Notre Dame Playmakers Growing in Confidence
Brian Kelly arrived at Notre Dame known for high-flying offense as Cincinnati could score 21 points in a blink of an eye.
The Fighting Irish offense has never quite reached the explosive nature of the Bearcats, but there are several reasons why, including the competition.
Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has switched up the offense as his veteran receivers have not only stepped up with consistency, but also by making more explosive plays.
During Thursday’s scrimmage, Rees showed his creativity by using multiple personnel groupings and a wide variety of formations - all designed to get his skill players in space.
“We know the talent that's in this room, in this building; we know the talent that's in that group,” Rees stated. “All those guys are peaking at the highest they've ever been. Their commitment level has been through the roof. Everything we've asked them to do, they've done.
“They've been able to stretch the field, they've been able to make plays down the field, they've been able to win consistently. I'm as proud of that group, Coach Del (Alexander) and everything he's done with that group and where we're at right now, we're going to continue to push. Continue to add more and ask more of them. And they're eager for that challenge.”
Kelly backed up Rees’ comments on Thursday afternoon as he also highlighted the growth and growing confidence in the receiver room.
“I think we're really confident in their ability, where we're going to go this next week is their consistency in performance,” explained Kelly. “ (Braden) Lenzy shows really big at times, right? We saw the double-move, we saw the speed on the perimeter, we saw Kevin Austin flash at times. We saw Avery Davis is a guy that gives us some consistency.
“We need to see that practice in and practice out. We feel like that group is going to be a strong group for us.”
The playmaking growth of the receiver unit will not only allow Rees to open up the offense a little more, but also finish with touchdowns as the Irish struggled at times to complete drives with six points.
Notre Dame rode a veteran offensive line that produced four NFL linemen and a sound defense. Now, the Irish want to push the ball and take advantage of that speed on the outside.
“We really didn't know what we had last year, we wanted to be very careful going into the season,” Kelly stated. “We were coming out of COVID. I think it was last Wednesday in our practice, a year earlier we had to take a week off and close down practices.
“I don't want to use conservative, but we were playing a lot closer to vest relative to leaning on the offensive line and knowing that that was the strength.
“This offense has got to produce more points. You saw that we're going to be more multiple in our offensive sets and we've got to get the ball down the field to playmakers.”
True freshman Lorenzo Styles Jr. could also be an X-factor in the receiver rotation as the Ohio native has started to emerge.
”Styles is coming,” said Kelly. “He's coming. It's been slower probably for him than he would like, slowed with injury but he's such a detailed guy that it sometimes gets in the way of him playing free. We've got to free him up a little bit, he's probably his own worst enemy at times in that he wants to be perfect. So we try to get perfect out of the way first couple periods and start working.
“He's just a great kid. I think he's starting to find a comfort zone now; we've got him out at the 'X' receiver position. He's starting to play faster. He's going to be really good. Sometimes it just takes getting out of your own way a little bit, in a positive way. He's just so conscious of every little detail but progress is really coming.”
Rees has also been impressed with how Styles has taken a mature approach to the work and how he approaches the game.
"Zo has the same trait that Braden has,” Rees said. “He's a fast dude. He can really run. Zo is Ben Skowrenk mentally when you're talking about competing, going full speed, loving the game. That's how he's wired.
"The moment Zo stepped on campus in the spring until now, we've seen a deep level of commitment to his craft. He's a guy that caught a dig route yesterday, he split (the defense) and he's gone. He has that trait.
"We're very excited about him and his future. We're just trying to get him on the right page all the time."