Notre Dame Football Mailbag: More CJ Carr vs Kenny Minchey QB1 talk, A Bryce Young breakout coming, and some Jaylen Sneed hype

Latest Notre Dame Football Mailbag

Ryan Roberts — National College Football Writer
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We are less than three weeks until Notre Dame football kicks off the 2025 college football season against the Miami Hurricanes on August 31st. Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish squad enter the year with some high expectations on them. The vibes around South Bend are at an all time high. 

In what will be a weekly occurrence, I have opened up the opportunity to ask some Notre Dame football mailbag questions. In this week’s edition, we continue to talk about the quarterback battle between CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey, a Bryce Young breakout, Jaylen Sneed hype, newcomers to know, and an early Miami score prediction. As always, shout out to everyone who submitted questions this week. 

Studs or Duds at quarterback?

Out of the two options, I think it is much more likely that the starting quarterback ends up becoming a stud than a dud. Both CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey were highly recruited quarterbacks for a reason. Both have plus talent as pure passers, and each is going into their second year under offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, with loads of talent around them. I’d be surprised if either was anything close to a dud. 

Odds in the quarterback battle 

Some people are going to hate this, call me click bait and whatever else, but I am buying into the Kenny Minchey hype a bit. I don’t think he holds a substantial lead, but I’d put it at about 55 percent for Minchey. CJ Carr still has a good chance to still win the job, but the point is that this is a much tighter race than some fans are acting like it is. I’ll roll with Minchey at the moment, but things could change quite a bit after the scrimmage this weekend. 

Notre Dame newcomers to know 

This is a great question, and honestly, there are a few. I think I’d probably start with Bryce Young at defensive end. He obviously played a good bit last as a freshman, but that was just a taste of what he’s capable of. You could also throw Boubacar Traore into this conversation since he had a small sample size due to the leg injury. Third downs weren’t always the best downs for Notre Dame from a pure pass rush perspective. I think that will change quite a bit in 2025, especially with Traore back. 

I’m also very excited about the young safeties in this defense. Tae Johnson hasn’t played much as a redshirt freshman, and I think his ball skills and range will flash a ton this fall. We also can’t forget about true freshman JaDon Blair. You just don’t see too many safeties at 6-5 and 205 pounds in general, and especially ones that move the way Blair does. If given opportunities, he will make a lot of plays. 

Impact of the quarterback decision 

I don’t think much at all. The offense will be the same whether it is CJ Carr or Kenny Minchey. Obviously they are different players, so there will be some play calls and concepts that they prefer, but it doesn’t change the offense. That stays the same. 

Would you be more willing to implement some quarterback run game stuff with Minchey as the starter? Perhaps. Would there be a larger emphasis on the true run option in the RPO game? Perhaps, but I don’t think the true elements of the passing game changes at all. There might, at most, be a slight emphasis shift to what you call in certain moments of the game (ie situational football). 

Jeremiyah Love as an NFL Draft prospect

Oh yes, I believe so. We saw a substantial jump for Love last season in terms of physicality. He has always been an elite level athlete, but whether he could hold the body armor and play downhill enough was the question. We saw him do that in 2024, and Love has continued to get even stronger this offseason. With his combination of explosiveness, big play ability, and pass game upside, I expect Love to be drafted very high in the 2026 NFL Draft next April. 

Josh Burnham vs Bryce Young

I think we go a little bit too far with buying into the starter labels at certain positions. Whether Young or Burnham ends up as the starter against Miami, both are going to play a lot, and that goes for the entirety of the season. Burnham is a bit more of a consistent run defender right now, but there is no questioning that Young is the better all around talent, and his upside against the pass is much higher. I’m expecting a bit of a breakout for the 6-7, 270-pound Young and Burnham to be a good solid player. Both will make an impact, but it’ll certainly look differently. 

Score prediction against Miami

I haven’t done an official score prediction, and won’t until the week of the game, but I’ll probably be somewhere in the 31 to 20 range with Notre Dame coming out on top. I just truly believe that the Irish have the more complete roster, and I’m not sure it’s very close. A first year starting quarterback getting rolled out is my only hesitation right now, and a potential for bringing them along somewhat slowly. I just think the Notre Dame defense is very fast, and they are going to force Miami quarterback Carson Beck into some mistakes, especially with the brand new wide receiver room that he’s working with. 

Talking Jaylen Sneed

It’s much more about Jaylen Sneed right now. Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is a stud, and people are very high on the sophomore overall. He is going to play a lot, even if he doesn’t have the “starter” label next to his name. I’d expect KVA to take a substantial step as a player this season. Sneed has just seemingly put everything together. He is holding more weight, playing and speaking more confidently. He may be finally putting it all together right before our very eyes.

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