Is Matt Jeffery on the ascension for the Notre Dame football team a bad thing? Based on some fans’ opinions online, it certainly seems so.
The prevailing wisdom isn’t new. The idea is that if a walk-on like Jeffery is really competing for playing time against all the “supposedly” talented scholarship players, then something is very wrong. The thing is, if there’s one program where that’s very much not true, it’s the Fighting Irish. They’ve seen this scenario before, not that long ago. In fact, another walk-on-turned-starting wide receiver, Jordan Faison, is Jeffery’s teammate.
It’s not as though Jeffery is the usual walk-on either. Like Faison, he came to Notre Dame on a Lacrosse scholarship. Lacrosse is why he missed spring practice. He was plenty impressive on that team too. Take what his coach on the team said about the player heading into the Irish’s National Semifinal game.
“It doesn’t matter whether he gets a short stick or a pole, he can dodge both and it really doesn’t affect him that much,” said Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan. “And that’s really, really valuable because that wears on other teams. They have to decide how they’re going to slide to him, when they’re going to slide to him, and what person do they want to match up with him.”
Matt Jeffery’s rise should excite Notre Dame football, not alarm fans
Coming into college, he was ranked as the No. 2 lacrosse player in the class by ILPreps. He didn’t turn that athleticism into football success yet, but he did see the field last season. He played in 12 games, playing on offense and special teams. He caught one pass for 37 yards against Arkansas once the blowout against the Razorbacks was on.
And yet, despite seemingly being behind the eight ball because he missed spring practice, he’s hit the ground running at full speed for fall camp. Coaches and teammates alike have sung his praises nearly daily. While he might not start, the majority opinion is that he’ll get plenty of playing time.
It helps that while there’s plenty of talent on the Irish roster, there aren’t many known commodities. In fact, Faison might be the only player coming into camp that position coach Mike Brown and the rest of the staff know all that well. The unknowns are allowing Matt Jeffery to get off fall camp on equal footing, and now he’s surpassing players that many expected to lock down starting spots.
With a proven quarterback like CJ Carr, Notre Dame knows it can make the most of someone like Matt Jeffery, who might not be as talented as Quinton Porter but knows the playbook, can play every receiver position, and has plenty of athletic ability to lean on. The coaching staff’s trust in a player like this has already worked once.
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