Georgia Legend Explains Why 2,700-Yard QB Tops His 2026 College Football Rankings – Sports Illustrated

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The college football landscape is full of veteran quarterbacks heading into the 2026 season.
Over the last decade, the NCAA transfer portal has created an avenue for lesser-known quarterbacks to showcase their skills to wider audiences.
Additionally, lucrative NIL packages are keeping quarterbacks in college longer, creating little separation between the best ones throughout the sport.
Former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray has released his list of the 10 best quarterbacks entering the 2026 college football season.
On a recent episode of On3's "The Hard Count" with J.D. PicKell, Murray discussed his selection of Notre Dame starter CJ Carr as the No. 1 quarterback this season.
"For him (Carr), you go back and watch all the tape against some pretty good competition early in the season. I think even in the game against Miami, he had some really good stuff," Murray said.
"I thought (the game) versus Texas A&M was unbelievable; he's making throws left and right, and it just comes down to Texas A&M on a fourth down to win that football game, or you were talking about a team that would have been 11-1."
The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder narrowly beat out current Kentucky starter Kenny Minchey for Notre Dame's starting job. Carr went 39-of-62 passing for 514 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in the games Murray mentioned, both of which were against 2026 College Football Playoff participants in the first three weeks of the season.
"For him as the quarterback, to look at a Notre Dame team and say 'we understand we're a little bit different because we don't have a conference championship game to get us into the (College Football) Playoffs, we've got to go on a run and we've got to win the rest of our games,'" Murray said.
"Say what you want about their schedule, he performed at a really, really high level for the majority of that season with the pressure of 'I have to lead this team to 10 straight victories,' which he did."
Notre Dame's 10 wins featured ranked victories against USC and Pittsburgh, the latter of which was a 22-point road victory. Carr finished 2025 with 2,741 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
The Fighting Irish's 2026 schedule bears similarity to its 2025 schedule, but it could be more conducive to an end result with 10 or more wins.
Notre Dame once again squares off with Miami, but the game is at home and in November. The Fighting Irish trade their usual trip to USC for a trip to BYU on Oct. 17, and much of the other competition is against weaker Power Four opponents, as it was in 2025. This schedule should allow Carr to build confidence before the Fighting Irish's toughest test, unlike in 2025.
As for Carr's surroundings, the most notable departure is Doak Walker Award-winning running back Jeremiyah Love, and several of his favorite targets from a season ago are also off to the NFL. A year of starting experience, the same offensive coordinator and four returning offensive linemen should all benefit Carr in 2026.
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Tucker Harlin is a passionate sports fan and journalist covering college sports. His work can be found on Vols Wire of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and The Voice of College Football Network. He graduated from the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Tennessee in 2024 and is based in Nashville.
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