Notre Dame Wide Receivers Have To Earn Respect In 2023

Reading through some of the recent previews of Notre Dame, and especially previews and rankings of quarterback Sam Hartman, have been a bit confusing. The recent ESPN ranking of Hartman was especially appalling, but if you really dig through it and read between the lines, the questions aren't really about Hartman.

ESPN placing Hartman in the fourth tier of college quarterbacks, behind Utah's Cameron Rising and even former Irish quarterback Tyler Buchner, was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen, and I've seen some really bizarre analysis over the years.

But if you pay attention, the ranking of Hartman as a tier four player didn't even really seem to be about him.

"Much has been made of Hartman's adjustment to a new offensive system after so much success in Wake Forest's slow-mesh option, but that may overlook the bigger change to his offensive surroundings. In five seasons at Wake Forest, Hartman played with five different receivers who finished with at least 1,000 yards. Notre Dame has had just one 1,000-yard receiver since 2015. While Notre Dame may be the team with more blue-chip talent, the Deacons surrounded Hartman with some top-tier receivers." - David Hale, ESPN

You read that analysis and it becomes apparent that the beef is more with the Notre Dame wide receivers than it is about Hartman. You read this, and read other analysis of the offense heading into 2023, and it becomes clear that the Fighting Irish receivers are considered the weakness of the Notre Dame offense.

If I'm being honest, I can understand why outsiders that clearly don't know much about the Notre Dame team, and don't do the kind of research needed to really know about the Irish program, would view the wide receivers in this fashion.

Last season, the Notre Dame wide receivers combined for just 94 catches, 1,305 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. It's the worst level of production since 2007, when the Irish wideouts had 1,245 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns, but even that unit had more catches (115). In 2019, Chase Claypool and Chris Finke combined for 107 catches and 1,493 receiving yards to go with 17 touchdowns all by themselves.

In 2009, Golden Tate surpassed that production by himself when he racked up 1,496 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns, and his 93 catches that season was just one fewer than the entire 2022 unit. In 2011, Michael Floyd hauled in six more passes (100) than the entire 2022 receiving corps, and his 12 touchdowns in 2010 were more than the entire 2022 receiving corps.

Will Fuller (15 TD in 2014, 14 TD in 2015) and Claypool (13 TD in 2019) all caught more touchdown passes in one season than the entire 2022 receiving corps.

With all that being said, numbers only tell you part of the story. The wideouts certainly had some issues at times in 2022, but the reality is the unit cannot throw themselves the football. Dive into the film and you'll see the production should have been much higher if you look at clips where wideouts did their part to get open, but the ball never came their way. It didn't help their production that they also had star tight end Michael Mayer on the roster setting production records for that position.

Notre Dame's wideouts in 2022 were also young, with the two-deep being dominated by sophomores and a freshman. That group of sophomores - Jayden Thomas and Deion Colzie - are now juniors with a lot of snaps under their belt.

Thomas was a breakout player down the stretch last season, catching 12 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown in the final four games of the season. Colzie saw very limited action in the first half of the season, but caught 9 catches for 192 yards and a score in the second half of the season. That's not knock your socks off numbers, but Colzie showed promise.

Rising sophomore Tobias Merriweather caught just one pass last season, but there's no mistaking his talent. The Washington native was a breakout player for the Irish this spring, but now he has to show it on the field on Saturdays.

This trio certainly has talent, potential and size. Thomas is going to be steady, and I have a lot of confidence that he'll build on his breakout finish to the season. The question is can Merriweather truly breakout on game days, and can Colzie finally develop the attitude and work ethic needed to turn his immense potential into consistent production. That duo is the key to the Irish pass catchers making believers out of doubters.

The emergence of Thomas and Merriweather this spring combined with Colzie's flashes to factor into former top wideout Lorenzo Styles and Virginia Tech transfer Kaleb Smith deciding to transfer and retire, respectively. Merriweather easily beat out Styles during the spring, and that was a factor in Styles being considered for a move to corner before his decision to transfer.

Notre Dame also landed one of the nation's best wide receiver classes in the 2023 recruiting cycle. Early enrollees Jaden Greathouse, Rico Flores Jr. and Braylon James already made their presence felt and Texas athlete Kaleb Smith arrives in June. Flores was breathing down Styles' neck on the depth chart, and Greathouse caught 11 passes in the spring game.

All of this reminds me so much of the discussion about the wide receivers heading into the 2018 season. Notre Dame was replacing leading receiver Equanimeous St. Brown and big play wideout Kevin Stepherson. The production from the 2017 receivers wasn't much better than the 2022 unit, with that group hauling in 113 passes for 1716 yards and 15 touchdowns. Their numbers were tamped down by an offense built around the ground game, and due to inconsistent quarterback play.

A season later, that talented but unproven group of pass catchers - a group that showed promise but not consistency in 2017 - fueled an offense that helped the Irish go 12-0 and earn the program's first ever playoff berth the next season.

Heading into 2018, rising senior Miles Boykin had just 18 career catches for 334 yards and three scores in three seasons. He had just 6 catches for 81 yards and a score through his first two seasons. Boykin caught 12 passes for 253 yards and 2 scores in 2017.

Rising junior Deion Colzie has 13 career catches for 259 yards and a score after his first two seasons. He is coming off a season in which he grabbed 9 passes for 192 yards and a score in 2022.

Heading into 2018, rising junior Chase Claypool was coming off a sophomore campaign where he caught 29 passes for 402 yards and 2 scores.

Rising junior Jayden Thomas is coming off a sophomore campaign where he caught 25 passes for 361 yards and 3 scores.

Heading into 2018, slot receiver Chris Finke was coming off a season in which he caught 6 passes for 102 yards and no scores. Finke and Michael Young, the No. 3 and No. 4 receivers on the 2018 team, combined for 10 catches for 120 yards and one touchdown.

The expected No. 3 and No. 4 receivers in 2023, at least from a proven production standpoint, are Merriweather and Matt Salerno. That duo combined to grab 6 catches for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Boykin, Claypool, Finke and Young combined for 51 catches for 775 yards and 5 scores in 2017. They had to split touches with Alize Mack at tight end, and they played on a team that attempted 352 passes.

They combined for 165 catches, 2,220 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2018 for an undefeated football team.

Thomas, Colzie, Merriweather and Salerno combined for 40 catches for 656 yards and 6 scores. They had to split touches with Michael Mayer at tight end, and played on a team that attempted just 338 passes.

This group has everything it needs to be dominant from a God-given ability standpoint. Will this unit breakout like the 2018 wideouts did? We'll see. The talent is certainly there, the motivation should be there, and the offense should present them with plenty of opportunities. Hartman will certainly get the ball out to them, and this unit stepping up and playing to their potential will be the key to Notre Dame finally putting an offense on the field capable of leading the Irish to a title.

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