More Speed Provides More Optimism at WR for Notre Dame
Marcus Freeman’s first two seasons as head coach at Notre Dame were a bit of a roller coaster. There have been more ups than downs, but most of the downs happened because of struggles on offense.
The seven games his teams have lost in the last two years saw the offense average only 18.4 points in those matchups. It’s difficult to win any game when an offense can’t score 20 points and it’s very difficult to score points when receivers aren’t producing explosive plays.
The offense lacked a consistent deep threat last season. Chris Tyree led the team in explosive receptions (10), but didn’t crack the top-75 in the FBS. He also led the team in deep ball receptions (he had six on targets that went 20+ air yards), but that was tied for 58th out of Power 5 receivers. This needs to get better and the staff did something to address it with additions of Kris Mitchell and Jayden Harrison via the transfer portal.
They’re bringing some much needed speed to the position and adding Micah Gilbert and Cam Wiliams as early enrollees helps as well. The receivers as a whole stood out on the first day of spring ball and Freeman certainly noticed something different than what he’s seen the last two years in practice.
”They can run, right? I think I saw more deep balls caught in this practice than I’ve seen in a long time. It was really good to see. It’s going to be great for both sides. The speed, the ability to throw the ball downfield is going to be great for our offense, but it’s going to be a great challenge for our DBs. I can’t wait to see this competition as we go throughout the spring.”
Mitchell in particular is someone to watch this spring. He caught 14 deep balls last season at Florida International (18 explosive receptions overall) and one thing we’ve seen recently with the influx of lower level transfers to Power 5 (now Power 4) programs is that speed travels.
Jacob Cowing (UTEP to Arizona) ran a 4.38 at the NFL Combine. He was second in yards after the catch in his first season at Arizona in 2022 and last year he racked up 18 total receptions of 20+ yards. Devontez Walker (Kent State to North Carolina) ran a 4.36 and caught 10 deep targets in only eight games.
Tahj Washington (Memphis to USC) had 13 deep ball receptions (18 total of 20+ yards). Tre Harris (Louisiana Tech to Ole Miss) had 11 deep receptions (21 total, sixth in the country). Kyle Williams (UNLV to Washington State) had 15 explosive receptions. Xavier Weaver (USF to Colorado) had 15 explosive receptions.
There’s plenty of examples of Group of 5/FCS receivers having their success translate to a higher level, which is why there should be plenty of optimism about Mitchell’s transition from FIU to Notre Dame.
It takes more than one big play receiver to have an explosive passing game, which is why Brian Kelly talked about having someone like Fuller and Floyd on the same team. He didn’t have that at Notre Dame, but did have something like that last season at LSU with Malik Nabers (34 receptions of 20+ yards) and Brian Thomas (18). Washington had that with Rome Odunze (34) and Ja’lynn Polk (19) last season as well. Mike Denbrock had Fuller at Notre Dame and Alec Pierce at Cincinnati, but having Nabers and Thomas together at LSU were as important to LSU’s success on offense as Heisman winner Jayden Daniels was.
If Mitchell is one big play threat, who could be the other for Notre Dame?
There’s Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison as potential candidates. They were two of only 10 true freshmen from Power 5 programs to have five or more deep ball receptions last season. Greathouse may not be considered a burner, but he caught five of six targets. Faison does have that type of speed that jumps out and caught five deep passes on nine targets.
It’s more likely them or a healthy Jayden Thomas becoming a bigger factor after the catch than a true freshman like Gilbert or Williams. Both of them could be on their way to future stardom, but in the last five seasons there has been only five true freshmen at Power 5 programs who averaged one or more 20+ yard receptions per game: Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan, Georgia’s Brock Bowers, LSU’s Kayshon Boutte, Virginia’s Lavel Davis Jr., and Purdue’s David Bell. Williams or Gilbert would have to have a truly exceptional season to be included with that group.
Out of the top-10 teams in total number of explosive passing plays in 2023, eight of them finished in the top-10 in points per drive. The other two finished 15th and 19th. No one wants to overreact to one day of spring ball, but it showed that there are reasons to be optimistic about Notre Dame’s receivers bringing a more explosive element to the offense and that means more points on the scoerboard this fall.
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