Improved Wide Receiver Room Ready To Take Off For Notre Dame

How different is the vibe of Notre Dame’s wide receiver room as spring football draws to a close? A year ago at this time, Braden Lenzy and Lorenzo Styles were the most productive returnees in a room that was arguably the biggest question mark, concern, trouble spot, (insert your own adjective here) on the team. Notre Dame also had a rookie head coach and a new position coach, Chansi Stuckey, who had just one year of coaching experience under his belt, and he had to work with an inexperienced, depleted depth chart.

A year later, Lenzy left a remaining year of college football on the table to move on to a professional career outside of football (see the value of a Notre Dame degree) and Styles could leave the position group as well as he begins an experiment playing cornerback. Yet, despite those moves, Stuckey’s current batch of talent has the position arguably ascending like no other on the Irish roster.

Any talk of moving Styles a year ago would have been unthinkable. There is no way it could even be considered, but it shows how quickly this room has grown under Stuckey.

"Now you don’t feel such a big loss when he goes,” Stuckey said this week of the potential loss of Styles from the group. "(He is) a veteran guy who has speed and has played in a bunch of games. Now, we certainly feel okay. Numbers help.”

The numbers were bolstered by the move of Chris Tyree from running back to slot receiver, as well as the three early enrollee freshmen in Braylon James, Rico Flores Jr and Jaden Greathouse, who have all opened eyes with their elevated play in their first college practices this spring.

Those four help fortify a position that includes returnees Jayden Thomas, Tobias Merriweather, Deion Colzie and Matt Salerno. Tyree moving to receiver gives the Irish a lethal weapon who has the potential to give opposing defensive coordinators nightmares with the mismatches he can create. Tyree had 56 receptions for 461 yards and four touchdowns in his three seasons at running back.

"Deion’s jumped up,” Stuckey said as he discuss his returners. “JT’s jumped up. Chris Tyree coming over helps a bunch. Now we can move guys around so JT’s not locked into the slot. So, he can play into the boundary or to the field because (Greathouse) is there too, who’s doing a great job. And Matt Salerno and Chris Tyree. The depth and overall production of the room as a group has softened that blow.”

The depth has risen so quickly that Notre Dame can lose an All-ACC performer like Kaleb Smith - who transferred over the offseason - and still feel good about the wide receiver room even if Styles were to play both ways, or even move to defense on a more full-time basis.

Thomas emerging over the second half of last season has played a big role. After not catching a pass as a freshman, and struggling in the early loss to Marshall, Thomas quickly grew into a reliable target for the Irish quarterbacks. He caught just three passes for 32 yards in the first four games of the season, but Thomas hauled in 12 passes for 183 yards in the last four. He finished the season with 25 catches and was second on the team with 362 yards.

Often mistaken for a tight end by ill-informed TV announcers, the 6-1 1/2, 220-pound receiver was most productive out of the slot last season, but his size and speed give him the versatility to play outside as well.

"The process I approach is the NFL approach - you have to be able to play all over the field, and our offense allows us to do that,” Stuckey explained. “In our last couple of practices, JT has been at X, he’s been into the boundary. So, understanding and teaching what is the mindset in the slot versus what is the mindset in the boundary? Understanding who I’m playing against and how much room I have.

“I’m trying to grow him in what he needs to do because if he is playing X, we can manipulate it so he’s in the slot,” Stuckey continued. “You have to understand it all. I think for him to grow as a player, being in the boundary, or to the field, but not just in the slot period, is going to excel his game and give us more of an opportunity as an offense. If you can get him and Chris Tyree on the field, and Tobias on the field, or a combination of such, then you have all your best players on the field.”

Now a junior, Colzie came to Notre Dame with great external expectations. He played in 11 games as a freshman in 2021 but finished with just four receptions for 67 yards. He battled a minor knee injury at the start of last season and finished with slightly improved production at nine receptions for 192 yards. His 21.3 yards per catch led all players with multiple receptions though and he built a niche as the season went on as a go-to guy on third down.

"That was a great start, but the expectation was so high for him,” Stuckey said of Colzie. "He had kind of been behind a couple of guys but now he’s kind of at the forefront. I think the spring is trying to teach him what the expectation is now. When you do something for so long, you have the expectation that that’s what it takes to be successful. Now roles have changed and he has to go to a higher level, another mindset. Most of the spring I was trying to teach him what it takes to excel more, because he was doing what he always did last year."

The man who is expected to be Notre Dame’s “Alpha” receiver this year is the ultra talented Tobias Merriweather. The 6-4, 205-pound sophomore had just one reception as a freshman, but it went for a 41-yard touchdown against Stanford. Merriweather has been a human highlight reel this spring and figures to be a much bigger part of the offense this season.

"Maturity goes a long way,” Stuckey remarked of Merriweather. "I think he understands what it takes to be great. (He) still has a ways to go but understanding what it takes, how good other guys are, and what we expect from him. The expectation is for him to be a great receiver and be one of the guys that goes down in history; a lot of this game is mental. I think he’s turned the corner mentally and he loves being challenged. I challenge him in a different way that I might challenge Deion or JT or Chris Tyree.

"I think that with every challenge he’s responded," continued Stuckey. "Confidence comes with success and he had some success early on. Then it’s ‘Okay, I think I can do this.’ So it’s always challenging to take it to another level and always staying humble.”

Stuckey considers the makeup of the room a “significant” change from just a year ago. It has been four years since a wide receiver led the Irish in receptions and three years since a receiver led the team in yardage. That is likely to change quickly in 2023.

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