What's Next: Notre Dame Wide Receiver Recruiting
Notre Dame picked up one of the nation's best wide receivers yesterday when it landed Athens (Ga.) Academy star Deion Colzie. With Colzie now in the class it's time to take a look at the present and future at the position, and what comes next on the recruiting trail.
2020-21 CLASSES ARE LOADING UP ON PASS CATCHERS
Notre Dame is absolutely loading up on talented pass catchers, and Colzie adds to that. The Irish landed Top 100 wideout Jordan Johnson in the 2020 class, and classmate Xavier Watts graded out as a Top 100 recruit on the Irish Breakdown board. Fellow 2020 signee Jay Brunelle is also a talented pass catcher in his own right.
Considering that none of Notre Dame's 2019 wide receiver signees are still at the position, the Irish needed depth and talent in the 2021 class, and with Colzie now on board with Pickerington (Ohio) Central star Lorenzo Styles Jr. they are closer to making that happen.
There is more needed in the class.
LANDING THOMAS IS KEY
Adding at least one more talented pass catcher to the class is an absolute must, and two would be even better. The Irish have put themselves in great position to land Atlanta (Ga.) Pace Academy four-star wideout Jayden Thomas.
Thomas is ranked as the nation's No. 195 overall player by Rivals and No. 218 by ESPN, and he earned a four-star grade on the Irish Breakdown board as well. Landing Thomas would give Notre Dame three Top 200 caliber wideouts in the class.
Even more important, it would give the Irish a receiver with a complementary skillset to Styles and Colzie. Styles is the athletic, after-the-catch threat that can play in the slot and to the field, while Colzie is the long, vertical oriented boundary pass catcher.
The 6-1, 200-pound Thomas can play both field positions as well, but his skillset is different from Styles. He's a more physical player that uses his quality athleticism, strength and high football IQ to make plays down the field and after the catch. There are also scenarios in which Thomas could play in the boundary if the need arose, and play it well.
Thomas is set to publicly make his commitment known on Friday, and the Irish staff has to feel quite good about where it stands heading into that announcement.
STILL LOOKING FOR THE "BIG FISH"
Based on numbers in the current class and the Notre Dame roster there is room for a fourth wide receiver, and an argument could be made its a need. At this point, however, the Irish should only add a fourth receiver if he's a truly elite prospect.
The only player that fits that mold is Baltimore (Md.) Mount St. Joseph star Dont'e Thornton. Adding Thomas would give Notre Dame an outstanding group of receivers, but adding Thornton would make it elite. In fact, adding Thomas and Thornton would give Notre Dame arguably its best receiving class of the Brian Kelly era.
Notre Dame needs to absolutely keep recruiting Thornton until the very end, and recruit him hard. They trail other programs right now, but if they add Thomas this week it would allow the staff to focus all of its 2021 offensive recruiting efforts on Thornton.
Kelly, Tommy Rees, DelVaughn Alexander and Lance Taylor should all make adding Thornton to the class their number one priority. Thornton is the kind of game-changer that can completely alter the future of an offense; he has that kind of talent, and he must become that kind of priority.
Adding Thornton to a wide receiver class that also has Styles, Colzie and Thomas would make it truly elite. Adding that foursome to a roster that has Johnson, Watts, Brunelle at receiver, tight ends Michael Mayer, Kevin Bauman, Cane Berrong, Mitchell Evans, and running backs Chris Tyree and Logan Diggs would give Notre Dame the kind of offensive skill talent that would allow it to compete for, and win a championship.
2022 CLASS = STANDOUTS ONLY
Should Notre Dame land Thomas on Friday it would help make the future depth chart at receiver much healthier. It would also put Notre Dame in position to focus more on impact talent without having to focus on numbers.
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