CJ Carr is a redshirt sophomore for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, entering his second year as the starter. Listed at 6’2, 215 pounds, he comes from Saline High School in Saline, Michigan.
247 Sports had him as a four-star recruit, the 45th-ranked player in the nation, the sixth-ranked quarterback, and the top player from Michigan.
In 2025, Carr threw for 2,741 yards, 24 touchdowns, and six interceptions. His 24 touchdown passes were the most by a Notre Dame quarterback in his first 12 starts since 1966.
Carr's grandfather is Lloyd Carr, who was the head coach at Michigan from 1995 to 2007. He coached the team to a national championship in 1997 and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
In this post, we'll talk about Carr's strengths and weaknesses as a prospect, his likelihood to enter the 2027 draft, and more.
CJ Carr NFL Draft profile
- Position: Quarterback
- School: Notre Dame
- Height: 6'2
- Weight: 215LBS
- Class: Redshirt Sophomore
- Hometown: Saline, Michigan
LaNorris Sellers's Career Stats
- Games Played: 13*
- Passing yards: 2,741*
- Completion percentage: 66.6%*
- Passing touchdowns: 24*
- Interceptions: 6*
- Rushing yards: 33*
- Rushing touchdowns: 3*
*statistics do not include 2026 stats and will be updated
What are CJ Carr's biggest strengths?
- Carr is right up there with the highest processors in the 2027 class.
- He is very good at reading defenses and matching that with understanding his route concepts and progressions to make the best throw on the play.
- He's not the biggest, strongest, or fastest, but he clears the bar in each of those categories so he can utilize his football IQ.
- While it fluctuated last year, Carr had games where he was very accurate. Specifically against Pitt, he was able to hit several downfield targets to receiver Malachi Fields.
Where can CJ Carr improve?
- The first thing we need to see from Carr is how he handles more of the offense on his shoulders. Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price, Eli Raridon, Billy Schrauth, and Fields were all drafted to the NFL in April.
- Accuracy needs to be more consistent game to game. I mentioned the Pitt game was good for Carr, but in the USC game, the passes were all over the place.
- Carr's feel in the pocket for pressure is inconsistent. He only took 12 sacks in 2026, but in games there are multiple times his throw is impacted by a hit he doesn't see coming.
NFL Draft projection
Similarly, to LaNorris Sellers, Carr has a wide range of outcomes in 2026. Considering his age and the drastic changes the Notre Dame offense is undergoing, I think it's 50/50 he goes back to school.
But if he were to enter the draft, he could go as high as the top ten. With his size and physical limitations, he's not quite a top-five quarterback, but a team with some pieces in place coming off of a seven or eight-win season could make sense.
His best fit would be with a team that's willing to throw the full playbook at him early. It doesn't mean he won't make mistakes and need time to adjust to the speed of the game. But he can clearly handle an offense with depth to it. And simplifying it could actually hurt him.
If a defense knows what he's doing on each play, he doesn't have the athleticism or creativity to work around that. But a more complex system can keep the defenders on their toes and be something Carr can handle.
Pro comparison
Time will tell if this comp makes sense, but right now Carr reminds me a lot of Mac Jones. Jones came out of Alabama just under 6'3 and at 217 pounds, very similar to Carr.
Jones was a highly accurate passer coming out of Alabama, but scouts also knew he was working with a lot of talent around him in a great system. But when plays broke down on him, he would panic or rush his process.
But when things were right, Jones was excellent at processing the field and delivering accurate passes at whatever velocity he needed. He never had the strongest arm, but he could get the ball where it needed to go.
And while he was never the biggest or most athletic, he had just enough of those things to make the play work.
This reminds me a lot of Carr. I expect the accuracy inconsistencies to sort themselves out this year, so he could be on the same level as Jones in that regard. And we'll get a better sense this year how Carr plays under pressure.
Final evaluation
Overall Grade: 88/100
Draft Projection: First Round
CJ Carr can be a highly effective quarterback in a good system with talent around him. He may opt to return to school if there's more to prove, but if he comes out for the 2027 class, he'll be a first-round pick.
There will always be a ceiling on Carr as an individual player because of his size and athletic limitations, but his processing ability and his level of arm talent and athleticism can take offenses wherever they need to go if there's enough around him.
