Notre Dame Spring Preview: Wide Receiver
Notre Dame is entering a new era at wide receiver, but we don't yet know if that will result in a change of outcome. The Irish have a new wide receiver coach to go with a new offensive coordinator, and the spring roster has four new players, and another player that missed almost all of the 2023 season. There will be more reinforcements coming this summer, but the spring is a crucial time for this group.
We've been here before; new players on the roster, talented but unproven young prospects, all with the potential to have break out seasons. Then the fall comes and the group doesn't live up to expectations. In the last two seasons the wide receiver corps has been especially problematic, and it now falls on new position coach Mike Brown to fix it.
He'll have a talented group to work with, but he'll have to do what the two previous receiver coaches largely failed to do, get the conversation to be about the production of his group, and not the potential.
PROJECTED SPRING DEPTH CHART
RETURNING PRODUCTION
Kris Mitchell - 64 catches, 1,118 yards, 17.5 YPC, 6 TD (FIU)
Jayden Harrison - 28 catches, 410 yards, 14.6 YPC, 1 TD (Marshall)
Jayden Thomas - 21 catches, 310 yards, 14.8 YPC, 2 TD
Jordan Faison - 19 catches, 322 yards, 17.0 YPC, 4 TD
Jaden Greathouse - 18 catches, 265 yards, 14.7 YPC, 5 TD
Deion Colzie - 3 catches, 45 yards, 15.0 YPC, 1 TD
This group actually had a productive 2023 season once you include the transfers. Kris Mitchell (Florida International) and Jayden Harrison (Marshall) were big adds to the roster. Notre Dame's returning group had good production in limited snaps, mostly due to injury. When you put it all together, Notre Dame will have a spring receiver uint that combined for 153 catches, 2,470 yards and 19 touchdowns last season.
For their careers, the returning group of receivers have combined for 271 catches, 4,019 yards and 31 touchdowns.
SENIOR STEP UP NEEDED
While much of the focus will understandably be on the newcomers, the 2024 receiving corps will have a hard time reaching its full potential without veterans Jayden Thomas and Deion Colzie stepping up. At least one of those two players will need to step up in a big way this season, and if both do the Irish boundary position will be strong.
Thomas has played all over for Notre Dame, but he seems to have settled into the boundary spot, at least for now. The Georgia native played solid football early last season, hauling in four catches in each game against Navy, Tennessee State and Central Michigan for 63, 62 and 63 yards. An injury against Ohio State kept him from being healthy the remainder of the season, with Thomas catching just five passes in the last seven games. He missed two of those games with injury.
Thomas wasn't healthy again until the bowl game, and he caught four passes for 59 yards and a score in that win over Oregon State.
That's who Thomas is. He's not going to make anyone think he's the second coming of Michael Floyd, Golden Tate or Will Fuller, but when he's healthy he's as steady as they come. That's important, especially for an offense that lacked anything resembling a steady presence when he was out. But that's also the rub with Thomas, in his career he has struggled to consistently stay healthy and stay in the lineup.
If Thomas can finally stay healthy, and Notre Dame can plug basically 4 catches and 60 yards into the lineup week after week that alone will make this unit better than it was a season ago.
Colzie is a much bigger enigma, and it's now or never for him. That is certainly true for the fall, but a case could be made it's also true for the spring. Colzie has all the physical tools you want, especially for a boundary receiver. He's about 6-5, he is long, he can run and when he's locked in he can be a major weapon. The issue is two-fold, he hasn't been able to stay healthy and he hasn't turned his talent into production for his entire career.
I remember having a similar conversation about Miles Boykin heading into the 2018 season. At the time Boykin had shown flashes - including in the bowl win over LSU - but he had caught just 18 passes for 334 yards for three touchdowns in his first three seasons. He was too talented to have not produced more, but fortunately for Notre Dame he broke out in 2018, hauling in 59 passes for 872 yards and eight scores for a team that went 12-0 in the regular season.
Colzie has 16 career catches for 304 yards and two touchdowns through three seasons. Will Colzie have a similar senior year emergence? He has the talent to do so, but if it doesn't start to show this spring there is a chance Colzie gets passed up by the time we get to the fall. If Colzie does step up this spring he gives the offense the kind of big, long, vertical boundary presence it hasn't had since Chase Claypool was dominating back in 2019.
TRANSFER IMPACT
Notre Dame landed three transfer receivers this offseason, but only two are on campus this spring. Both have already made their presence felt, with sources close to the program raving about the speed they are adding to the depth chart.
Kris Mitchell had a breakout season in 2023, hauling in 64 passes for 1,118 yards and six touchdowns for an offense that had very little else in terms of pass game weapons outside of him. He caught 6 passes for 157 yards in a road game at Arkansas, showing that his ability to produce big numbers wasn't relegated to just G5 games.
Mitchell is thin, but he shows good play strength for his size. He has very good speed and impressed me as a route runner last season. Mitchell brings a completely different skillset to the game than what Notre Dame had at Z last season. He can not only stretch the field, but he can separate as an intermediate route runner and he has some skill after the catch.
