Midweek Musings: Receiver Help Is Already On Campus, Notre Dame DL Breakout Player
My latest thoughts on Notre Dame football takes a look at fixing the wide receiver depth chart by looking inside the program and a defensive lineman whose breakout in 2022 could be what's needed for it to become an elite unit.
WIDE RECEIVER FIXES ARE ALREADY ON CAMPUS
Notre Dame currently has just eight wide receivers on scholarship, which is at least one player short from an ideal numbers standpoint. One of those players is former walk-on Matt Salerno, and four of those wideouts enter their final season of eligibility. Two of those veterans are coming off major knee injuries during the 2021 season.
Needless to say, despite having a roster that does in fact have talent, Notre Dame has some major question marks at wide receivers from a numbers and health standpoint. As it stands right now, Notre Dame will have just five healthy receivers during the spring: Braden Lenzy, Salerno, Lorenzo Styles, Deion Colzie and Jayden Thomas.
Notre Dame will add just one freshman to the roster in the spring thanks to the former position coach losing two commits in the days leading up to the early signing period.
Notre Dame has been pushing to land an uncommitted 2022 receiver, but that's looking unlikely. The undergraduate transfer portal is unlikely to provide a player that Notre Dame can get into school. Notre Dame could go the graduate route, but that's a short-term fix that doesn't address the depth problems beyond the 2022 season.
Notre Dame could look to add a huge class in 2023, but that could create a roster imbalance.
So what is the staff to do?
Well, there's at least one player on the current roster that could not only address the numbers problem, he's a player capable of moving and immediately providing playmaking ability to the position group.
Of course, I'm referring to rising junior Xavier Watts, who enters the 2022 season with three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Watts was recruited to Notre Dame as a wide receiver, but he played for a position coach who was either unwilling to unable to develop him as a player. When the defense ran into a numbers problem in the fall they turned to Watts, who was a key part of the safety rotation by the end of the season.
If I'm Watts I'm going to be very hesitant to move back to offense since the person in charge is still one of the coaches who refused to give him a chance to make an impact the past two seasons. But if the offensive staff was smart they would go to Watts, sit him and down make him the guarantees needed to get him to move back to that side of the ball.
Watts would show up with knowledge of the offense, something a transfer wouldn't have. His specific skill set is also something the Irish don't have much on the current roster. He has good speed, but he's strong and he has playmaking ability with the ball in his hands. According to sources, Watts is also a young wideout that showed the ability to win contested throws down the field.
The defensive coaches won't want to give him up, but the arrival of Northwestern graduate transfer Brandon Joseph and the talent at safety in the 2023 class makes this make sense from a numbers standpoint. Watts could provide an even greater impact on the roster at wide receiver than safety, but the question is will the staff have the foresight to make it happen and will Watts be willing to move.
If the answer to both is yet the wide receiver depth chart could get a significant shot in the arm right now.
If he wasn't coming off a knee injury of his own I would have also spent some time talking about freshman JoJo Johnson, who was actually a more productive receiver in high school than he was a defensive back.
LACEY COULD BE THE KEY TO THE DEFENSIVE LINE
Getting end Isaiah Foskey and defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola back is a huge boost for first-year position coach Al Washington and the Irish defense. There are plenty of players who could be breakouts for the defensive this season, and I have my eye on Rylie Mills and Alexander Ehrensberger heading into the spring.
There is one player, however, whose emergence over the next eight months could have a bigger impact than anyone else we are talking about on the defensive line.
That player would be Jacob Lacey, who still has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Lacey was one of the top recruits from the 2019 class, and he showed off impressive skill as a freshman until a shoulder injury began to slow him down. Lacey tried to play through that injury as a sophomore (2020), but he was clearly not healthy and couldn't provide much of an impact. Lacey had surgery during the offseason, and part of getting back to good health was losing almost 20 pounds.
The Kentucky native was solid as a junior in 2021, but the lack of time in the weight room because of that shoulder injury kept him from being a more productive player and from playing more reps.
This will be Lacey's most healthy offseason since he arrived at Notre Dame. He's now about a year removed from the shoulder injury. That means this offseason will allow Lacey to be fully back into the strength program. Lacey should be able to add at least 10 pounds and his strength will get back on track.
More than any veteran on the roster, Lacey has the talent to be a very productive nose tackle in the current defense. He's athletic enough to penetrate and be disruptive, if he gets to at least 285 he'll have more weight (and he has a thicker frame) than classmate Howard Cross III. Lacey also has good natural power, which allows him to be more stout at the point of attack .... when healthy.
Lacey now has to prove that he's the player I think he can be. It will be up to Washington to continue helping Lacey enhance his technical game, but if Lacey is healthy and back to full strength he could take over the nose tackle position and give the defense a huge boost at a very important position.
Put me down as predicting a breakout from Lacey in 2022.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Okay, I found this hilarious, and Joe Alt was great in this video.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
This weekend we broke down the latest Notre Dame coaching moves, including a long look at new defensive line coach Al Washington.
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Irish Breakdown Content
Notre Dame 2021 Roster
Notre Dame 2021 Schedule
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Offense
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Defense
Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board
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