Instant Reaction | Michael Young Transfer

Losing a player with six catches on the season might not appear like a crushing blow, but it is when that player should have a lot more than six catches.

Michael Young had a great spring and fall camp after showing flashes as a big play option last season. His 66-yard catch and run against Wake Forest was the longest pass play of the 2018 season. He added in a 47-yard touchdown against Northwestern.

When two of his seven catches produced that, it’s fair to say that he deserved to see more targets. He didn’t, though. He only had 10 total on the season and in a shortened three game season he hasn’t been featured much with his targets often close to or behind the line of scrimmage.

It’s easy to see why he would be frustrated and obvious why he would be interested in transferring at this time. This will save him a season of eligibility with a chance to play two more years somewhere else in order to become an NFL prospect. If he finished this year at Notre Dame, he would only have one season left.

Whether it’s quarterback play or play-calling decisions by Chip Long, Young has not had a lot of targets and not many chances at creating plays after the catch. There is no way Young could have felt confident he would be featured much the rest of the season and if the goal is for him to have a shot at the NFL, it’s difficult to blame him for being selfish in this situation.

The Irish have four receptions of 50 yards or longer in 2018. They all came against the two Group of 5 opponents and two of them were pop passes that should be considered runs. They need as many players as they can who can be explosive against any opponent and they just lost one of them.  Lawrence Keys and Braden Lenzy will now be counted on to step up to provide that potential explosive element.

Young is good enough to make plays in the Notre Dame offense. He simply wasn’t featured enough to show it and that’s why he’s leaving.