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Newsstand: Where The Athletic ranked Notre Dame QB CJ Carr among all FBS quarterbacks

IMG_9992by: Tyler Horka07/17/25tbhorka
carr
Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr. (Photo by Mike Miller)

So many people in the Notre Dame sphere have already anointed CJ Carr the Fighting Irish’s starting quarterback in 2025. And it’s not just people, either.

It’s entire national media outlets as well.

The Athletic ranked every projected starting quarterback in the FBS this week. It had Carr coming in at No. 49 in Tier 4 of the rankings.

Staffers from The Athletic surveyed more than 40 college football coaches and staffers. From there, The Athletic was able to come up with seven different tiers to place the QBs into. For reference, this is the descriptor for Tier 4: “Some are young, unproven starters with high potential; others are veterans who have flashed great talent but hit performance or injury speed bumps somewhere along the way.”

These are the top 10 quarterbacks in college football according to The Athletic.

1. Cade Klubnik, Clemson
2. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
3. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
4. John Mateer, Oklahoma
5. DJ Lagway, Florida
6. Drew Allar, Penn State
7. Sam Leavitt, Arizona State
8. Kevin Jennings, SMU
9. Josh Hoover, TCU
10. Arch Manning, Texas

And these are the rankings for quarterbacks the Fighting Irish will face this season.

12. Carson Beck (Miami)
21. Taylen Green (Arkansas)
23. Max Madsen (Boise State)
26. Marcel Reed (Texas A&M)
29. Eli Holstein (Pitt)
31. CJ Bailey (NC State)
41. Blake Horvath (Navy)
54. Jayden Maiava (USC)
61. Steve Angeli (Syracuse)
73. Grayson James (BC)
85. Malachi Singleton (Purdue)
93 Elijah Brown (Stanford)

Notre Dame tweets of the day

Look out for Fighting Irish representation in New York City this week.

Football is coming to South Bend soon.

Garrett Sundra‘s second season in South Bend is loading.

Fighting Irish quote of the day

“The kid works really frickin’ hard. He’s always trying to be really cerebral about it. And I’m proud of him because, for me, I was always smart but I didn’t always pick up the iPad because I thought I knew a lot. It was cool to see that even though he makes a lot of plays, he still picks up that iPad.

“He understands the game is always evolving. If X, Y and Z don’t happen sometimes, you need to give him a little bit of a break. Just know that the kid works his butt off.”

— Former Vanderbilt, BYU and Tennessee defensive back Gabe Jeaudy-Lally on Fighting Irish wide receiver Jaden Greathouse

Blue & Gold headlines of the day

• Film Study: Notre Dame safety commit Joey O’Brien
• Can Jaden Greathouse be a true No. 1 wide receiver for Notre Dame in 2025?
• Lucky Charms: Intel on several Notre Dame targets in new 2027 Rivals300
• ‘It Felt Special’: Fast-rising 2028 CB Phoenix Evans talks Notre Dame offer after Irish Invasion
• Notre Dame tracking four-star QB Keegan Croucher after early offers go out