There aren’t many true freshmen receivers who make an immediate impact at the Power 4 level. Only 15 had more than 17 catches for Power 4 teams last season.
There’s only been five true freshmen receivers who caught more than 17 passes in the last decade at Notre Dame. Three of those were on the 2023 team, which should paint a picture for everyone on the situation at the position that season. Things look much different for Notre Dame at receiver in 2025.
Two of those freshmen in ‘23, Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison, are now juniors and combined for 72 catches last season. They brought in two transfer receivers in Will Pauling (Wisconsin) and Malachi Fields (Virginia) who had a combined 229 catches over the last two seasons as well. Notre Dame hasn’t had that kind of proven production at receiver heading into a season since 2015.
Those players along with KK Smith, Micah Gilbert, Cam Williams, and Logan Saldate are going to make it tough for any freshman to come in and contribute at receiver this fall. The early enrollee with the best chance to be an exception is Elijah Burress.
The son of former NFL star Plaxico Burress, Elijah had a monster senior season to close out his high school career at Depaul Catholic (New Jersey). He averaged 25.9 yards per reception and caught 15 touchdowns to help his team win a state championship. He’s also a more polished receiver than most freshmen when they first arrive on campus.
Burress took his game to another level in his final season of high school and he learned some valuable things about never taking any play for granted.
“Sometimes no matter how open you are or how good you’re playing, the ball’s not always coming to you,” Burress stated. “You don’t always have the opportunities, but you still gotta be there for your team. You still gotta try every rep, and you still gotta be there every day.”
That’s the right kind of approach for someone who won’t come in as a featured receiver on day one. If he wants that to happene, he’ll have to earn it in practice first. The corners he’s facing every day aren’t the corners he faced in high school, though. Burress is working hard to make the adjustments he needs to succeed.
“Just learning how to get open on this level,” Burress said when asked about the learning curve for him so far. “I want to get open at a high level. I want to separate at a high level. So just trying to figure out how to do that.”
Burress’ primary goal this spring is to nail down the playbook. That’s often the greatest obstacle that a freshman receiver has to overcome to see the field, but Burress had the benefit of playing for a high school program that helped him be better prepared to play at the college level.
“In high school we had a pretty complicated playbook, so it hasn’t been entirely difficult to learn the playbook,” admitted Burress. “But with the signals and stuff, that’s where it gets a little challenging. But I’m learning every day, and I’m getting better at it.”
The transition has been made easier under receivers coach Mike Brown. Burress said that one of the reasons he chose Notre Dame was because Brown’s track record of developing receivers and that “he’s the guy that can get me where I want to be”.
“Every day we’re studying my technique, seeing what I can get better at,” Burress said about working with Brown. “He’s a great coach in the film room.”
Burress’ happiness with his decision to go to Notre Dame has only grown since he originally committed to the Irish. He was jumping up and down with excitement when Mitch Jeter’s field goal went through the uprights versus Penn State to take the Irish to the national championship game. Now that it is a reality that he’s a student-athlete at Notre Dame, every expectation he had as a recruit has been met.
“It’s spot on. I wanted to be here to get closer to God. I have a great football program and a great academic program. It’s perfect — just like how I imagined.”
He’s in the right place for him and now it’s about doing exactly what his father told him before he left for school.
“Just stay focused and learn every day,” Burress said. “Take every opportunity and just grind. Just be the best I can be.”
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