Notre Dame football: New faces having huge impact in 2020

Notre Dame football: New faces having a huge impact in 2020

Ben Skowronek, Wide Receiver

Another pretty obvious choice, the grad-transfer from Northwestern has been the definition of a home run hitter for this year’s offense in the passing game.

Hindered by a hamstring injury early in the season, Ben Skowronek has provided much-needed plays in the passing game that has built Book’s confidence and forced defenses to respect the passing game, something they were not doing in the first part of the season.

Skowronek only has 17 receptions through nine games, but 5 of those receptions have been touchdowns.

His two-touchdown performance against Pittsburgh helped spark the Irish passing game that hasn’t really looked back since. Skowronek also recorded a hat-trick vs Boston College hauling in 3 more touchdowns, with two of those being contested 50/50 balls.

Last week vs North Carolina, Skowronek proved to be an asset in the run game as well, taking a jet sweep 13 yards for a touchdown on his first collegiate rush attempt. That’s six touchdowns on 18 touches this year. A 1:3 touchdown-to-touch ratio seems pretty good to me.

He is a big-bodied receiver that has turned into a great red zone threat opposite of Javon McKinley. While the volume hasn’t been anything outrageous, the big play ability that Skowronek has brought to this offense has been priceless.