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Mensah better than Carr

DoctorKrazey said:
The biggest fault with our offense last year is we just weren’t able to stretch the field vertically. Our defense was insanely good and bailed us out a bunch, especially in the playoffs. Time after time they came up big. It seemed like our entire philosophy with the passing offense was throw a quick slant or screen to Mali and let him make something happen. I believe I saw a stat where Mensah led the nation in deep passes last year so with him behind center, and the excellent additions at WR, should make for a much more explosive offense in 26’ and I’m definitely looking forward to it.
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Part of the issue with the Notre Dame favoritism is that people will be thinking of the Canes team AS IF it were led by Beck. Beck is a good game manager quarterback who will have a long career as a backup QB in Denver or Seattle. The injury took something out of that arm, which is something a lot of us weren't willing to admit, but I think Dawson understood.

With Mensah, Dawson can go into South Bend and play Cam Ward Football. That's horrible for the Irish, even if our Defense is only a reasonable comparison to what it was in 2025.
 
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theuksu said:
Just heard another analyst hyping up CJ Carr. Mensah is a better QB, IMO. And maybe I need to take off my orange and green shades but position by position Miami has a better team.

QB - edge Miami
RB - edge Miami
WR - edge Miami
TE - even (no proven starter on either team)
OL - even (both teams have to fill holes)
DL - edge Miami
LB - edge ND
CB - edge Miami --- Leonard Moore is great player. I'd love to see @Lance Roffers breakdown his game compared to Xavier Lucas'. Overall we have a better starting unit.
S - - slight edge Miami ----Shuler is a better S than Poyser. But if Fitzgerald can add some weight during the offseason he's the best S on either team.

Curious to hear others thoughts?
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There is no orange and green glasses when it comes to Mensah here. He is a better passer Than Carr and it’s not even close. Also, everyone keeps saying that this Notre Dame game is gonna be a hardest next year and I’m not sure if I see that. They lost their two best most explosive players on their team to the draft, and that was both their running backs. What they have replacing those guys aren’t near that level. I think Notre Dame takes a bit of a step back this year.
 
JHallCanes said:
Right I think all our fans would say the biggest question mark is the OL

That’s the bad news

The good news is if we had one position group we could “figure it out” it would be OL. They take the group too seriously to let it slip too much
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Handsome Squidbum said:
I don't think lowly of Carr, I just think there is no basis to put him the elite category as he faced a pathetic schedule outside TAMU and UM, and a couple dozens D1 QBs could do exactly what he did against Purdue, Boston College, NC St, and BSU. Carr faced 3 ranked teams, Miami TAMU, USC, he wasn't anything special in those games. Miami was probably his best performance of the 3, and that was in game 1 when our defense hadn't gelled yet. USC had a midtier defense (51st in scoring), and he managed a whopping 1 TD 1 INT for 136 yds at home.

Do I need to go back and post screenshots of the conversation on this site about TVD after he set ACC records for most 300 yd games in a row in his freshman year to remind folks what happens when you gas up a QB that didn't face real competition? Carr's sample size for 2025 was 3 ranked teams where he showed he was a very slightly above average QB (losing 2 of the 3 btw), and then about a dozen garbage teams where he racked up gaudy stats.

Could I be completely wrong about Carr? Maybe- but I'm not sure what I would be wrong about. I didn't say he was a bad QB, just that I don't find any logical justification for ranking him so highly outside his pedigree and the school he plays for. To be fair, I could be equally critical about Mensah, he didn't really elevate his game against ranked opponents in 2025, but Duke was not a particularly good team, plus teams had plenty of film on Mensah to break down his tendencies. ND was loaded and out-talented all but 3 of the teams they played. Teams didn't have much film on Carr, which they will have in year 2.
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Exactly
If Carr played for Purdue
No one would even know his f ing name
 
htownkidd said:
Carr avgd less YPG than Beck, in less games and weaker comp - he is a dink and dunk merchant who just lost his 2 best explosive weapons, and we will suffocate that offense in Y2 with Hetherman.
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Don’t forget the o-line is taking a hit, best two backs are gone, key pieces of their defense are gone. We lose key pieces as well l, not lost in the mix as well all know. I trust Mario’s recruiting and developing more than Freeman so I’ll take us.
 
