Even Notre Dame football coaches will admit that in 2024, the Irish wide receiver corps wasn’t the impact unit they were expected to be. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock spoke to the media earlier this week and he was clear in his lack of satisfaction with that group last season.
Among the things the OC talked about, was how he believes the wide receivers are going to improve this year over last. And he made it clear that one of the biggest issues was clearly their hands.
Mike Denbrock expects major step forward from Notre Dame’s WRs
“We dropped the football way too much last year,” Denbrock said. “We gotta make the plays. I don’t know if you’d call them ordinary plays, but we need to make the plays — the ones that are 100 out of 100, we gotta be 100 out of 100.”
The Notre Dame football offensive coordinator said that consistency will be key in making improvements this season.
“Consistency in depth, consistency in route running. For a receiver, to be honest with you, it really shouldn’t matter who the quarterback is. I need to understand space and spacing and depth and specifics of techniques of route running.”
“Going into year two, I know Coach Brown’s had a great opportunity to really have a whole year with these guys now. You can see that starting to come along. I like the depth we have there. We gotta get some guys to emerge and play more consistently.”
Notre Dame football fans are obviously hoping that Denbrock has indeed unlocked the key to making sure the receivers are higher impact this year. The Irish are going to need them, with the likelihood that the guy under center won’t have near the mobility that Riley Leonard did.