When Elijah Burress was pursued by the Notre Dame football team and others out of high school, one repeated refrain was that it was surprising he was only a 3-star wide receiver among several recruiting services. Now that he's in South Bend, he's showing exactly why he was eventually rated quite a bit higher and why that initial low ranking was way off.
Burress is now competing in his first fall camp for the Fighting Irish, and he's showing the Notre Dame coaches that he belongs. In fact, it appears as though he might end up winning some serious playing time, if position coach Mike Brown's comments can be taken at face value.
Elijah Burress impresses: Notre Dame WR coach Mike Brown praises the freshman’s camp surge
"He’s had a great camp," the Notre Dame football coach said. "He’s a special young man. Extremely competitive, works very hard. He's hungry. Obviously he’s talented. He’s made a lot of really big plays. I think the future is really bright for him."
The question is whether the future is now. The Golden Domers have a ton of talent at wide receiver. They also have a couple of veteran transfers who have already cemented a spot high on the depth chart.
Malachi Fields, Will Pauling, Jordan Faison, and Jaden Greathouse are all seemingly written in ink on the depth chart. So where do guys like Elijah Burress and Cam Williams fit in?
The question is an even better one, considering this is still a team that has a running backs room that is also loaded. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock won't take carries away from Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price, Gi'Bran Payne, or Aneyas Williams to get the ball to more wide receivers.
It's a good question for the Notre Dame football team to have. A team can never have too much talent. At some point this season, injuries or slumps will make the team search for depth. When the coaches look for someone unexpected to step up, Elijah Burress is making his case.