Notre Dame football: 5 early questions for the 2021 season

Who Steps up at Wide Receiver?

One of the biggest issues on the Irish offense this season was wide receiver. That’s no secret. There was no deep threat, consistent option to throw to in the slot, or player who could beat other teams’ top corners with consistency.

That largely left Ian Book hung out to dry, and made the Irish offense one dimensional. Now, Ben Skowronek is gone. Javon McKinley, the closest thing to a deep threat in 2020, is on to life after Notre Dame too. Others, like Avery Davis, have a decision to make on if they’ll be at Notre Dame next season.

Notre Dame has gotten fat off great wide receiver play, but times are getting lean. Who can step up to get back to the standard that players from Jeff Samardzija through Chase Claypool set?

One would think that it needs to start with Braden Lenzy. Lenzy, known for his speed, was expected to step up in 2020 to become a major weapon. He didn’t, partially due to injuries at least. The Irish need him to get back to the form that excited fans in 2019.

Several other rising seniors need to figure out how to take the next step with Lenzy. Kevin Austin, Joe Wilkins, and Lawrence Keys among them.

There’s also a crop of young receivers, led by Xavier Watts and Jordan Johnson, who could make waves, but we don’t know much about them at the college level because Kelly seldom plays freshmen wide receivers. That also means we shouldn’t expect to see Deion Colzie, Jayden Thomas, or Lorenzo styles next season, all of whom were ESPN’s top 300 recruits at wide receiver.

More likely, another player like Skowronek will be brought in as a transfer to try and add an experienced piece to the receiver’s room. Whoever it is at wide receiver, Brian Kelly and Tommy Rees need to figure this out to stay balanced on offense and give Kyren Williams and Chris Tyree room to run.