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New York Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Would Marcus Freeman rotate QBs? Which Irish WRs are emerging? Notre Dame mailbag
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — One week into training camp, Notre Dame has a legitimate quarterback competition on its hands. There are plenty of other questions up and down the roster about the young talent ready to step up. And you've got questions about all that. Let's get started with this week's Notre Dame mailbag. Advertisement Notre Dame plays two ranked teams and plays an SEC road game in the first month of the season. What are the odds that Kenny Minchey and CJ Carr both play meaningful snaps before October hits? Is Freeman going to be as fluid with his QB1 as Brian Kelly was? — Tim C. Nothing would surprise me, although Freeman has said he's not a fan of rotating quarterbacks like he does at other positions. But Freeman's first three seasons have shown he's willing to think outside the box with personnel. I don't expect him to rotate quarterbacks within a game by choice, but could Minchey and Carr both get a shot based on the opponent? Could one be ineffective in his first start at Miami, forcing a switch? That's got to be on the table for the offensive staff, no matter who wins the job. It's worth remembering that while at Cincinnati, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock benched his starting quarterback in the first half of the first game of the season and replaced him with a freshman named Desmond Ridder. Doing that is hardly ideal, especially after staging a camp competition where you should feel good about the chosen winner. But Denbrock won't hesitate if a change needs to be made. And Freeman has shown a willingness to roll the dice on young talent, which showed along the offensive line last August. One week into training camp, every bit of information I've picked up, whether that's on the record or on background, indicates Notre Dame has a real quarterback competition on its hands, and the coaches have described it as 50-50 inside the Gug. Beyond Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, who do you think get most of the leftover carries? You'd think it would be Aneyas Williams, but Kedren Young looks to force his way on the field. And it seems Gi'Bran Payne is an afterthought? — Casey M. The answer might be none of the above. Because based on how position coach Ja'Juan Seider rotated running backs the past three years at Penn State with Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, he won't spread the wealth just to keep people happy. Advertisement The past three seasons, Singleton and Allen totaled 1,058 carries — that's 176 carries each per season. Penn State's No. 3 and No. 4 running backs over those season totaled 122 carries, meaning they each averaged 20 for the season, less than two carries per game. Would Williams, Young or Payne be satisfied with that? Probably not. Would you want to see more touches for Love and Price? Would that increase Notre Dame's chances of winning games? Yes and yes. Internally, how snaps and carries/touches get divided is a discussion point for the offense after Love got just four carries in the national championship game despite playing 41 snaps. He was targeted twice, made two catches and totaled five yards receiving. Not ideal. Love can't just touch the football on 15 percent of his snaps. Seider will probably make sure that doesn't happen again. Yes, there should be carries to go around in games when Notre Dame gets a big lead. That's where Williams and Young can get some work. But I don't think that's really the question you're asking. You want to know, in big moments, how much will RB3 play and who's that going to be? The smart money is Williams holding down that job, and he's probably more talented than Penn State's RB3 the past few seasons. It's just not clear how many touches that job will earn. Would matching last year's 52 total touches be a win? Who's most likely to emerge as a contributor this season at wide receiver: Micah Gilbert, KK Smith, or Elijah Burress? — TS Gilbert gets my vote, in part because the coaches liked him most among the three-man sophomore class as a recruit and in part because his skill set sets up a clearer path to the field than that of Smith or Burress. Gilbert has the physical strength to play in the boundary, where Malachi Fields will start. Smith and Burress are more field receivers, where Jordan Faison, Will Pauling and Jaden Greathouse can all play. If Notre Dame uses more two-back sets with a tight end this season, that will pull the classic slot receiver off the field. In that scenario, you're probably not sitting Greathouse, so the reps might be limited even more for Smith and Burress. Those two receivers are still developmental in terms of their physical strength, too. Advertisement All three of these guys have popped at least once during the media viewings of practice, although Gilbert's over-the-shoulder catch on a deep ball from Carr on Saturday morning left an impression. In the end, it doesn't matter which one of these guys gets the most reps. Notre Dame