htownkidd said:
Carr avgd less YPG than Beck, in less games and weaker comp - he is a dink and dunk merchant who just lost his 2 best explosive weapons, and we will suffocate that offense in Y2 with Hetherman.
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Right lol..i think the kid is a good player but star? Maybe he will take a leap in his 2nd year as a starter but overall he’s just a good qb. Beck isn’t a bad comp
 
Handsome Squidbum said:
I think a lot of the respect from UM fans might be due to the fact that Carr as a freshman is more capable than Beck as a Senior , and a lot of UM fans are overrating Beck because of UM making it to the title game.

Downvote away everyone. I think Beck was a game manager who threw devastating INTs in mutiple critical situations. If I had to pick between Carr and Beck to be our QB in 2026 I would take Carr.

Mensah>Carr>Beck
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**** no Carr is not. Y’all just be saying anything.
 
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That week is tricky from a weather standpoint.
Could be a beautiful late fall or nasty. Chicago canes will be there (knocks on wood) either way.
 
Game will be tough to win, but very winnable. We are better on paper, but that’s a very good football team. Carr and Mensah are different. Carr is younger, and a bigger, better athlete. Mensah has the experience edge and is a better passer. Both QBs are very good.
 
3FW said:
Game will be tough to win, but very winnable. We are better on paper, but that’s a very good football team. Carr and Mensah are different. Carr is younger, and a bigger, better athlete. Mensah has the experience edge and is a better passer. Both QBs are very good.
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Mensah is 7 months older and they are about the same size and athleticism.

Carr literally only ran against us



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supersaiyanshel said:
They pretty much have built a team specifically to beat Miami after what we did to them.

As of now, this is gonna be the game of the college football season.
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And, there in lies the problem for ND,.. what we did to them LAST YEAR. A different team, similar but different. And as you know Dawson shape shifts to fit his personnel.so, while they’re gearing towards who we were, we are building for who we are and will be. Will be a very good and interesting game.
 
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I would like to see how our offense gels.
Home field is a *****
Mensah should be better than Carr
Stay healthy my friend…
 



Since D$ and others have had him breaking down Mensah seems fair to get his take on Carr.

Surprised he gave him as much love as he did. Brooks seemed to appreciate his presence snap IQ. I think if you read between the lines you can see that the film showed potential but not a player who is putting it altogether and is winning agaisnt good coverage. Kid makes the throws when they are there but there's isnt much tape of him beating good coverage besides the backshoulder fade.

The lack of tight window, high accuracy balls (besides the backshoukder fades) shows up in the breakdown and he highlights some of those inconsistencies that won't show up in a highlight tape.

Very few plays where Carr is making the high pressure play when you have to have it. He honestly did more of that against us than most of his other opponents. I think he was able to have that success because we didnt have any film on him.

I think Brooks would say off record that Carr has the tools but isnt a finished product yet. Given that he is smart to be diplomatic with his content he is probably more complimentary to the lad than he might other wise be off record.
 
AUcane said:
My top 5 QBs are (in no order) Moore, Mensah, Sorsby, Manning and Carr.
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I've seen nothing from Carr against quality defenses that warrant him being that high. He's a good QB but he only started putting up really good numbers once ND started playing God awful teams. Most of his success vs Texas A&M came from check downs where guys got good RAC for him.

His numbers vs Miami were buoyed by the busted coverage, 1st game with a new DC, where their TE went 65 yards.

The only other quality opponent they played, Pittsburgh does not count as they weren't even trying, was USC at home where he went 16/26 for 136 with 1 TD and 1 INT. His long pass on the day was 15 yards. Three rushes for -7 yards. Beating up bad opponents doesn't impress me.
 
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