The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a roster full of players, and we want to talk about them all. One Foot Down’s player profile series will, once again, take a look at every single one of them, and hopefully we all learn a little bit more about these guys, and Notre Dame’s chances for the upcoming 2021 season.

#77 Quinn Carroll, OL

Quinn Carroll came to the Fighting Irish as part of a very strong offensive line recruiting class in 2019 — the 6’6”, 295-lb OT prospect from Edina, Minnesota was one of four 4-star, top-200 offensive linemen signed in that class, according to the 247sports Composite Rankings (Zeke Correll, Andrew Kristofic, and John Olmstead were the other three).

Heading into their junior year, only Correll has really shown the ability to back up his recruiting hype so far (not necessarily surprising considering who was ahead of them on the depth chart and considering many offensive linemen don’t contribute much in their first couple years). Still, heading into the 2021 season, Olmstead has transferred to Lafayette, and Kristofic and Carroll have really only played sparingly in garbage time of blowouts and do NOT appear to be probable first-time starters this fall.

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Carroll was considered potentially the best of the 2019 bunch coming out of high school. Zeke Correll was rated a tad higher, but Carroll being an OT prospect made him a pretty exciting signee, especially because he held offers from just about anyone who matters, including Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Auburn, Florida, Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin, USC, Miami, and many more. He was ranked #118 overall in the class, #12 at offensive tackle, and #1 in the state of Minnesota.

However, a knee injury suffered during fall camp of his freshman year significantly hampered his development, preventing him from seeing any action in 2019 and surely impacting what Matt Balis could do in molding him into a college-level offensive line body early on. Last season as a sophomore, Carroll saw limited action in blowout wins over South Florida, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse.

Heading into 2021, Carroll is a 6’6”, 306-lb junior in class but true freshman in terms of eligibility — so there is plenty of time for him to still become a contributor on Jeff Quinn’s line before his time in South Bend comes to an end.

The Restaurant That Fits

The Cheesecake Factory

Quinn Carroll hails from Edina, Minnesota. If you’re an avid fan of The Mighty Ducks, D2, D3, and The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers like I am, then you know that that makes him a “cake-eater.”

So, I had to go with a place literally named after a cake — it just makes sense.

2021 Outlook

At this point, it looks highly unlikely that Quinn Carroll will see significant playing time in 2021, barring one or two major injuries.

Zeke Correll appears locked into the center position, and Cain Madden will almost certainly start at one of the guard spots, considering he was a 2nd Team All-American last year at Marshall. Jarrett Patterson will be starting SOMEWHERE without a doubt, and then the remainder of the line will probably be rounded out by Blake Fisher and Josh Lugg — one being a ridiculously talented 5-star frosh the coaches can’t keep off the field, and the other being a trusted veteran with lots of experience.

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Additionally, other guys still competing for a potential key role in 2021 include Rocco Spindler, Tosh Baker, and Andrew Kristofic, all seemingly ahead of Carroll in the pecking order right now.

Things could still change over the summer and into fall camp, but as of now Carroll will likely still be working on the 2nd team this year, hoping to snag a spot in the starting lineup in 2022 once guys like Lugg, Madden, and Patterson move on from the program.