CJ Carr Returns to Notre Dame Without Either of Last Year’s First-Round Running Backs

Notre Dame finally enters a season without introducing a new starting quarterback.

CJ Carr is back after throwing for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns against six interceptions. He has lived through a difficult opening month, helped the Irish win 10 consecutive games and learned what the offense looks like when a defense takes away its preferred look.

The continuity ends beside him.

Jeremiyah Love went third in the NFL Draft. Jadarian Price went 32nd. Notre Dame became the first school in the modern draft era to have the first two running backs selected in the same draft. Replacing them is not a matter of moving the next name up the depth chart.

Two backs changed every defensive conversation

Love and Price threatened a defense before either touched the ball. Their explosiveness affected safety depth, linebacker alignment and the way an opponent defended play action. They could turn an ordinary crease into a touchdown and make a correct defensive call wrong through individual speed.

Their work without the ball mattered just as much to Carr. Backs identify pressure, step into protection and become immediate outlets when the original route structure changes. Trust in those moments allows a quarterback to keep his eyes downfield rather than checking whether the free rusher has been handled.

Notre Dame may find enough rushing production across several players. The harder task is replacing the complete assignment: early-down explosiveness, short-yardage reliability, pass protection, receiving value and the constant threat that shaped coverage.

Carr’s second season starts with more responsibility

Carr no longer has to learn how to be the starting quarterback. He has to make a changing offense feel settled.

That responsibility shows up before the snap. A returning quarterback can correct protection, move a receiver and get the offense out of a call that no longer fits the front. It shows up after mistakes, when a new back misses a landmark or a receiver reads leverage differently. Carr must keep one imperfect rep from changing the pace of the entire unit.

The offense should not respond by asking him to throw 40 times every week. A larger role is not the same as a larger passing total. Notre Dame needs Carr’s experience to create cleaner work for the players replacing Love and Price.

Play action, formation and tempo can give a new backfield favorable pictures. Carr’s willingness to take the available completion can keep the offense out of the long-yardage downs where inexperience becomes easiest to attack.

The offensive line has to make the transition smaller

Notre Dame recruits the position well, but the line entered camp after an injury to Matty Augustine and with Ashton Craig working back toward full-speed repetitions. A stable front can make the new backfield look deeper. An unsettled one can make every handoff feel like a test.

The line does not need to create the same explosive outcome Love and Price could manufacture. It must create predictable landmarks. New backs improve faster when they can trust where the first crease should appear and which defender remains their responsibility in protection.

Carr benefits from the same stability. A quarterback who knows where the pocket will remain clean can stay attached to the route instead of escaping from pressure that has not arrived.

Last year Carr could lean on one of the country’s best backfields while he learned. This year the backfield will lean on him.

That does not mean every close game belongs to the quarterback. Notre Dame’s defense should keep the Irish from living in weekly shootouts, and the roster contains enough talent to build a productive rotation at running back.

The difference is where the offense now looks when something goes wrong. Carr is the returning starter. He knows the language, the pressure rules and the emotional cost of a poor September.

Notre Dame finally knows its quarterback. The 2026 season will show how much easier one experienced player can make everything that changed around him.