Notre Dame's Revamped Receiver Room Could Unlock Another Level for CJ Carr
CJ Carr has been the centerpiece of Notre Dame's offseason conversation across the country.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound quarterback enters the 2026 season as the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite after throwing for 2,741 yards, 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions during his first season as the Irish starter.
Carr's talent has never been in question, but Notre Dame has also made a significant investment in upgrading the talent around him. If the receiver room reaches its potential, the Michigan native could be in line for an even bigger season.
Rather than simply expecting Carr to elevate everyone around him, the Irish attacked the position through the Transfer Portal, adding Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter while bringing in five freshmen receivers to raise the room's overall ceiling.
Porter is still working his way back from offseason surgery, but head coach Marcus Freeman has been encouraged by the progress of the group. He also knows the work is far from finished.
“There are certain guys that have been here, but still haven’t had a lot of reps with CJ,” stated Freeman. “What you’ve seen from spring till now, they’re doing so many 7-on-7 routes, they’re watching film together.”
Those offseason repetitions are about much more than learning the offense. Building chemistry between quarterbacks and receivers often comes down to the smallest details.
“It’s just that timing and that trust,” explained Freeman. “Everybody runs certain routes, it’s the same route, but they run it a little bit differently, so the timing is important.
“I’ve seen CJ really work on that timing with a lot of those guys. It’s just continuously just stacking those reps and building that trust so that he knows how each guy that he is probably going to play with is how they’re going to run that route.”
Senior Jordan Faison returns as the leader of the room after pacing Notre Dame with 49 receptions for 640 yards and four touchdowns last season.
The Irish are also counting on the return of a healthy Jaden Greathouse, who reminded everyone of his potential during Notre Dame's run to the national championship game following the 2024 season.
Greathouse spent much of the 2025 campaign battling a lingering hamstring injury, but Freeman believes those issues are finally behind him.
“He’s finally healthy,” Freeman said. “How do we keep him healthy? We've got to be intentional about certain things to make sure that we have them when it matters. Every individual is not the same. What we’re gonna ask of Jaden Greathouse might be different from what we ask of Jordan Faison in fall camp. We got to make sure that he’s ready to go as we get into the games. There’s a lot of confidence in him. He’s been having a good summer.”
Graham also took a major step forward during spring practice as he became more comfortable in Mike Denbrock's offense.
“Mylan had a really good spring,” Freeman stated. “He improved tremendously. He had to continually learn our playbook and all its little details, but he’s gifted. He’s really good and I’ve seen him continuously improve as we’ve gone through the summer.”
Porter's timeline remains less certain, but Freeman likes the direction the Ohio State transfer is heading.
“He’s doing more,” said Freeman. “He didn’t do anything in the spring. He’s starting to do more. He’s still not 100 percent clear to do every single route.
“How do we keep progressing him? We can’t pick and choose routes when we get to the game. We've got to keep progressing through the end of July and August.”
If the Irish can get Greathouse back at full strength, continue Graham's development and eventually add a healthy Porter to the mix, Carr could be surrounded by the deepest and most explosive receiving corps of the Marcus Freeman era.
For a quarterback already expected to contend for college football's biggest award, that could make an already dangerous offense lethal.
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