What CJ Carr’s commitment to Notre Dame means for Michigan’s QB recruiting in 2024

One of the elite quarterbacks in the 2024 class gave his verbal commitment on Thursday night when five-star CJ Carr pledged to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish over the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans and a few other programs.

With Carr, the grandson of former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr, officially out of the mix for the Wolverines, where will they turn to in the junior class?

The good news for Michigan is that Carr was just one of a few five-star quarterbacks in the 2024 class the Wolverines recruited heavily. Let’s start off with Jadyn Davis, another five-star passer in the class who just took an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor last week. The visit went so well for the 6-foot, 190-pounder from Charlotte, North Carolina that Rivals recruiting analyst Adam Friedman placed a prediction for the Wolverines to eventually land his commitment.

Davis’ father spoke with 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong ($) after their visit to Michigan and hyped up the facilities, academics and Harbaugh’s NFL pedigree.

“Harbaugh is an NFL guy,” Mr. Davis said. “Sitting there talking about development, he’s what, 14 years as a NFL quarterback and he’s been on both sides of the house whether its NFL, college, there is a relationship between the two. The development piece and experience and knowledge — it’s incomparable to anybody else when thinking about playing that position and developing someone to play that position at the highest level. Andrew Luck.”

All the other elite programs are also in on Davis, but Michigan made a really positive first impression with him and his family. This is certainly one to monitor moving forward.

Another five-star quarterback Harbaugh and company are recruiting is Julian Sayin. The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder from California visited Ann Arbor for the first time back in April and was also impressed with what the Wolverines have to offer.

“It was great,” Sayin told The Michigan Insider’s Brice Marich ($) after his visit. “First time being in Ann Arbor and it definitely exceeded my expectations. The facilities, the energy from the coaching staff, and I was able to watch the teams morning lift and loved seeing their culture (all exceeded my expectations).

“I really enjoyed my time there and they sit high in my recruitment.”

Since his Michigan visit, Sayin has taken a trip to Florida and has visits to Texas on June 11, LSU on June 12 and Alabama on June 13. These will be the last three visits he makes his summer, he told 247Sports’ Greg Biggins. He wants to make a commitment this fall, so it will be vital the Wolverines get him back for a gameday before his announcement.

A couple other quarterback targets for Michigan in the 2024 class include a pair of four-stars — Michael Van Buren and in-stater Isaiah Marshall.

Van Buren plays for St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, a school Michigan has a very strong connection with thanks to Biff Poggi. They’ve landed Blake Corum and Nikhai Hill-Green from the same program in recent years, so the Wolverines could certainly dip their toes back into those waters if both five-star guys go elsewhere. Van Buren has a rocket for an arm and has other offers from Alabama, Penn State, Maryland, Wisconsin, Pitt and more. Michigan offered him last October, so it has been on him for a little while now.

As for Marshall, Jim Harbaugh personally offered the scholarship to him back in 2019 when the Southfield native was just 13 years old and in the seventh grade. Since then, he’s earned other offers from Louisville, Purdue, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Pitt and more. As a sophomore, he threw for 2,236 yards and 28 touchdowns, to go along with 534 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. He is a true dual threat and would also be a welcome addition to the program.

All in all, losing out on a legacy recruit like Carr sucks, but it isn’t as bad as it could be when you look at the bigger picture. If Carr were a Dante Moore situation — where Michigan is solely recruiting him at quarterback — then yeah, it would be a massive loss; perhaps the biggest recruiting loss since Harbaugh has taken over. But with five-stars like Davis and Sayin and four-stars like Van Buren and Marshall still out there for the taking, I am hesitant to be too upset about this news.

And speaking of Moore, Carr being committed to the Irish definitely won’t hurt Michigan’s chances of landing Moore in the 2023 class. In fact, if anything, it just helped a ton.