Notre Dame QB CJ Carr's Rise as a Top 2027 NFL Draft Prospect

A Strong Start to the 2026 Season

CJ Carr, Notre Dame's junior quarterback, threw for 237 yards, three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, while also throwing an interception, in a 49-10 victory over Purdue this season, according to Irish Sports Daily. He completed 70.5% of his passes in that game, averaging close to 17 yards per completion on 14 completions.

Through four games of the 2026 season, Carr has passed for 963 yards and accounted for 11 total touchdowns while completing 70.5% of his throws, Irish Sports Daily reported. FanDuel Sportsbook listed him at +1300 to win the Heisman Trophy as of that report.

Carr's 2025 numbers are drawn from his English Wikipedia entry, which lists a 10-2 record, 2,741 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns, three rushing touchdowns and six interceptions across 12 games in his first season as Notre Dame's starter.

What Draft Analysts Are Saying

A 247Sports longform profile reported that Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt ranked Carr as his top quarterback prospect for the coming draft class, while The Ringer's Todd McShay named him MVP of the Manning Passing Academy, an event that also included other high-profile prospects. Private quarterbacks coach Will Hewlett, who has worked with the last three No. 1 overall draft picks, told 247Sports that Carr has the traits needed to become a top selection.

Not every evaluation is as bullish. CBS Sports NFL Draft analyst Mike Renner rated Carr 81st overall and the sixth-best quarterback on his preseason top-100 big board, projecting him as a late-Day 2 selection, according to the same 247Sports report.

The 247Sports profile also noted that Carr largely stays off social media to limit what he described as the noise around his draft candidacy, saying, "if you delete the noise, then it's not there anymore."

How Freeman Describes Carr's Decision-Making

Freeman has repeatedly pointed to Carr's pre-snap processing as a defining trait. In an August 5, 2026 Yahoo Sports report, Freeman said coach-to-player communication through the helmet radio cuts off at 15 seconds on the play clock, after which Carr is left to read the defense himself.

Freeman called Carr "almost like a version of a coordinator on the field" in that same report, adding that the staff gives him parameters and keys to work from before plays, and acknowledging, "Sometimes, you have to live with him making a check that maybe you wouldn't have made."

After the Purdue game, Freeman also praised Carr's competitiveness following a hard hit on the field, telling reporters, "He is a dang competitor; he is competitive dude and I'm sure he wanted to run the same play again," according to Yahoo Sports, while adding that Carr channels that intensity without losing control.

Background: A Multi-Generation Michigan Football Family

Carr was born May 26, 2005, and attended Saline High School in Michigan as a four-star recruit before committing to Notre Dame, according to his Wikipedia entry. His paternal grandfather, Lloyd Carr, coached Michigan from 1995 to 2007; his father, Jason Carr, was a backup quarterback at Michigan from 1992 to 1995; his maternal grandfather, Tom Curtis, was an All-American safety at Michigan in the late 1960s; and his younger brother, Tommy, currently plays quarterback for Michigan.

NBC News reported that Carr redshirted in 2024, appearing only in mop-up duty, before winning the starting job in spring 2025 over Kenny Minchey. In that spring's Blue-Gold Game, Carr completed 14 of 19 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns, compared with Minchey's 6-of-14 showing. Freeman said the decision came down to decision-making, telling NBC News, "It's about decision-making ... the one thing they control is their decision-making and the ability to get everybody on the same page."