just needs one (or two) of them to earn playing time. On paper, the Irish have a very good top four of Greathouse, Pauling, Fields and Faison. But all four have an injury history. Greathouse was held out of Wednesday's practice. For the sake of context, Notre Dame's No. 5 receiver in snaps played the past five seasons from 2020 to '24 — Braden Lenzy, Deion Colzie, Matt Salerno, Chris Tyree and Jayden Thomas — averaged 12 catches for 169 yards and one touchdown. And Tyree accounted for the majority of that yardage. Notre Dame needs a fifth receiver to emerge, but it shouldn't have to rely on him. What are the odds of Tae Johnson being the starting safety alongside Adon Shuler? As a fellow Tae (not a common name in the sport), should I start getting ready to buy his jersey? — Tae K. My hunch is to give it a year. It wouldn't surprise me if Notre Dame started Adon Shuler and Jalen Stroman most of the season but still play Luke Talich and Tae Johnson. Shuler and Stroman could depart after the season, opening the door for Johnson and Talich to start in 2026. It's always a good sign when young talent beats out older talent for playing time. And I think Johnson will play a lot this season. I'm just not ready to put him in the starting lineup based on last week's opening practice. Based on special teams periods on Wednesday morning, Johnson will be a critical part of Notre Dame's kick coverage (and probably punt coverage) unit. One thing that feels different under Marcus Freeman in comparison to Brian Kelly is the willingness to give true freshmen meaningful time in critical moments. Higher quality of recruits? More trust from the staff? What's the difference? — Matt P. For the record, it's not like there aren't examples of this under Brian Kelly: KeiVarae Russell, TJ Jones, Kyle Hamilton, Joe Alt, Jaylon Smith, Kurt Hinish, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, Stephon Tuitt, Aaron Lynch, Michael Mayer, Clarence Lewis, Blake Fisher, Tyler Buchner, etc. Some of those were by design. Some were out of desperation. But freshmen regularly played front-line roles under Kelly. Still, I'd point to a combination of factors that have made Freeman more likely to play young talent. For one, the talent is better. Benjamin Morrison, Bryce Young and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa would play as freshmen on any Notre Dame team under any coach. Still, some of the freshman contributors have been a product of desperate times calling for desperate measures. In ideal circumstances, Notre Dame doesn't have Rico Flores lead all receivers as a freshman. Anthonie Knapp wasn't supposed to start a game. Leonard Moore should still have been an up-and-coming cornerback. Every team in the country has to play young talent before it wants to, and young talent makes mistakes and typically costs coaches games. Advertisement The bigger story with Freeman's staff is how ready he's had those freshmen when the staff didn't have a choice but to play them. Knapp's performance over 15 games in place of Charles Jagusah and beating out Tosh Baker was remarkable. You could argue the Irish secondary got better after Morrison went down and Notre Dame turned to Moore. There's no magic bullet with offseason training or development. But Freeman's staff has done an excellent job of making these young players believe they're capable of playing and calling the game that way. Notre Dame's defense didn't change radically when Moore came in. The offensive game plans weren't massively different with Knapp. Notre Dame's staff has done well to identify talent coming out of high school, but it has done even better in prepping it for primetime. It's also worth remembering that the transfer portal incentivizes coaches to play freshmen more often. You're more likely to keep a player on your roster if he's getting work. Freeman knows this. Jeremiyah Love has posted multiple Instagram stories playing NCAA 2026 with Kenny Minchey as the starting quarterback. As someone who plays the game, CJ Carr is the default starter, so that means Love would have had to go and manually put in Minchey (unless Carr got hurt). Thoughts? – AJ M. What a question! I wish I had seen this before Love's media availability last weekend, otherwise I would have snuck in this question. My hunch is Love values quarterback mobility, which Denbrock does as well. On a more serious note, that is a bit of a wild card in the quarterback competition. Denbrock's best offenses have the threat of quarterback run. Maybe not as much as Riley Leonard could run it, but more than some recent Notre Dame quarterbacks. Carr is plenty mobile behind the line of scrimmage. Minchey is mobile behind and beyond it. On a personal level, in my Vanderbilt dynasty on NCAA 2026, Carr won the Heisman and Minchey transferred to Tennessee, where he shredded my Commodores' defense for more than 400 passing yards before breaking his collarbone on the game's final play. (Photo of Micah Gilbert: Michael Clubb / South Bend Tribune / USA Today Network via Imagn Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
College football Top 25: Can No. 8 Notre Dame make it back to title game with new quarterback?
