ESPN’s Greg McElroy: Why Notre Dame naming CJ Carr the starter is ‘a great sign’

ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy followed the Notre Dame quarterback competition closely. So when it came to a conclusion Tuesday, he probably reacted like anyone else who had redshirt freshman CJ Carr winning it from the beginning.

With a wide grin and a lot to say.

“This is great news for Notre Dame fans,” McElroy said. “This is great because last year, if you look at what Riley Leonard was, he was terrific. He did everything you could have asked for from the quarterback spot. But, essentially, he was a game manager. Now you have a quarterback in CJ Carr who can quite literally take the game over with his arm. He is really, really talented.”

That’s the idea for the Irish.

That’s why when Leonard, who “managed” games nearly as brilliantly as anyone who’s taken on that moniker lately, graduated and exhausted his eligibility, Notre Dame didn’t go running to the transfer portal for the fourth time in the last five seasons for a rental quarterback. Odds are, the Irish weren’t going to find anyone with Carr’s level of arm talent anyway.

So why wasn’t Carr a year-one starter? He told Blue & Gold’s Kyle Kelly during Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff run that he would not have been ready to start as a true freshman. Cognizant humility. He had too much to learn, and he wound up getting injured to boot. Most of his first fall in South Bend was spent rehabbing an elbow injury on his throwing arm.

The elbow ailment was resolved by the end of the CFP run. He told Blue & Gold then that he was 90 to 95 percent healthy. He’s as full-go as can be now, obviously. The injury hasn’t been an offseason storyline in the slightest.

The competition with redshirt sophomore Kenny Minchey most certainly was, however. Many reports indicated Minchey was actually leading the battle as recently as last weekend. Carr threw three interceptions on the first day of Notre Dame fall camp.

More followed that trio in subsequent practices.

“With that talent comes inexperience,” McElroy said. “And there was some buzz throughout camp that he was making some poor decisions that led to some interceptions. And Marcus Freeman, being a defensive head coach, knows that’s not the way you’re going to win games. Not at the highest level of the sport.”

To get to the highest level of the sport, you’ve generally got to have a top-tier quarterback. That’s what Carr would come to be if he reached his ceiling. The climb toward it begins in earnest Aug. 31 at Miami.

McElroy can’t wait. He’s not alone.

“It sounds like he’s cleaned those things up enough to the point that he can be named the starter,” McElroy said. “This is a great sign for what could come for an improved passing offense this year for the Irish.”