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Notre Dame football: Who will be the WR1 in 2021?

By Daniel Morrison

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - NOVEMBER 16: Braden Lenzy #25 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish makes a catch in the second quarter against the Navy Midshipmen at Notre Dame Stadium on November 16, 2019 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - NOVEMBER 16: Braden Lenzy #25 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish makes a catch in the second quarter against the Navy Midshipmen at Notre Dame Stadium on November 16, 2019 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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The Notre Dame Football program needs someone to step up as the WR1 this season, and here are some candidates for that role.

It’s no secret that the Notre Dame football team had a big issue on offense in 2020, and that was the lack of a stand-out wide receiver. In particular, they lacked a go-to guy who they could lean on when they needed a play, or who could stretch the defense with speed.

This largely kept the game underneath for the Irish offense and limited their ability to score and produce explosive plays.

In 2021, Notre Dame football needs to have that option at wide receiver. They need to have a guy who can open up the field, draw double teams, and make things easier on Jack Coan and Kyren Williams to operate the offense to its full capacity.

There’s just one issue. It’s brutally unclear who the WR1 will be.

There were a few good wide receivers in 2020. Javon McKinley, who had 42 receptions for 717 yards and three touchdowns was also, typically, the best deep threat Ian Book had to turn towards. Ben Skowronek, who missed time early in the season with a hamstring injury, had 29 receptions for 439 yards and five touchdowns.

Those were your two best Notre Dame wide receivers, and they’re both gone now.

Those numbers are simply not good enough in modern college football. Pick a Power 5 team at random, say Indiana, and take a look at what made their offense go in 2020. Whop Phylor had 54 receptions for 495 yards and three TDs in fewer games than either McKinley or Skowronek.  Phylor wasn’t even Indiana’s best wide receiver, Ty Fryfogle was.

How Indiana is producing better receivers than Notre Dame is beyond common comprehension.

Who steps into the WR1 for Notre Dame football in 2021?

So, who is it going to be? Will it be a returning receiver? Avery Davis is still on the roster and has tons of experience. Can Joe Wilkins step up? Is a Xavier Watts or another young wide receiver ready to explode onto the scene?

Could Braden Lenzy bounce back after a disappointing and injury-riddled season. Or, is it going to have to be someone from the transfer pool that saves this receivers room?

For our purposes, forget about the possibility of a transfer coming into Notre Dame. It would be great to get a big-name wide receiver in the portal, but we don’t know who they are, or who they even could be right now. Instead, as we look to decide who could and should be the top wide receiving threat, we’ll stick with who is currently listed on the 2021-22 roster. 

Here it is, the battle for WR #1, and who should win the job:

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