The Notre Dame offense has plenty of questions about just who will rise and be the heroes of 2026. Quite a bit of attention has been paid to the running back position with Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price off to the NFL. However, there are plenty of questions about what the wide receiver corps will do this year. When discussing who will be the unit's leader, most people pick Jordan Faison. However, J.D. Pickell believes the real leader will be Mylan Graham.
Graham joined the Fighting Irish over the winter alongside former Ohio State teammate Quincy Porter. Both were former 5-star prospects when they committed to the Buckeyes, but neither saw much playing time during their stays in Columbus. Both are uber-talented and could bring an immediate impact.
However, Pickell thinks that Graham will make such an impact that the analyst picked him to team up with CJ Carr to be one of the best QB/WR combos in the country in 2026. In fact, he recently listed them as the No. 5 combo in the sport. That’s such a glowing recommendation that it should almost immediately make Notre Dame fans very excited to see if they can deliver on the promise Pickell sees.
“Although Notre Dame fell just shy of reaching the College Football Playoff last season, quarterback CJ Carr impressed mighty in his first campaign as the Irish’s starting quarterback. Carr passed for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns, and is projected as one of the top quarterbacks in the 2027 NFL Draft.”
Mylan Graham picked as CJ Carr’s breakout Notre Dame football weapon
“He was given some major help through the Portal this offseason, as Notre Dame hauled in former Ohio State wide receiver Mylan Graham. Although Graham has hauled in just six career catches for 93 yards, the former four-star recruit is bound to blossom in South Bend under the guidance of head coach Marcus Freeman. Graham seems poised to be the next Ohio State transfer to blossom with a different team, joining the likes of Joe Burrow and Jameson Williams.”
High praise indeed for Graham to be compared to Burrow, even if it’s not a direct comparison. The Irish would absolutely take that kind of production, especially with so many questions beyond Faison about just who will step up.
It helps that this at least won’t be the first action that the former Buckeye has seen at the college level. He did grab 6 passes for 93 yards a year ago and looks poised to do even better in 2026.
Graham and Carr join a talented group that Pickell laid out as the top QB/WR combos in the country. While Carr and Graham were in the middle of that group, there are plenty of names on the list that will strike fear into the hearts of defenders:
- Julian Sayin & Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State)
- Darian Mensah & Malachi Toney (Miami)
- Arch Manning & Cam Coleman (Texas)
- Dante Moore & Dakorien Moore (Oregon)
- Marcel Reed & Mario Craver (Texas A&M)
- Josh Hoover & Nick Marsh (Indiana)
- Darian Mensah & Cooper Barkate (Miami)
- Sam Leavitt & Trey’Dez Green (LSU)
- John Mateer & Isaiah Sategna III (Oklahoma)
One of the more interesting aspects of the Transfer portal era is that CJ Carr and Mylan Graham might usually be hampered by the fact that they didn’t play together last year. However, the Notre Dame pair’s situation is the same as fully half of the combos in J.D. Pickell’s list.
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