Notre Dame football: Lorenzo Styles Jr. to be best WR since Will Fuller
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team has a budding superstar in Lorenzo Styles Jr., who could be the most explosive Irish WR since Will Fuller.
Looking back on the 2021 Notre Dame football season, plenty of true freshmen stepped into big roles for the Irish. From Blake Fisher to Joe Alt, to Tyler Buchner, we saw the emergence of some key talent on the offensive side of the ball, guys who will help get this program to the next level.
One other key true freshmen we got to admire in 2021 was Lorenzo Styles Jr., a game-breaking wide receiver who is the future for the program at the position group. A star in the making, Styles Jr. has the talent to do some special things in South Bend and could end up being the best wide receiver the program has had since Will Fuller.
Notre Dame football has a star in Styles Jr.
For the season, the true freshman ended up with over 300 yards on 24 catches, but he saved his best for last. In the biggest game of the year, Styles showed why he is the future of the program at the wide receiver position, torching a tough Oklahoma State defense to the tune of eight catches for 136 yards and a touchdown.
His ability to take the lid off the defense, but also go over the middle is going to help Tyler Buchner grow as the starting quarterback for the Irish next season, and with some veterans returning, he will have some solid talent around him. However, while Styles was not the first option as a true freshman, he should be in 2022, even with Braden Lenzy, Joe Wilkins, and Avery Davis returning.
The Irish do not have a ton of depth at the wide receiver position heading into next season, and they could be active with the transfer portal as we inch towards the spring practices. No matter who they bring in, I believe that Styles is going to be the WR1 for this offense in 2022, and he proved in Year 1 that he has the talent to be an elite player, possibly the best the Irish have had at the position since Will Fuller.