Chase Claypool, Cole Kmet and Chris Finke took a truckload of Notre Dame’s receiving production with them to the NFL.
They accounted for 59 percent of Notre Dame’s completions and 23 of its 37 touchdown passes. No returning wide receiver has more than 13 career catches. Junior tight end Tommy Tremble has 16 career grabs. The void and lack of experience is one reason Notre Dame brought in Northwestern graduate transfer Bennett Skowronek, who caught 45 passes in 2017 and 2018.
Having only one spring practice means the receiver situation and competition will drag well into fall camp.
One early favorite for a starting job, though, operated in oblivion in 2019 and has five career catches. Kevin Austin served a season-long suspension last year and played in four games as a freshman. But now is his chance to get his career where he envisioned it as a former top-100 recruit.
Will he deliver on the offseason buzz around him and become Notre Dame’s leading receiver in 2020? BlueandGold.com’s Lou Somogyi and Patrick Engel lay out their views in this week’s Buy Or Sell.
