Irish in what is supposed to be a title-chasing season is for CJ Carr to go down with injury for any extended period of time.

Not only is this due to what the Irish would be losing on the field by his extended absence, but also the question of what to expect from the backup who would replace him, a man yet to be named, and regardless of name, doesn't have experience at the college level to any tangible degree.

Notre Dame four-star QB commit Teddy Jarrard on his decision to reclassify from the 2027 class to 2026.

“Coach Freeman and Coach Gino are both excited for me to get up there, and I’m excited, as well.”

🎥: ESPN on YouTube
pic.twitter.com/xhV3SFPys6

— Notre Dame Recruiting (@NDrecruiting01) January 3, 2026

Who might assume this very important role for the 2026 Notre Dame season?

Kenny Minchey is gone. Tyler Buchner is gone.

Whose left? Sophomore Blake Hebert, freshman Noah Grubbs, and, most recently added, Teddy Jarrard, who reclassified as a recruit to move up a class and start his college career early.

While there is plenty of potential in this group, especially with the long-term upside of Teddy Jarrard, there is no tangible college experience to lean on here with anyone in this group.

This makes Notre Dame vulnerable should it need to rely on one of these players for any extended period of time. On the upside, there should be a very exciting battle this spring and into August to determine who will own this important role.

This job is up for grabs and could lead to a starting role sooner rather than later if CJ Carr chooses to head to the NFL after this year.

For a roster as stacked as Notre Dame's is, this is one area of potential concern that hopefully doesn't come in play if Carr stays healthy all year long.