Notre Dame Freshman Receivers Have Been A Hit This Spring

The future (not to mention the present) is decidedly bright for Notre Dame’s wide receiver room. The Fighting Irish feel good about returning receivers like Jayden Thomas, Deion Colzie and Tobias Merriweather.

They may be even feeling better about this spring’s addition of Chris Tyree to the room from the running back ranks this spring. But three early enrollees, Rico Flores Jr, Jaden Greathouse and Braylon James, have all brought buzz of their own this spring.

"We hit on all three freshmen,” Irish wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey said of the early-enrolling trio. "That was huge and that’s super rare.”

Stuckey made sure to compliment Notre Dame Director of Recruiting Chad Bowden for the work he and his staff did to get the three four-star recruits to Notre Dame. James and Greathouse both came from Texas, while Flores arrived from California when the spring semester began in snowy January in South Bend.

They all came to campus with strong skillsets that were already taking shape before their arrival.

"It’s a compliment to their coaches, too,” Stuckey praised. "The high school programs that they came from (allowed) them to come in and be successful at Notre Dame. The attention to detail, what’s required, the intensity, being coached hard, and reacting the right way because you never know once you get them here, because you recruited them for so long, once you get them here it’s like ‘I love you, it’s great’ and you get between the white lines and you’re like ‘Oh my God who’s this guy?’”

James, the highest ranked recruit of the three, finished his high school career with 1,795 career receiving yards and 17 touchdowns between Del Valle and Stony Point high schools in the Austin, Texas area. He came to Notre Dame with a reputation as a receiver with a big catch radius and he has shown that in some of the spring practice highlights posted by Notre Dame’s social media.

"Braylon has had the most interesting transition because he put on 15 pounds,” Stuckey offered. "He got here and got 15 pounds super quick so his body this spring has been used to carrying that extra weight. He’s the freakiest of them all: 6-2, runs a 4.4, 38-inch vertical. He’s the biggest freakiest of them all, but his body has changed so much.”

Flores finished his Folsom High School career in Northern California with 201 receptions for 3,222 yards and 32 touchdowns. He had 72 of those catches and 1,081 yards in his senior season alone.

"Rico is thicker,” Stuckey boasted. "Way bigger than you thought. He gets here and has huge tree-trunk legs, and his arms, and has a little presence about him. Good size, great route-runner. Attention to detail is immaculate.

"You have to test sometimes if kids love football; Rico loves football, it’s important to him," continued Stuckey. "He’s betting everything he has on himself. He loves school, he’s working super hard, takes care of his business off the field, comes here, does extra work, lifts, asks great questions, takes notes. He’s a consummate professional only three months out of high school. The challenge to him is to keep getting better, don’t let up. Reminding him of why he’s here.”

Greathouse ended his high school career as the most prolific receiver in Austin (Texas) Westlake history with 232 receptions for 4,035 yards and 53 touchdowns. The 4,035 yards rank No. 15 all-time in Texas high school history.

"JG is just physically ready to play,” Stuckey said. "(He) has great ball skills, has a niftiness in and around through zones where he can get around guys, but has enough power and quickness to beat guys. His ball skills are out of control but his basketball background and what they did at Westlake — you put him into the boundary and get inside the 10-yard line, he’s probably any ball anywhere he’s going to make a play. Those two are so impressive physically — Rico and JG — but the athleticism of Braylon is through the roof.”

All three receivers were consensus four-star recruits. When asked last Saturday if any of the three have shown any inklings this spring that they could contribute this season, Irish offensive coordinator Gerad Parker offered a cautious “Maybe”. That may be the case, but they also may be too good to keep off the field for too long.

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