Notre Dame's CJ Carr is set to redefine quarterback dominance. Witness the rising star lead the charge for an elite 2026 college football season.
At the start of last season, we talked about how there was a changing of the guard at quarterback. Programs like Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas and a host of other schools were going away from the portal quarterbacks and electing to go with some of their 'home grown' recruits. Most of them were relatively inexperienced. Notre Dame elected to go with redshirt freshman CJ Carr while Ohio State did the same with Julian Sayin. Texas named Arch Manning the No. 1 quarterback very earlier into the offseason.
This isn't a one size fits all type of narrative, but some of the best quarterback play this season came from relatively inexperienced starters. As we start turning the page to the 2026 season, I expect the overall level of play at the quarterback position in college to take a massive step forward in 2026. I'd argue, it's been a while since we've seen a year in college football dominated by high level quarterback play in a few years. This upcoming season will tell us a lot about the up and coming talent at the quarterback position and QB1 in South Bend will be one of the main players leading that charge.
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. I'd expect Carr to enter next season as one of the top favorites to win the Heisman along with some other players we'll discuss later on. The 6-3, 210-pound quarterback finished No. 6 in the country in passer rating as a red shirt freshman.
Sayin, from Ohio State, is also poised for another big season in Columbus. He will have the clear-cut best wide receiver in the country returning alongside him in Jeremiah Smith. This year, Sayin finished with a 12-2 record as a starter and racked up 3,610 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He finished the last three games of the season on a sour note throwing four touchdowns and four interceptions, but the California native is set to be one of the premier signal callers in the country this upcoming season.
Manning was one of the most highly anticipated starters coming into this season that we've seen in college football in quite some time. Unfortunately, the level of hype around him overshadowed some of the potential growing pains he would have as a first time starter. In the first half of the regular season, he wasn't the quarterback that was advertised. Not bad by any means, just not the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft type of good. In their final six games, however, Manning started to heat up throwing 14 touchdowns, two interceptions and rushing for five more scores. The 6-4, 219-pound quarterback will also be a premier quarterback in 2026.
There are several other quarterbacks who will help contribute to the elevated quarterback play we'll likely see next season. TCU quarterback Josh Hoover transferred to Indiana who has put together back to back seasons of stellar quarterback play. Quarterbacks Jayden Maiava, Marcel Reed, Bear Bachmeier, LaNorris Sellers and Kevin Jennings all return to their respective teams from 2025. Other portal quarterbacks like Byrum Brown, Brendan Sorsby and Kenny Minchey have found new homes across the country and are expected to be the guy heading into the offseason.
There's still a handful of quarterbacks who have yet to find homes. Players like DJ Lagway, Sam Leavitt, Beau Pribula and whoever takes over for Alabama now that Ty Simpson have declared will also have eyes on them. I expect the level of quarterback play in 2026 to be elevated from what it was in 2025. It's been quite some time that we've been able to say a Notre Dame starting quarterback will lead that charge, but Carr, along with a host of other players, will be at the forefront of the quarterback conversation.
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