Kevin Stepherson Rising In Notre Dame's Receiving Ranks

Brian Kelly has had his share of standout receivers in seven seasons at Notre Dame, but none have produced better freshman numbers than what Kevin Stepherson has this season.

Through 10 games,the six-foot, 181-pound Stepherson’s 405 receiving yards and four touchdowns are already the most ever under Kelly by a freshman. Meanwhile, his 21 catches so far — with a career high five for 70 yards this past weekend in the 44-6 rout of Army West Point — are second to T.J. Jones 23 in 2010. That too should be eclipsed with at least two more games remaining.

Unlike past top freshman wideout prospects such as DaVaris Daniels in 2011 (redshirted), Chris Brown in 2012 (two catches, including a huge 50-yarder in a win at Oklahoma), Will Fuller (six catches for 116 yards and a touchdown) and Corey Robinson (nine catches, 157 yards and a touchdown) in 2013, or Equanimeous St. Brown (one catch) and C.J. Sanders (one catch) last year, Stepherson has had instant opportunity as a freshman. And to his credit, he has seized it.

First, Notre Dame lost four of its top five receivers from last season — Fuller, Robinson, Brown and Amir Carlisle — for various reasons. Second, as an early entrant in January, the Jacksonville, Fla., native was able to assimilate into the offense this spring ahead of pace.

His forte was catching the ball over the middle without breaking stride, but also displaying some home run skills downfield.

“I don’t know that we have a player on our team like K.J. Stepherson that can catch the ball at full speed as he cuts across the field — a very unique trait of his,” Kelly said after the spring game in which the rookie nabbed four passes for 70 yards. “He still has to work on catching the ball vertically down the field.

“But he catches the ball out of his break at full speed, and it is a unique trait that I have not seen since I’ve been at Notre Dame.”

In recent weeks, Stepherson's snap count has continued to grow as has his downfield skills, including a 53-yard catch-and-run in the win over Miami, a then career high four catches the next week against Navy, and then five more grabs against Army, highlighted by a 37-yard touchdown.

“He continues to mature as a player in the understanding of where he needs to be and getting on the same page with DeShone [Kizer],” Kelly said. “That's the most important thing — where is he going to be. They've got to know where each one of them is going to be, and I think that that's probably the biggest change in Kevin in terms of over the past five, six weeks.

“…There were other guys there that certainly could have secured down that position, but he won the job. We didn't give it to him.”

Stepherson’s freshman campaign might rank among the five best ever by an Irish receiver since 1972, when freshman eligibility was allowed for good by the NCAA. Here’s our top 10 list based not just on stats but also impact on the season:

1. Michael Floyd (2008) — The 2012 first-round pick holds the Notre Dame freshman receiving standards in catches (48), receiving yards (719) and TDs (7) — despite missing three games with an injury. His first career catch was a 22-yard TD against San Diego State in a hard fought 21-13 victory in the opener. He caught 10, two for scores, in a four-overtime loss to Pitt. His absence was conspicuous in a shocking loss to Syracuse (24-23) and in a 38-3 thumping at USC.

2. Tony Hunter (1979) — The future tight end and first-round pick grabbed 27 passes for 690 yards — a phenomenal 25.6 yards per catch — and two scores. Many of the freshman’s grabs during the 7-4 season were of the acrobatic variety that left many jaws agape.

3. Tim Brown (1984) — His 28 catches broke Hunter’s freshman standard and stood for 23 years, although the 12.1 yards per catch by the future Heisman winner was not as eye-popping as Hunter’s. He made a huge impact when the Irish finished the regular season with victories at LSU (30-22), at Navy (18-17), Penn State (44-7) and at USC (19-7), and his first career score came on a reverse at USC.

4. Raghib Ismail (1988) — This isn’t strictly about stats. During the march to the national title, Ricky Watters was the leading receiver with 16 catches, while Ismail had 13, the last a 29-yard score in the Fiesta Bowl. However, his mere presence changed how defenses could align, and The Rocket made game-changing plays almost every week, highlighted by four catches for 97 yards in the 31-30 upset of No. 1 Miami.

5. Maurice Stovall (2002) — During the 8-0 start under first-year head coach Tyrone Willingham, Stovall had his share of huge plays and made the cover of Sports Illustrated with his 15-yard TD catch in the 21-17 victory against the Spartans. His 18 catches averaged 17.3 yards.

*6. Kevin Stepherson (2016) — This is with two more games to go after already catching 21 passes for 405 yards (19.3 yards per catch) and four touchdowns, the most by an Irish freshman under Kelly.

7. Duval Kamara (2007) — He broke Brown’s record for freshman receptions with 32 (357 yards), and also caught a new standard four TDs, which would be broken by Floyd a year later. Unfortunately, Kamara racked up the numbers during a 3-9 campaign.

8. T.J. Jones (2010) — In Kelly’s debut season, Jones became the first Irish freshman ever to grab touchdown passes in the first two games of the season, a victory against Purdue (23-12) and a loss to Michigan (28-24). He finished the year with seven starts, 23 catches, 306 yards and three TDs.

9. Joe Howard (1981) — Nicknamed “Small Wonder” because of his 5-9 height, Howard didn’t play until the second half of the 1981 season, but caught a school record 96-yard TD against Georgia Tech. His 17 catches during that 5-6 year were good for 463 yards (27.2 yards per catch), almost identical to Michigan superstar freshman Anthony Carter’s 17 catches for 462 yards as a freshman in 1979.

10. Derrick Mayes (1992) — His first three catches as a freshman year were touchdowns, and his 10 catches in the run oriented offense averaged 27.2 yards.

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