Notre Dame Has A Wide Receiver Problem That Must Be Addressed

Notre Dame has suffered an abnormally high number of losses from its wide receiver room in the last year, and the loss last night of 2022 commit CJ Williams - a Top 100 recruit - could combine with departures this offseason to put the Irish in a tenuous situation at the position, and that's being kind

Notre Dame lost two receivers from its 2020 depth chart to graduation, which was followed by the loss of five different players leaving as transfers. Seven players from one depth chart is a major loss. Notre Dame was able to overcome that loss thanks to the depth of the 2018 class and the talent of this year's group of freshmen.

But by the end of the season Notre Dame was in a tough spot from a numbers standpoint at wide receiver.

If all the wideouts with eligibility remaining return for the 2022 season the Irish should be okay on paper, but if you dig deeper there are still serious concerns.

Senior wide receiver Kevin Austin needs to return, but there's a better than average chance he leaves for the NFL following the season based on the latest information I've gathered. Bringing back Braden Lenzy is a must at this point, but Lenzy isn't a guarantee to return and at times he's had issues staying healthy for an entire season.

Avery Davis and Joe Wilkins Jr. could and should return, but both are coming off season-ending knee injuries. The reality is we don't know what to expect health wise from Davis and Wilkins even if they return.

Notre Dame has a trio of talented current freshmen (Lorenzo Styles, Deion Colzie, Jayden Thomas) and it is expected to sign two more talented players in the 2022 class (Tobias Merriweather, Amorion Walker).

So if the remainder of the season and offseason goes perfectly for the staff it will have just nine scholarship receivers, with four veterans with very checkered injury histories (all have suffered season-ending injuries) and five players that are either sophomores or freshmen, and as of right now they will be coached by someone who has struggled to keep his players happy and has struggled to develop young players.

There is A LOT of talent that could return, but it's not guaranteed to come back, nor is it guaranteed to be developed properly.

It was good to see Styles, Colzie and Thomas get action this season, but let's be honest, if not for the mass exodus of players from the roster, including Lawrence Keys III during the season, and a season-ending injury to Wilkins what are the odds we would have seen them as much as we did?

Here's my evidence. Prior to Wilkins going down the three freshman receivers combined for 26 snaps in four games, with half of them coming against Toledo. After Wilkins went down in game five the freshmen were forced into the rotation. There was simply no one else to turn to. The trio combined for 333 snaps in the final seven games of the season.

In the previous four seasons with Del Alexander coaching the position, freshman receivers combined for just 9 catches, and those grabs were made by just two players (Michael Young in 2017, Austin in 2018). Notre Dame freshman wideouts combined for 0 catches in the 2019 and 2020 seasons combined.

So you can forgive me if I don't have a great deal of confidence in Alexander getting a depth chart with over half the roster being first or second year players ready to play against teams like Ohio State, Clemson, USC and BYU. The only time we've seen young players get on the field is basically when the staff has no one else to turn to.

This is the first test of Marcus Freeman's tenure at Notre Dame. He must figure out a way to salvage the depth chart, add pieces where necessary and find new leadership.

Here is what Freeman must accomplish in a short period of time:

1. Make sure you land Merriweather and Walker - Freeman and OC Tommy Rees must do everything possible to make sure Merriweather and Walker sign on Wednesday. Merriweather is the No. 1 offensive player on my board and has truly elite talent, and as far as I know he's solid. Walker is a player the staff is very, very high on and they love his speed. I don't grade him that high, but since I haven't been able to find a ton of great film of Walker I'm going to trust their evaluation and the 4.41 he ran this summer. Of course, he's been flirting with Michigan for months and has taken many visits this season, so there is work to be done. If they don't land Walker it puts the numbers in a very precarious situation.

2. Convince Austin to return - The latest intel I've received is that Austin is leaning towards going pro, but also that a decision has not been made. Rees and Freeman absolutely must convince him to return. It's in Austin's best interest to return and it's in Notre Dame's best interest that he return.

If Austin comes back he could form a dynamic 1-2 punch in the boundary with Colzie. Austin would be "the man" at the position, and if Colzie forces his way into action that gives Notre Dame the chance to move Austin around more, which is great for him and the offense. Those two manning the boundary would also free the staff up to move Merriweather to the field position, where he could quickly work into the rotation. With the right coaching (see below) I have no doubt that Merriweather could make a big impact as a true freshman.

Austin and Colzie in the boundary, Merriweather and Lenzy (see below) to the field, Wilkins moving around (see below), and Thomas having positional flexibility would then allow Styles to play more in the slot, either in place of Davis (should he not return or not be healthy) or in a rotation with Davis. Styles can also play outside, so you'd have a really deep, talented rotation to the field.

All of a sudden your depth chart is looking much better, assuming they can stay healthy (big if) and assuming they are developed properly (see below).

3. Convince the other veterans to return or find portal replacements - Lenzy, Davis and Wilkins Jr. are all eligible to come back. Two of the three (Davis, Wilkins Jr.) are coming off serious knee injuries and the third, Lenzy, has his own checkered injury history.

Bringing all three back solidifies the depth chart, and I prefer that to the portal because they know the offense, they know the rest of the team and they are all talented. You'd be hard pressed to find a portal receiver that is more explosive than Lenzy.

If the staff doesn't trust the injuries, doesn't want to bring one or some of those players back or if the players choose not to come back then Notre Dame is forced to go to the transfer portal.

Of course they could consider moving Xavier Watts back to receiver, but that would be a disservice to that young man, who needs to be allowed to develop and battle at safety. The staff could also think about moving JoJo Johnson to receiver, but he's also coming off a season-ending injury.

4. Re-evaluate the board after signing day - There will be players that don't sign on Wednesday, which begins the early signing period. There are also players the staff has looked at in the past that it could try and convince to hold off signing on Wednesday, which would give the staff the rest of the month of December and all of January to get them on campus in an attempt to get them into the class in February.

5. Find a new wide receivers coach - I rarely do this, and honestly I'm not comfortable doing it in a public format, but we are past the point of no return. Everyone I've spoken to about position coach Del Alexander talks about the fact he's a man of high character, and I respect that, but the fact is he has been at best average with his ability as a receivers coach, as a recruiter, with player development and his ability to build trust in his unit. That isn't close to being good enough for a wide receivers coach for a program trying to compete for championships.

This will be a test for Freeman, who I'm sure thinks as highly of Alexander as everyone else I've spoken with, and a test for Rees, who clearly thinks highly of Alexander. They need to make the tough decision to move on and find a new position coach. Perhaps that means moving Lance Taylor out to receivers and hiring a new running backs coach, perhaps that means finding a new receivers coach from the outside.

Either way, a change is desperately needed. Notre Dame needs an experienced wide receivers coach that has a proven track record of strong recruiting and development, especially developing younger players. Do that and get the veterans to come back and all of a sudden the wide receiver position looks very, very good for 2022 and beyond.

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