Just how much hype is following Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr into the 2026 season? How about being compared to Tom Brady and Drew Brees? How about getting praise from NFL greats Eli and Peyton Manning? How about getting named the Manning Passing Academy “Alpha Dog” MVP? NFL Draft expert Todd McShay had all kinds of compliments for Carr after his weekend showing. It’s safe to say that McShay believes Carr is easily one of the best quarterbacks in the game. He stopped short of calling him “the best” but not by much.
The analyst reviewed what he saw of the Irish signal-caller on a recent episode of the McShay show and couldn’t really find anything negative to say about Carr. But first and foremost, it’s clear that he feels the quarterback is extremely polished.
“Wasn't even close. Wasn't even close,” McShay said about handing the Manning Passing Academy MVP to the Notre Dame star. “Julian Sayin was there, and Arch Manning was there, and there were a lot of other guys that were exceptional. And I say that his performance in throwing the football was... That's the jumping-off point.”
The analyst also laid out exactly what he saw that convinced him that Carr was the real deal. He saw “repeatable mechanics,” which is a very big deal in quarterback success. Especially on the next level.
Very high praise from @McShay13 for CJ Carr after the Manning Passing Academy.
— Locked On Irish (@LockedOnIrish) June 29, 2026
"CJ Carr was the MVP, and it wasn't even close."
Here's what he had to say on The McShay Show pic.twitter.com/0KsL5llrN0
Todd McShay compares CJ Carr’s mechanics to Tom Brady and Drew Brees
“Man, like when you think about like Brady and Brees, and you think about like the modern day, even like Mendoza last year, talk about like repetitive, like repeatable form mechanics. It's like. I don't want to say robotic because he's not a robotic player, but when it comes to footwork, timing, ball out.”
“Just standing there, watching him, even like warming up, like. Hands here, bang. Hand here. And, yeah, it's not pads. There's no defense and all that. I get it. I'm not going to oversell it. But you always look for what's different, whether it's the Senior Bowl or the combine. But more so, like all-star games or just on tape. How easy his stroke is, how mechanical, and I don't mean that in like a robotic way. I mean it— like he just, what's supposed to be hit is hit. When the ball's supposed to be out, it's out. And then you watch him.”
McShay, like all who have watched Carr play, knows there are things the Notre Dame quarterback needs to improve to truly be the best of the best. However, it doesn’t appear he’s very far away from doing exactly that.
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