College football officially begins this month. Now that it's August, there are less than three weeks until Kansas State and Iowa State meet in Dublin to begin the 2025 regular season. And since the season is quickly approaching, we're rolling out our preseason Top 25. Next up in our rankings is the No. 8 team, and the rest will be revealed in the coming days. (All odds are from BetMGM.) Previously: Nos. 11 through 25, No. 10 Miami, No. 9 Alabama No. 8 Notre Dame 2024 record: 14-2 2025 national championship odds: 12-1 Odds to make College Football Playoff: -200 2024 in 100 words A season that could have gone south after a Week 2 stunner simply didn't. Notre Dame suffered one of the biggest upsets of the season in a 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois. The game came after the Irish beat Texas A&M, 23-13, on the road to start the season. Notre Dame rebounded the next week with a 66-7 shellacking of Purdue on the way to 13 consecutive wins. The last three came in the College Football Playoff as the Irish beat Indiana, Georgia and Penn State before losing to Ohio State in the national title game. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] The quarterback CJ Carr or Kenny Minchey Notre Dame's three-man QB competition was whittled to two during the spring when Steve Angeli entered the transfer portal and ultimately transferred to Syracuse. Angeli served as Riley Leonard's backup in 2024 and was seen as a potential favorite to be the starter in 2025. Instead, that starter will be either Carr or Minchey, and head coach Marcus Freeman hasn't given any indication yet on who will get the job. Quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli told the Athletic last week that it was '50-50' between Carr and Minchey to be the Week 1 starter when Notre Dame opens at Miami. Neither player has thrown a pass in a college football game. Carr is the grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr. Minchey may not be as refined as Carr is throwing the football, but he's an exceptional runner. Both were four-star recruits. Carr was the No. 4 pro-style QB in the class of 2024 behind Dylan Raiola, Julian Sayin and Air Noland. Minchey was the No. 12 pro-style QB in the class of 2023. Whoever wins the job won't have to carry the offense on his own. There's plenty of experience elsewhere to lighten the load. Non-QB to watch WR Malachi Fields With Beaux Collins and Mitchell Evans gone, the fifth-year senior transfer from Virginia should play a big role in 2025. Fields was Virginia's leading receiver in 2024 with 55 catches for 808 yards and five scores. That came after a 2023 season where he finished with 58 catches for 811 yards and five TDs. At 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, Fields is yet another big receiver for a program that loves them. Jaden Greathouse, at 6-1 and 255, returns after having 42 catches for 592 yards and four scores a year ago. He exploded in the College Football Playoff with seven catches for 105 yards and a TD against Penn State and six catches for 128 yards and two scores against Ohio State. Having two massive targets for a young quarterback to throw to isn't the world's worst idea. Best position group Running back No matter who ends up starting at quarterback for the Fighting Irish, the offense should be led by a diverse run game once again. As the passing offense sputtered at the start of 2024, Notre Dame leaned into Leonard's strengths as a runner. The QB rushed for over 900 yards and 17 TDs a season ago. Replicating that production from the QB position may be impossible. But there's plenty of depth at running back. Jeremiyah Love is back after rushing for 1,125 yards and 17 scores last season. He is one of the best backs in college football. Behind him are Jadarian Price (746 yards in 2024) and Aneyas Williams. All three averaged over six yards a carry in 2024. The offensive line should also be a strength. Anthonie Knapp held his own at tackle as a freshman in 2024, and Ashton Craig should also be back healthy. Getting back Charles Jagusah at some point this season will also be key. The projected starter at right guard suffered a broken arm in an ATV accident this summer. Biggest game Oct. 18 vs. USC You can argue that the opener against Miami and the Week 3 game against Texas A&M are much bigger on their own than USC's trip to South Bend. There's not an implausible world where Notre Dame is 0-2 after those two contests, especially if the quarterback position isn't settled. But we think Notre Dame gets at least one win, if not two, from those two games. And USC could be the last big test for the Irish. The Trojans could be much better in 2025. If Notre Dame gets past USC, it has Boston College, Navy, Pitt, Syracuse and Stanford the rest of the season. The Irish will be heavily favored in all five of those games and already penciled into the College Football Playoff if they're 5-2 or better after playing USC. Why Notre Dame is No. 8 We're gonna use this space to talk about a Notre Dame defense that was fantastic in 2024. The Irish allowed fewer than 16 points per game and opponents completed just 52% of their passes for 169 yards per game. The secondary loses Armani Watts, but three starters are back. The linebacking group is fantastic too, with Drayk Bowen returning (78 tackles) and the addition of DeVonta Smith from Alabama (no, not the Eagles wide receiver). There will be some turnover on the defensive line, but this should still be one of the better defenses in college football. Couple that with an offense that should have no problem controlling games via the run, and you have a team that will be in the running to again host a first-round game in the College Football Playoff.
