Notre Dame Football: What if the Wide Receiver Group is Good?

It's been a while since Notre Dame could say that - but what would it mean for the 2024 Fighting Irish?

Notre Dame wide receiver Beaux Collins catches the ball during a Notre Dame football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK

Fall camp for the football team on just about any college campus nationally will bring about some of the same stories, regardless of program.

"No. 34 is in the best shape of his life and it shows!"

"No. 67 put on 20-pounds of pure muscle this off-season"

"Such-and-such head coach is doing things different as his seat is hot"

Those are just some of the basic storylines that have always and will always fuel football training camps.

Then there are performances during camp that happen a few days in a row and start to be a trend.

Just two days into Notre Dame's fall camp for 2024 nobody is about to be anointed anything but what if a preseason belief turns out to be entirely false?

What if Notre Dame's group of wide receivers, largely made up of graduate transfers, returners coming off injury, and largely unproven is actually good?

What if instead of Notre Dame's wide receivers being among the weak spots on the roster, that it is actually one of the better position groups?

Marcus Freeman's Initial Takeaway

Asked after the first fall practice on Wednesday about the wide receiving group, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman basically said that he didn't see enough to have a real takeaway but did notice an impressive catch by grad-transfer Beaux Collins.

Freeman may not have had much of an initial takeaway that he was willing to make public, but the media members in attendance all seemed to echo the same sentiment.

That is, that Notre Dame's wide receivers, yes, the same group that has left much to be desired for so long, looked impressive.

Fast forward to the end of the second fall practice and what was the first thing veteran reporter Pete Sampson of The Athletic shared?

Walking out of Notre Dame’s second practice, struck by the same thing after the first.

It would be hard to find a more improved position anywhere than Notre Dame’s receiver room. So much ability to mix and match wide outs by matchups.

Why the difference, if even for just two days?

What Freeman and wide receivers coach Mike Evans assembled through the transfer portal this off-season is worthy of discussion.

On paper it's easy to see the names and sizes of each player, but what about the skill set?

They're all entirely complementary to each other and play exactly into the hand of another coach we'll discuss more shortly.

Kris Mitchell (FIU) is the true deep threat Notre Dame hasn't had in a consistent capacity for years.

Beaux Collins (Clemson) is a bit lengthy at 6-3, 210-pounds, but is deceptively fast and is a gifted route runner.

Jayden Harrison (Marshall, Vanderbilt) is just 5-10, 198-pounds but has tremendous quickness and can cause migraines if you get the wrong backer matched up on him.

Insert whichever coach cliche is your favorite here, but the whole of these parts is greater than their sum. When you hear the term "complementary football" thrown around, this makeup is a perfect example of what is being described.

The Mike Denbrock Factor

Mike Denbrock came back to Notre Dame the third time this off-season with a ton of fanfare, seeing as he was the offensive coordinator of the top-rated offense in all of college football last season.

So how did LSU accomplish that under Denbrock?

It's easy to say that LSU had last year's Heisman Trophy winner throwing to a pair of first round wide receivers, and talent certainly matters, but putting those players in position to succeed is as key as anything.

The most common thing you hear from analysts regarding Denbrock's offenses in recent years is that the offensive coordinator is great at scheming to create favorable matchups.

What a concept, right?

It's been referenced a lot in how versatile running back Jeremiyah Love will be used this season but it's just as important when you look at Notre Dame's wide receivers.

Different Outlook?

It'll take more than two practices for me to be fully on-board with a new-look group of receivers but there is certainly a foundation being built of something to like.

Whether it's the transfer portal gains listed above, Notre Dame veterans like Jayden Thomas or sophomores Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison, these are players that on their own might not scare you but when placed together, likely create something more than a tight end to key on during an obvious passing down, which has felt like Notre Dame's forte for years.

The threat of receivers beating you with regularity does the obvious and keeps teams from being able to stack against the run.

It makes life easier on quarterbacks when they can trust receivers to go make plays.

The unit has shown improvement through two days of fall camp and having covered years of NFL training camps, I'm fully aware that training camp sweethearts can be forgotten about seconds into the regular season.

I'll need to see a whole lot more over extended time to get overly excited but maybe this unit can blend better together than any Notre Dame receiving group in at least five years and start to change the perception that seems to be held of Notre Dame receivers by recruits nationally.

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