Rising redshirt sophomore quarterback CJ Carr has been named an early Heisman favorite by our friends over at FanDuel. Obviously, it's extremely early, and these odds are subject to change over the course of the offseason, but this is something we expected especially after his success in 2025 as a redshirt freshman. Carr was one of the nation's leading passers in efficiency and started off the season as the only quarterback in the country to start their collegiate career against two playoff teams.
In 2025, Carr finished his 12-game regular season with a 10-2 overall record and played a major role in the Irish rattling off 10 straight victories, all by double digits. The Michigan native racked up 2,741 passing yards, completed 66.6 percent of his passes, threw 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also rushed for three additional scores. The 6-3, 210-pound quarterback finished No. 6 in the country in passer rating as a red shirt freshman.
It didn't take long for Carr's impact to be felt on the field. His first career start was against Miami on the road at night in Hard Rock Stadium. He completed 19 passes on 30 attempts, threw for 223 yards, two touchdowns and added a rushing score on the ground. Carr followed up that performance with a 293-yard, one touchdown performance against Texas A&M in a shootout under the lights in South Bend. Carr's performance on their final offensive possession gave the Irish a 40-34 lead late in the 4th quarter.
Carr's performance under center left many, myself included, extremely hopeful for the future. He had four games this season with at least 290 yards passing. In 2023 and 2024, former Notre Dame quarterbacks Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard combined for one game with over 290 yards passing and that was Hartman's 330 yard performance against Central Michigan in 2023.
The decision to go with a 'homegrown' kid proved to be an intelligent one. For the first time since 2020, Notre Dame will have a returning starter under center and expectations are already starting to grow for Carr. FanDuel has him currently tied with Texas quarterback Arch Manning at +800 odds to win the 2026 Heisman Trophy. A Fighting Irish player hasn't won the Heisman since 1987 when receiver Tim Brown brought the heralded trophy back to South Bend. Carr has the opportunity to do something this season that hasn't been done at Notre Dame in almost 40 years.
Some of the other early Heisman favorites are receiver Jeremiah Smith and quarterback Julian Sayin from Ohio State, quarterback Gunner Stockton from Georgia and quarterback Josh Hoover who just recently transferred to Indiana. Notre Dame is set up to face a few quarterbacks listed in FanDuel's 2026 Heisman odds; quarterback Kevin Jennings of SMU has +4500 odds to win and quarterback Bear Bachmeier of BYU has +6000 odds to bring the trophy to Provo.
It's a long shot, but also worth noting, Notre Dame running back Aneyas Williams has +22500 odds to win the Heisman and receiver Jordan Faison has +50000 odds to win, so Carr isn't the lone Irish player on FanDuel's list. If he has the season we believe he's capable of having, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest that Carr makes the trip to New York in December of this year.
Here are the Top 6 early Heisman favorites according to FanDuel:
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