USA Today
05-08-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Notre Dame has many stars named to ESPN's most important players in college football
With the college football season starting at the end of the month, ESPN took a look at the 40 most important players in the sport and named multiple Notre Dame stars to its list. Starting off with their No. 4 most important player in the new starting quarterbacks for likely contenders category was CJ Carr, as Bill Connelly wonders 'can he boost the Irish's upside enough to maybe actually win the national title game (while providing enough of a floor to get them back there)'? That a question that we'd all like answered, but it won't happen right way. He obviously believes that Carr will win the job over Kenny Minchey, which seems like the sentiment nationally. Both of the Irish's wide receiver transfers in Malachi Fields and Will Pauling were named in the category as most important (non-QB) transfers, although neither of them technically made list. However, cornerbacks Leonard Moore and Christian Gray did in the pure transcendence potential. Connelly was astounded by the depth that Notre Dame has at the position, noting that it 'lost all-world cornerback Benjamin Morrison to a injury six games into 2024 and didn't miss a single beat because Gray and Moore — then just a sophomore and freshman, respectively — were so damn good.' Star running back Jeremiyah Love (who spoke with us about his NIL deal with New Balance) made this category as well, but not named as one of the main players as was the case with the wide receivers. It's pretty clear that Notre Dame has plenty of star power entering 2024, as many of its young players emerged last fall and are known commodities. It should be another very successful season in South Bend starting just a few weeks from now. Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions. Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen
USA Today
05-08-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Kirk Herbstreit has high praise for one of Notre Dame's potential starting quarterbacks
While he's often impartial with Notre Dame, that doesn't seem to be the case with Kirk Herbstreit and one of the potential starting quarterbacks. In a post shared by FootballScoop's John Brice at the Personnel and Recruiting Symposium, the former Ohio State quarterback and current ESPN analyst loves what he has seen from CJ Carr. Herbstreit said 'there's something about this CJ Carr. I'm super-high on him.' It's great that a national voice has high hopes for one of the potential starting quarterbacks, as Kenny Minchey is still battling Carr for the spot. It's pretty obvious from what we have seen that the second-year player has a much higher ceiling than his counterpart. Head coach Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock have both been non-committal to either one of them, as the competition continues on this fall. They'll eventually have to pick one, and if Herbstreit has his way, it will be Carr that gets the nod. Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions. Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen
USA Today
04-08-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Most overrated, underrated teams in new US LBM Coaches Poll
In what should be a year of parity in the college football landscape, all eyes are on the preseason polls to see who rises to the top and who might falter entirely. The latest US LBM coaches poll was just released today and gives college football fans the latest insights into who the coaches are thinking will be the best teams in the country. Nevertheless, no one thinks that they always get things right, especially with so much change overtaking the sport. Thus, some teams will be rated as either over or underrated as a result. Here are some teams who could fit both categories. Overrated: Notre Dame It feels hard to knock last year's CFP championship game runner-ups, but they are definitely a squad in flux going into this season. All eyes will be on who emerges in the QB room between redshirt freshman CJ Carr and sophomore Kenny Minchey. With not even a start to either of their names, there could be several growing pains for the winner of the job. They do return one of the best RB tandems in the country in Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, but still leave a lot to be desired in terms of wide receiver depth. It seems as if Marcus Freeman and Co. are relying on yet another breakout campaign from Jaden Greathouse to keep them afloat. Ranked 5th in the coaches poll, the Fighting Irish must make a seamless transition from Leonard to either Carr or Minchey and prove that they can hit the ground running unlike previous years. Underrated: Clemson Many pundits and analysts alike were saying that