notre dame: "It just slowly eats you" - CFB insider questions Marcus Freeman's CJ Carr-led QB room in post-Riley Leonard era

After making the College Football Playoff title game last season, Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame are breaking in a new quarterback in CJ Carr. While the Fighting Irish's offense is built around the ground game, Jake Crain believes the change under center could hurt the team.

On Friday, Crain had a grim verdict for the Fighting Irish offense and the effect it could have on the team's chances this upcoming season.

"Could we see this Notre Dame team be an elite defense with a subpar offense that does not take chances?" Crain said. "And eventually, we've all seen, I've been a part of these teams where the defense halfway through the season realizes 'our offense cant's score. We just can't score. And it slowly eats at you, even if your culture is really good."

Notre Dame had a sub-par passing offense last season, averaging 198.1 yards per game, No. 97 in the nation. However, Riley Leonard was dangerous with his legs, rushing for 906 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2024.

On the flip side, Marcus Freeman will have CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey battling for the starting spot. Carr, a 4-star prospect from Saline, Michigan, in the class of 2024, appears to be the leader in the clubhouse.

Carr began the summer expecting to battle for the starting job with last season's backup quarterback, Steve Angeli. However, Angeli entered the transfer portal after falling behind in the race. Minchey, who has thrown three passes at Notre Dame, is believed to be Carr's closest competitor.

Notre Dame WR room ranked among best in the country

One thing that could be working for Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame is having a veteran wide receiving corps, which was also named the tenth best in the nation by Pro Football Focus.

Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison will be back in South Bend, while Malachi Fields and Will Pauling are coming over from Virginia and Wisconsin via the transfer portal.

Greathouse had consecutive 100-yard games in the CFP semifinal and title game with 233 yards and three touchdowns against Penn State and Ohio State. In the meantime, Faison caught 30 balls for 356 yards and a score during the year.

Fields was ranked as the No. 11 wide receiver in the portal by 247 Sports after finishing the 2024 season with 55 receptions for 808 yards and five touchdowns in 2024.

The Fighting Irish will also have Heisman candidate Jeremiyah Love leading the running game. Love ran for 1,125 yards and 15 scores last season.

About the author

Allan Wolburg Robles is a College Sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over 17 years of experience in the field writing for publications including Reforma, Yahoo! OddsShark and Apuesta. Allan studied Communications at Anáhuac University, where he learned what would become the basis of a trade that was already a dream of his before starting college.

His favorite team is Army West Point as when he was young, Allan lived in West Point for a couple of years, went to pretty much every home game, a couple of Army-Navy games and even got to meet some of the players.

Allan's favorite players of all time include Tommie Frazier, who was unbelievable during the Nebraska dynasty of the early 90's. Tim Tebow was also a favorite, mainly because of his leadership skills, although he was also awesome on the football field. As a fan of defensive football, (or what's left of it), Sean Taylor could take over a game for Miami.

Allan has always considered himself a student of the game more than a fan of it. So the historical part and evolution of the game, as well as the ins and outs of what happens on the field, and being able to put it into words for the audience, are his biggest strengths.

Besides sports, Allan enjoys reading books, watching movies and spending time with his dogs.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash