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

Step Forward: Lawrence Keys III/Kevin Austin/Joe Wilkins

Here is a group of academic seniors and juniors in terms of their playing careers, and at least one of them needs to take a leap forward and become a quality receiver for Notre Dame football, otherwise there is likely going to be an issue in the receiving room again.

However, it’s not reasonable to expect all of them to step up in one season.

Lawrence Keys III only played in five games in 2020, and in those games, he only had five catches for 51 yards. Those numbers are down from 2019, but that’s not saying a ton for his 2019 season.

Keys is a talented wide receiver, but expecting him to see significant time is unrealistic. Kevin Austin is in the same boat, but to a more extreme extent, as he only had one catch for 18 yards in 2020. In Austin’s defense, injuries did limit him throughout the season.

Then, there is Joe Wilkins. His stats, like Keys and Austin, don’t stand out, however, he did see the most playing time out of the three, and is going to be looked to first to step up and replace someone like McKinley or Skowronek. Wilkins had seven receptions for 63 yards and one touchdown last season, again, not much there, but he has the ability to step up.

Whether it is Wilkins or not, at least one of these receivers needs to take a leap forward for the Irish. However, don’t expect any of these players to make the jump to wide receiver number 1, as it’s likely that’s too big a leap, but, wide receiver number 3 would certainly be realistic.