Clemson could emerge as the top team in the nation. After all, they return arguably the most experienced QB in the nation in Cade Klubnik, a young and scrappy WR corps whose best performances all came in the Big Ten championship and CFP first round games, and two of the best edge talents in Peter Woods and TJ Parker. It must have come as some surprise to may then when they were ranked 6th. Perhaps it's due to the relative weakness of the ACC with only three ranked squads, but Clemson has the chance to have some of the best wins in the country. Their schedule is bookended by games against 9th-ranked LSU and 13th ranked South Carolina. Win both of those non-conference games and this ranking could look silly. Look for Klubnik to potentially lead the country in passing yards, improving on his 3,639 from last season and for Bryant Wesco Jr to have a breakout campaign at receiver. Overrated: Florida Florida are seemingly a team bolstered by the hype surrounding the backfield partnership of DJ Lagway and Jadan Baugh. On one hand, when both are on the field, Florida have unmatched levels of dynamism that can shock the SEC's elite. But with Lagway sidelined this spring recuperating from a season-ending leg injury, their ranking at No. 17 seems precarious, especially considering they are ahead of several CFP teams from last year as well in Tennessee and Indiana. In order for this ranking to hold, Lagway has to show signs of recovery quickly while most importantly, maintaining that dynamic element he can bring to the table. Florida have a grueling five game stretch that sees them play all of LSU, Miami and Texas A&M on the road with a game at home against the top-ranked Longhorns thrown in for good measure. Lagway has to be up for the task, or else it will be a rocky season in the Swamp for the Gators. Underrated: Indiana The fact that Indiana made the CFP last year against all odds, returned most of their offensive and defensive production, and are only ranked 19th in the coaches poll is staggering. While it will hard to replicate last year, it is not as if they don't have the talent and depth to do so again. Add in the fact they avoid the second ranked Buckeyes altogether and there won't be much shock should they go 10-2 again. Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza can aptly replace the production of Kurtis Rourke, throwing for just over 3,000 yards last year. Roman Hemby adds depth to the RB room coming in from Maryland. And Elijah Sarratt is a true WR1 with 957 yards and eight touchdowns last year. Their biggest games of the season do come on the road to take on the third ranked Nittany Lions and seventh-ranked Oregon Ducks, but chances are they won't have to win both games in the new Big Ten format. Something tells me you won't have to be Googling anyone with the Hoosiers this year, as they have well and truly arrived. Overrated: BYU BYU just got a whole lot more interesting to follow after the sour departure of Jake Retzlaff. While they return some talent in LJ Martin at the running back spot, the loss of Retzlaff is a major hit for the passing game. Now, the Cougars must turn to either Utah State transfer Mccae Hillstead or former Westerm Michigan man Treyson Bourguet. While both have experience at the position, they must prove they can elevate this offense enough to be worthy of their top-25 ranking. At No. 23, the Cougars have a great opportunity to move up if there is chaos above them. The fact they are a Big 12 member helps as well, as the parity will play into their hands. Nevertheless, I'm not as high on this year's iteration of the Cougars sans Retzlaff combined with the madness that will be the Big 12 this year. Underrated: Texas Tech Speaking of the Big 12, it may have an emerging dark horse contender. The Texas Tech Red Raiders may not have been on everyone's radar, but after a massive transfer haul that saw them be the No. 1 team in the cycle, the hype surrounding the Red Raiders only grew. This is now one of the most experienced and deepest squads in the Big 12 led by senior QB Behren Morton. The highlights from the transfer portal however, come on the other side of the ball. Headlined by the former Stanford linebacker David Bailey and Georgia Tech man Romello Height, this Texas Tech defense is primed to wreak havoc on opposing offenses week in and week out. A game every Red Raider fan should be circling is their road contest Oct. 18 against the defending Big 12 champs and 11th- ranked Arizona State. Win that game and the Red Raiders could be on dark horse watch not just for the Big 12 for a shock run at the CFP as well. For more news about the coaches poll, especially as it pertains to Penn State, be sure to check out lead writer Kevin Mcguire's latest article that speaks about Penn State's highest ranking since 1999.
