“Who’s going to be the starting quarterback?” That’s the big question Marcus Freeman is wrestling with right now. The QB1 spot in South Bend is totally up for grabs. What started as a three-man race between Steve Angeli, CJ Carr, and Kenny Minchey is now getting serious. They need the face of the offense to step up and fill Riley Leonard’s shoes, and it looks like the decision might narrow down anytime soon. “I’m not at this point super confident that it’s going to be Kenny Minchey. So, we can remove him from the conversation at least at this moment,” Greg McElroy said. Well, you can’t completely count Minchey out just yet, but according to McElroy, it seems that way for now. So, that brings us right back to CJ Carr and Steve Angeli—who’s gonna be leading Notre Dame in 2025?
But can either surpass Leonard’s record of 2,861 yards and 21 TDs to lead the Irish to a National Championship run? Not forgetting, he also racked up 906 yards and 17 TDs on the ground. But when it comes to the two-man QB race, note this thing. There’s a stark difference between throwing at practice and throwing in a game. And Greg McElroy may have given us a peek behind the curtain, potentially revealing who will take the reins this season.
Greg McElroy has rare access to the Notre Dame program, especially through their 2024 playoff run. So, his observation carries weight, and his breakdown of CJ Carr and Steve Angeli in a new ESPN College Football Show on April 1 paints a clear picture. “CJ Carr is extremely gifted as a thrower, extremely,” he lauded the redshirt freshman. “You watch him throw, the way the b— comes off his hand, the way he can turn it over the tight spiral, pinpoint accuracy. I remember a moment just in practice where I’m sitting there watching them… and the goal was to throw it just underneath the upright.” He went on to describe how Carr performed in an impressive manner “with great velocity, great spin very catchable for the opposing wide receiver.” Can’t expect less from a 4-star recruit who’s also the No. 6 QB in the 2024 class, can we?
CJ Carr’s high school numbers were a statement—8,135 yards and 78 touchdowns. But he has yet to take a snap in college football. And while his skill set is hard to ignore, Greg McElroy feels it’s not the practice that counts. While Carr has an edge in skills competition, the analyst pointed out that game-day performance is a different beast.
“If I want to go win a quarterback skills competition, I probably last year would have taken CJ Carr over not just Steve Angeli but you know who I also probably would have taken him over—Riley Leonard who took Notre Dame to the National Championship,” McElroy said. “But it’s not about a skills competition. It’s about how you perform when live bullets are flying.” So he turned his focus to Steve Angeli, who has experience in the fire.
“I’ve seen Steve Angeli do it,” McElroy said. The redshirt junior who had been with the program since 2022. He stepped in for Leonard during a concussion test against Penn State in the CFP semifinals, completing 6 of 7 passes for 44 yards. “I saw Steve Angeli go into the lineup and just methodically right down the field accurately carving up a defense that prior to that possession haven’t given up a thing,” he added. “Who’s to say that Steve Angeli’s ceiling when the real lights are on is outrageously high? We don’t know that.” He even drew an intriguing comparison between Angeli and former LSU star Joe Burrow.
Could Steve Angeli have a Joe Burrow moment?
“Remember now, Joe Burrow was just a guy,” Greg McElroy pointed out. Since transferring to LSU in 2018 after three seasons of limited playing time at Ohio State, Joe Burrow changed his fortune. In his final season in 2019, he showed his true potential, racking up an outstanding 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns in their 15-0 undefeated season that led to a National Championship victory over Clemson.
It’s no wonder Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy and got picked by the Cincinnati Bengals as the first overall in the 2020 NFL draft. “Steve Angeli up to this point of his career, solid just a guy but maybe there’s another level in there that we just don’t know about,” McElroy said. “We’ll see what happens with Steve Angeli, but I would not rule out him becoming the starting quarterback based on what we’ve seen on game day and how efficient he has become at times when thrust into the lineup.”
While Marcus Freeman hasn’t officially named a starter, Greg McElroy’s analysis suggests that the decision is far from settled. Carr might look impressive in practice, but Angeli has shown he can deliver under pressure. And when it comes to game-day performance, that’s what truly matters.
The post Greg McElroy May Have Leaked Marcus Freeman’s Starting QB Decision With Bold CJ Carr and Steve Angeli Revelation appeared first on EssentiallySports.