Marcus Freeman has wrapped up an incredible season and gained the requisite momentum from it. Whether they won or not in the final, the Irish truly showed us why they deserve to be at the top year in and year out. This was a team that had gained more supporters than ever thanks to Marcus Freeman’s charming persona but also because they were widely touted as underdogs in the majority of their big games. But, now the season has ended, and Marcus Freeman will have the responsibility to not let that winning momentum go to waste. Thus delivering a performance that would end the Irish’s 37-year-old natty drought.

Things are looking quite optimistic for the Irish, as they have a 12th-ranked recruiting class in 2025 and have some very good players to supplement that. Their 2026 class also looks well polished, although there are some developing concerns about Marcus Freeman’s recruitment. Brian Smith, a college football insider, provided three aspects where the Irish are lagging behind. Especially if their 2026 class is talked about.

“Notre Dame missed on Naeem Burroughs (WR); that’s a player they wanted. They recruited hard, but they never really had a great shot with him. It’s a kid that I’ve had a chance to interview; he was more likely to stay down south. Clemson and Florida were probably the two most likely. I thought he was going to pick Florida, but the visit to Clemson knocked it out of the park. The Tigers went out and got the deal.“

Naeem Burroughs is surely a highly rated wide receiver prospect (2026) who hails from The Bolles School, Jacksonville, Florida. He is rated 4 stars on On3 and has a total rating of 94.53. The kid’s commitment to Clemson surely has shocked major analysts, as the Gators had a maximum chance of almost 90% on On3 to land him, partly because of their proximity but also because he liked the program. He even made the highest visits (6) to the Gators. But, in only one visit to Clemson, it seems he has committed to the program. Notre Dame wasn’t even in the picture, as despite their offer to the player, he never really visited the program. So maybe Marcus Freeman could have done something more to recruit him. Then comes Notre Dame’s second lapse, as Brian Smith points out.

“Connor Salmin, a kid that Notre Dame thought they had a great shot at. Speedster, another kid like Burrough. Could really really run; he selects Clemson too. Clemson Tigers are done; they’re taking two wide receivers; that’s it, they’re done at that spot.” Well, losing Connor Salmin surely would have hurt. Since this was the player who had all the probability rankings pointing toward Notre Dame. On3 gave the Irish a 70.4% probability rating, followed by Penn State at 7.9%. He even visited the Irish three times, with his most recent visit on 1st January this year. The proximity sure wasn’t there as the player, a 4-star rated WR prospect, hailed from The Bullis School, Purcellville, Virginia. But, so was the case with Clemson, and yet they landed the player, and the Irish didn’t. Then comes the third sore spot in Irish’s fortunes.

The third problem Smith highlighted was the Irish receiver room being too shallow in the 2026 class and even in the 2025 class. In the 2026 class, the Fighting Irish have 7 commits as of now but only have one three-star wide receiver commit, Dylan Faison. He is the younger brother of Irish wide receiver Jordan Faison, but the prospect doesn’t even have football as his primary sport. He also plays lacrosse and is rated 5 stars in that. Then comes the biggest conundrum for Marcus Freeman in the 2025 season.

Marcus Freeman’s QB dilemma solved?

Marcus Freeman’s biggest headache? Selecting the QB1 for their 2025 season. Currently, they have three players. Kenny Minchey is one of the players who has seen almost no snaps over the two years in his program as he joined as a 4-star rated prospect. Then there’s Steve Angeli, a prospect of the 2022 class who joined as a three-star. Angeli had started last year’s Tiger Sun Bowl against Oregon State, where he produced 232 yards in passing. Other than that, starts have been scarce for the player, although he has featured in games on a sporadic basis. Lastly, there’s CJ Carr, another 4-star prospect of the year 2024. But who will clinch the QB1 spot?

Tyler Wocjciak of Locked on Irish provided the reasoning behind his choice of QB1 for Marcus Freeman. “CJ Carr has a great opportunity here, but he has to prove that he’s not rusty. In Spring practice, his reps are going to be a little bit limited to start. Just in the sense that he’s probably going to be the third guy to go out there with the first team. But when he’s out there, we know he has a ton of ability. He just has to show that if he has better arm talent and if he can make throws all over the field of those other guys can’t make.“

What Tyler is essentially pointing out is that CJ Carr may not be the first choice as of now for coaches at Irish, but he still has the ability to be the QB1 in the long run. His high ceiling and performances in the spring games can elevate his spot and give him the breakthrough he may have wanted earlier than expected. He sure has the ability to do that, as he was named to the 2021 AP Michigan Division 1-2 offense and posted 2,685 yards just in his sophomore season at high school. Now it remains to be seen if he can bank on that ability and clinch that QB1 spot.