Notre Dame Football: Irish still looking for answers at wide receiver
The Notre Dame Football program has its issues at wide receiver, and Brian Kelly needs to turn the position group around immediately.
It’s no secret that in 2020, Notre Dame Football had a big weakness at wide receiver. The Irish simply couldn’t find a replacement for Chase Claypool, who largely covered the gaps in Notre Dame’s receiver’s room in 2019.
Braden Lenzy wasn’t able to step up, often due to injuries, to constitute a deep threat. Meanwhile, players like Avery Davis and Javon McKinley may have had their moments, but they weren’t at the caliber that you need to be to consistently compete with the best teams in college football.
This offseason hasn’t done anything to boost your confidence in the receivers for the Notre Dame Football program going forward, either. Lorenzo Styles Jr, a four-star wide receiver, was the most notable signee. Meanwhile, Jordan Johnson left for UCF through the transfer portal and fellow wide receivers Jay Brunelle, Micah Jones, and Kendall Abdur-Rahman.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame Football hasn’t sniffed the portal when it comes to wide receiver, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to start anytime soon.
This begs the question, what does the Notre Dame Football roster at WR look like going forward?
Braden Lenzy, Avery Davis, and Kevin Austin are going to be the three wide receivers who Notre Dame relies on the most in 2021. Lawrence Keys III and Joe Wilkins Jr have both been around for a long time, but there’s not much proof of concept there.
Xavier Watts could also play a big role, but he’ll be the youngest player of the bunch.
In other words, the hope Notre Dame has at wide receiver is that Lenzy stays healthy and becomes the player we expect him to be. If he can do this, Notre Dame has a chance to actually take the top off defenses. For his part, Austin has missed time due to injuries and suspension, but his potential is there.
Meanwhile, we know what Avery Davis is, but there’s nothing wrong with a steady option. If just one of the other players steps up, there could be a solid group of receivers, if not a great one.
There’s an issue there. Every single play has an ‘if’ attached to them. If this player can do that, and if this receive takes a step forward. There are no sure things, and that’s a major issue going forward.
This is an issue because it’s not like things are going to be better come post-2021. By then, Watts, who has almost no experience, will be the most experienced receiver on the roster. Kelly will need, desperately, to go to the portal by then.
In other words, it’s a mess.
Notre Dame needs to be elite on the outside because that’s what it takes to win in the modern game. It takes being able to push the ball downfield, and attack either side, with athletes in space. If you still think that Michael Mayer on a crosser and Kyren Williams on repeat is enough to win, you’re sorely mistaken.
If the 2020 Rose Bowl against Alabama wasn’t enough to prove it to you, then 2022, when the Irish play Ohio State and Clemson should do the job.
That isn’t to say that Mayer and Williams aren’t great players, mind you. It’s just that they’re not reliable when it comes to scoring enough points to win a shootout, which the history of the College Football Playoff will tell you that they need to if they actually want to win those games.
In all of this attrition at wide receiver, the strange thing is that it’s never really happened before under Brian Kelly. Whether Michael Floyd, Will Fuller, Chase Claypool, or Miles Boykin was walking through the door, you always knew there was at least one NFL-caliber option.
It doesn’t feel this way anymore. Through poor recruiting and player development, it’s Kelly’s fault that Notre Dame is in this mess. Now, he needs to find a way out of it. Sooner rather than later.