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10 Things that will define the 2021 Notre Dame football season

By Daniel Morrison

Nov 30, 2019; Stanford, CA, USA; A Notre Dame Fighting Irish helmet sits behind the bench during the first quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 30, 2019; Stanford, CA, USA; A Notre Dame Fighting Irish helmet sits behind the bench during the first quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports /
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Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, IN – NOVEMBER 23: Braden Lenzy #25 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish runs downfield for a 61-yard touchdown ahead of Brandon Sebastian #10 of the Boston College Eagles in the third quarter at Notre Dame Stadium on November 23, 2019, in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated Boston College 40-7. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

10 Things that will define the 2021 Notre Dame football season

4. Veteran Wide Receivers

All last season it was clear that Notre Dame football didn’t have the wide receivers to compete on the outside of the field. This was because of a few different reasons. For one, injuries had a pretty major impact.

There was also the lack of development among several key players, with other younger players not being ready to go just yet. It ended up costing Notre Dame a chance to compete offensively throughout the course of the season and led to a one-dimensional team.

This year, there could be a lot of the same issues as last year, except for a large group of veteran receivers who need to step up.

This starts with Braden Lenzy. The speedster was threatening to break through in 2019, and expectations were high for him in 2020. Then, when the season came, he spent most of it hurt. When Lenzy wasn’t hurt, he has disappointed.

Kevin Austin, meanwhile, was injured in 2020 and missed out on the 2019 season. In a lot of ways, he’s almost become a myth of talent inside the program. If he can step, then he offers Notre Dame a Miles Boykin type threat. Avery Davis is back too, who could continue to grow as a wide receiver at Notre Dame.

Brian Kelly has been high on this group of veteran receivers during summer camp, and as long as he’s being serious and not just feeding the media coach speak, then there is going to be a lot of fun to be had at the vital wide receiver position.

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