Chain Mail: Discussing The Rise Of Notre Dame’s Wide Receivers
As Ian Book has raised his level of play, so have Notre Dame’s wide receivers. The two unsurprisingly go hand-in-hand and were going to happen together or not at all. There’s clear trust between both parties.
Maybe this receiving corps still lacks the raw talent or upside of prior groups, since there’s no obvious high-round draft pick. But there’s something to be said for a group where everyone has defined roles and fits them well. And with a pair of skilled receiving tight ends, a quarterback playing at his best and a steady run game, that receiver room outlook is enough to facilitate an offense.
The receivers have combined for at least 10 catches in each of the last three games and more than 200 yards in three of the last four. In the last four games, they have 45 catches for 759 yards and seven touchdowns. That’s compared to 26 catches, 329 yards and two touchdowns in the first four.
BlueandGold.com’s Patrick Engel and Lou Somogyi take a look at the position’s rise and what it means going forward.
Patrick Engel: Heading into the year, this felt like a unit that would spread the ball around more than 2019, when there were really only two steady targets at wide receiver. Maybe overall that’s true when including tight ends and running backs, but not really among the receivers. It’s a pretty shallow rotation, with three guys who get notable snaps and targets. There’s just a smattering of everyone else.
Shallow isn’t necessarily bad. In fact, these last four prosperous games have come when the rotation is at its shortest. In the last three, Bennett Skowronek, Avery Davis and Javon McKinley have played at least 50 percent of the snaps in every game, except for Davis’ 26 percent share against Georgia Tech, when Notre Dame just didn’t use 11 personnel often.
No wide receiver outside of that trio has caught more than two passes since Braden Lenzy on Oct. 10. I’m wondering where the coaching staff makes space for Lenzy when he returns, likely for Notre Dame’s next game at North Carolina.
Lou Somogyi: Brian Kelly addressed Lenzy and his role upon his return: he would be a complementary figure, not the lead role. That sounds like the logical answer considering Lenzy had never found a rhythm the first two-thirds of the season.
In other words, Lenzy’s role will be somewhat similar to last year, when Chase Claypool was the alpha figure at wideout — a luxury the Irish don’t possess this year — while tight end Cole Kmet and Chris Finke supplied strong and veteran enough options that defenses still had to honor rather than put all their attention on Claypool. Lenzy’s speed would be utilized primarily on the “go” route or on jet sweeps, and he excelled in that complementary capacity.
No, there is no pass catcher in 2020 who will be a second-round selection in a few months like Claypool and Kmet were. However, a comfort and rhythm seems to have developed between Book and the McKinley-Skowronek-Davis triumvirate.
What compensates for the lack of current star power at receiver is 1) a more seasoned and physical line, 2) more explosive running backs, 3) still excellent production at tight end and, perhaps most significant, 4) a highly self-assured Book who is reaching peak-level performance.
Team strengths adjust through the years, and the overall assets this year are more pronounced all around on offense.
Patrick Engel: Each of those three has a job or an area where he’s best: Skowronek is a contested-catch weapon, Davis is a short-area weapon who can run after the catch and is plenty fast enough to beat slot defenders deep, and McKinley is a chain-mover who has flashed some downfield ability too. Book and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees understand their strengths and play to them. It all adds up to the smooth operation we see now.
Maybe the ceiling still isn’t all that high. McKinley has been impressive after the catch, but for a 6-2 receiver, he hasn’t really been much of a jump-ball or red-zone threat. He has two red-zone catches this season and no touchdowns. Both were in the last two games, meaning a heavily-used player went six straight games without a red-zone reception. He contributed in other ways, of course.
That number underscores the importance of Skowronek’s emergence. He has played five full games and is already tied for first on the team in red-zone catches (four) and third in red-zone targets (seven). Book just didn’t have anyone to throw a 50/50 ball to until Skowronek was healthy. No one can “Moss” a defender like he can.
Maybe it’s a chicken-or-the-egg situation, but whenever Book took his game to a higher level, a healthy Skowronek was going up with him.
Lou Somogyi: This Notre Dame offense has found rhythm and continuity right when it needed to in November, specifically against three opponents who can score: Clemson and North Carolina in droves, and Boston College enough to be only the third team in Irish defensive coordinator Clark Lea’s three years and 34 games to tally more than 30 points against Notre Dame.
Each month has provided a systemic advancement needed to get to where it is now. Phase 1 in September was to establish the physical identity with the ground attack. The rest could come in increments, but it was not negotiable to lack a physical ground game. First find something you can rely on all year, and then build around it.
Phase 2 in October was to augment that running attack, and enhance its effectiveness down the road, with a complementary pass attack with gradual pieces. It began with tight ends Tommy Tremble and Michael Mayer, and gradually involved first McKinley, then Davis and now Skowronek. It generally takes time, rhythm and continuity to develop that chemistry, and October was used very well to strike a semblance of run-pass balance.
All that left was unleashing it in November when it was needed to go from top-10 level to bona fide playoff team. Mission achieved, but not yet fully completed.
Patrick Engel: That goes back to everyone understanding exactly what his job is. As established as this receiver rotation seems to be, it would still benefit from having someone like Kevin Austin in there as another vertical, jump-ball threat.
You can tie some of the red zone issues to not having anyone like that until Skowronek got healthy, and perhaps it should still give you a little pause that Skowronek and Tremble are the only players with more than two red-zone catches all season (though Mayer is the most frequently targeted).
Same time, you have to admire how the others rise to the occasion. Both of Davis’ red-zone catches are touchdowns. Two of McKinley’s best games came when he saw work against two skilled corners who are clear draft picks.
I guess the bottom line here is I don’t worry anymore about receiver struggles tanking the offense. As long as Book is playing like he is, it’ll be fine. You don’t see chemistry decrease in season. Kind of like the thought with Book this offseason, the receivers don’t have to win Notre Dame the game on their own. Just don’t lack impact to the point where they lose a game.
Lou Somogyi: Book is making this happen to a great degree. In 50 years of watching Notre Dame football, his radar-like instincts of sensing where the rush is coming from, and then nimbly evading it, is as good as any I’ve seen at Notre Dame. I know this name might evoke scorn, but it’s almost Johnny Manziel-like. His experience and ability to still keep his eyes downfield on scrambles have been completely frustrating defenses. I have been surprised that coordinators have not used more spy-work on him.
Such ability to extend plays also enables receivers to get separation, because there is only a finite amount of time coverage people can stay with pass targets. To have the kind of season Notre Dame has, you need about three of four “where the heck did he come from?” individuals to emerge. Certainly running back Kyren Williams is one, but fifth-year senior McKinley and senior Davis are two other examples on offense.
It’s so easy to forget that McKinley was a top-60 recruit back in 2016, or that Skowronek was a captain at a Power 5 school already with more than 100 receptions, or that Davis was a four-star athlete who just now has found his niche. But there is a “new toy” syndrome that often can overtake certain segments of the fandom who want immediate gratification.
Hopefully, in two years from now, there will be complaints about why a certain prized freshman recruit isn’t playing more — because that darn junior Jordan Johnson is taking up so many snaps while coming to the forefront.
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