The question that must answered now is will Mitchell be a solid part of the receiver rotation after moving up in competition, or does his game translate to this level, which will result in Mitchell being an impact player for the Irish offense. The good news is we'll get a good idea of that this spring, because if Mitchell is going to have a successful spring he'll have to do it against players like Benjamin Morrison, Christian Gray and Jaden Mickey.
Jayden Harrison was a first-team All-American at Marshall .... as a kick returner. Although he did lead the Thundering Herd in receiving yards, he caught just 28 passes for 410 yards and one score. Perhaps he'll be a breakout player and have a huge jump in production at Notre Dame, but right now it's about Harrison adding a unique skillset to the Irish roster.
That unique skillset is speed. Harrison can absolutely fly, which you saw while he was averaging 30.7 yards per kick return last season. The slot position is loaded, so Harrison will have to really put that speed on full display if he's going to earn major snaps, but when you can run like he can run, and can do damage after the catch like Harrison can do, you find a role for a player like that.
Another benefit to adding Mitchell and Harrison is that it greatly enhances the competition this spring. The returners will have to be on top of their games if they want to beat out the newcomers, who might be the two fastest wide receivers on the roster.
SOPHOMORE SURGE
The transfers are gaining a lot of attention, and we'll once again hear all offseason about how good Thomas is. Hopefully both are true and the veterans and transfers perform well. What could truly make or break the receiving corps - at least in terms of it being good enough for Notre Dame to compete for a championship - is what happens with the sophomore class.
Texas native Jaden Greathouse got off to a fast start for Notre Dame, catching 12 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns in his first five games in an Irish uniform. Thomas and Colzie going down with injuries forced Greathouse outside, and he too battled a hamstring injury during the middle of the season. He went five straight games without catching a single pass before getting back on track with three catches for 71 yards and a score in the win over Wake Forest.
Greathouse is back to the slot this spring, but his experience as a freshman should allow him to be a bit of a do-it-all player for the Irish. With such strong depth in the slot, being able to move Greathouse around a bit will allow the staff to mix and match the wideouts. If Greathouse shows he's capable of making plays at multiple positions - something he didn't do as a rookie - it will allow him to play even more, and become a focal point of the offense.
If I had to predict right now who a breakout player will be at wide receiver I'd have a hard time not going with Greathouse. He's a quality athlete, he has impressive ball skills and his feel for the game is exceptional. I would contend that Greathouse is the most natural receiver on the roster. If he can breakout in a way that I believe he's capable of, he could completely change the outlook for the Irish wide receiver corps, which in turn would be huge for the offense.
When Greathouse moved outside it opened up a spot for his classmate - Jordan Faison - to step into the lineup. Faison didn't play a snap in the first six games of the season, but injuries thrust him into the lineup against Louisville. He caught his first career pass in that game, which went for a 36-yard touchdown, and Faison was a fixture in the offense ever since.
Faison hauled in 19 passes for 322 yards and four touchdowns in just seven games, including five catches for 115 yards and a score in the bowl win over Oregon State. Faison is now expected to become one of the top playmakers on the Irish offense. He is a unique athlete and one of the few wideouts that have after-the-catch skills, and he is fast enough to stretch the field, even though I'd characterize him as more quick than fast. Faison will also be playing lacrosse this spring, so he won't be involved in every practice, but that shouldn't keep him from continuing to grow as a player.
Right now Faison and Greathouse are projected to both play the slot. If they are similar players to what they were as freshmen that will likely stay mostly true in 2024, but if one of the two really breaks out and forces himself to be used more, both have some level of skill that can allow them to move around. That is true for Faison in certain instances, but it's Greathouse who could really shake things up if he has a big spring.
Another sophomore - KK Smith - is getting his first spring action. He's not an overly imposing looking player, but make no mistake, Smith has talent. The Texas native is a really smooth athlete with impressive ball skills. He can play the slot, he can play outside, and he was a dynamic punt returner in high school. Smith might still be a year away from really making an impact, but keep an eye on him making some noise this spring and speeding up his emergence.
TALENTED ROOKIES ARRIVE
If that wasn't enough, Notre Dame landed a very talented group of wideouts in the 2024 class. Notre Dame welcomed two of the three signees this spring, and they'll both make a push.
Illinois native Cam Williams was a five-star recruit and adds big time ability to the wide receiver room. He might be the most physically gifted player at the position, possessing excellent size (6-2, 201) and speed. Williams is another player that can absolutely fly, and when you add him with Mitchell and Harrison, the Irish wide receiver room added a ton of explosiveness this offseason.
Williams is a bit raw from a technical standpoint due to having to do a little bit of everything for his Glenbard South team, including lining up as a wildcat quarterback and playing defense. He'll need to focus on the technical parts of the game this spring, but if he can figure it out mentally this spring it will be very, very hard to keep Williams off the field.
North Carolina native Micah Gilbert was overlooked in the 2024 class, but he had a huge senior season and he adds size and talent to the roster as well. While he lacks the speed that Williams possesses, Gilbert has good size (6-2, 204), he's very long, he has excellent ball skills and he's a strong young athlete. Gilbert projects initially as a boundary receiver, and adding depth to that position was a must this offseason.
He'll need to beat out some older players to get onto the field, but he has the talent to do so.
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