College Football Recruiting: Ranking 5-star QB CJ Carr’s 6 finalists

Five-star quarterback CJ Carr is poised to be one of the best in college football in a couple of years, but he’s on the verge of a decision.

CJ Carr is one of the hottest names in college football recruiting right now. Although he’s part of the 2024 class so he’s a couple of years away from enrolling and a year from his own official visits, he announced on Monday that he’s planning on committing this week.

With that announcement, he released his top six schools: Michigan, Notre Dame, LSU, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Michigan State.

If the Saline, Mich., prospect’s name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s the grandson of Michigan coaching legend Lloyd Carr who led the program to a national title in 1997 along with five Big Ten titles. So he’s a lock to pick the Wolverines, right?

Not so fast.

Let’s rank his finalists with No. 1 being my projected landing spot.

The longshots (Nos. 6 & 5): Wisconsin, Michigan State

This is not a knock on Michigan State or Wisconsin, but it feels like they haven’t quite been in the headlines enough for CJ Carr. The Spartans were heavily involved a few months ago, but things have been sort of quiet on that front since. He visited East Lansing on March 17, but I see Michigan State as a long shot here despite being an in-state target.

Wisconsin, on the other hand, offered about a year ago and never had a visit reported to 247Sports which makes it pretty obvious that he won’t be headed to Madison, barring a miracle.

Both schools will find their quarterback in the 2024 class, but it won’t be Carr.

4. LSU

I have LSU in the fourth spot because the Tigers were the last team to offer him out of all of his finalists. The fact that LSU made the cut ahead of a team like Alabama which offered on the same day is impressive, but there’s been about a month of relationships formed since that scholarship was offered.

Brian Kelly has developed some solid quarterbacks over the years and he has some on the roster right now so he can recruit them at a high level, but I just don’t see him getting offered and committing to LSU in just a month.

3. Georgia

Georgia is heavily involved in the race for Arch Manning who just took a visit to Athens this past weekend — as seen all over social media — but Carr has to like what he sees from the reigning champs. The Bulldogs showed that they can win a national title with an average former walk-on, so just imagine what they could do with a five-star.

Kirby Smart is an excellent recruiter so expect him to be on the phone with Carr until he commits, but I just see the Bulldogs as that team right outside the top two.

2. Michigan

You’d think that the grandson of a former national title-winning legendary Michigan coach would be a lock to pick his grandfather’s former program, but that’s not quite the case.

All signs are pointing to the Wolverines coming up short for the five-star in-state quarterback who probably grew up a huge Michigan fan. Unfortunately for Jim Harbaugh, this is going to be a really tough pill to swallow because he might end up being the best quarterback in the 2024 class before it’s all said and done and he is a legacy recruit.

Notre Dame just did a better job recruiting him.

1. Notre Dame

Avert your eyes, Michigan fans. Carr probably should have been a lock to pick the Wolverines based on his grandpa’s legacy, but Notre Dame has made him a priority while the program in Ann Arbor hasn’t quite done a great job in this recruitment.

Marcus Freeman has turned up the pressure and he has pushed the Irish out in front after getting Carr to visit numerous times and knocking each trip out of the park.

Carr had been trending toward Notre Dame, according to the 247Sports crystal balls which flooded in this weekend, and his early decision definitely feels like he’s a lock for the Irish. What a steal this would be for the Irish from Michigan.