SOUTH BEND, Ind. — For all the talk of Notre Dame’s expanded depth at the wide receiver position this offseason, Mike Brown feels pretty strongly that he can’t fit several of them into a rotation.
In fact, Notre Dame’s wide receivers coach believes a six-man rotation is what should work best for the Irish at least as the season starts Aug. 31 at Texas A&M (7:30 p.m. EDT on ABC)
“I think it's hard to play more than six guys,” Brown said Thursday after preseason practice No. 13. “But, with that being said, if I'm looking at our room, there's probably, eight or nine guys that you feel comfortable with being out there, which is a good thing. The challenge for the guys that are outside of those six is to define your role. What is your role gonna to be? And we're trying to figure out what are they best at?
“And maybe it's something personnel specifically for certain guys and things like that. But as far as the bulk of the rotation, I think it's going to probably be the majority six guys. But again, that's something that will be ever-evolving as the season goes.”
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Notre Dame’s top six nearly two months out from the season opener seems pretty clear-cut: graduate student Beaux Collins and senior Jayden Thomas at boundary receiver, graduate student Kris Mitchell and sophomore Jordan Faison at field receiver and sophomore Jaden Greathouse and graduate student Jayden Harrison. But that’s only a little more than half of the scholarship receivers on Notre Dame’s roster.
Senior Deion Colzie and freshman Micah Gilbert are trying to find a way onto the field at boundary receiver. Sophomore KK Smith and freshman Cam Williams are trying to make a case at field receiver. Freshman Logan Saldate is trying to make a mark at slot receiver.
But as the Irish learned last season, injuries can start to pile up quickly at the position. So much so that Notre Dame played against Duke in its sixth game of last season on Sept. 30 with only four scholarship receivers available. It’s hard to imagine Notre Dame getting that desperate again this year, but it illustrates the need to have at least one more player prepared at each of those receiver spots.
“Everybody's got to be ready. It's reality,” Brown said. “Like injuries are 100% in this sport, and whether it's serious (or not) ... everybody's got to be ready. You're one snap away, you're two snaps away from being the guy. When your number is called, that standard doesn't change, and so you've got to be ready to roll.”
Though each receiver has a more natural position, there’s flexibility in their roles. Greathouse can play to the field. Thomas can play in the slot. Certainly, Faison can play in the slot too.
A regular rotation of six players could help the receivers stay healthy longer, too.
“If there's only four guys that are deserving, then four guys are the guys are going to get the majority of the reps,” Brown said. “But if you can do that, I think as the season goes along, you keep your guys fresher longer. You start to get in the game 10, 11 and so on and so forth, guys still got some juice left and some energy left, as opposed to getting beat down in the first six.”
How Notre Dame’s veteran transfers are acclimating
Half of Notre Dame’s perceived top-six rotation didn’t play for the Irish last season. The transfer portal haul of Collins from Clemson, Mitchell from Florida International and Harrison from Marshall came to Notre Dame with plenty of experience, and it’s shown.
Not only have they come into the program looking for playing time, but they’ve embraced the personalities and relationships with their new teammates. The five returning receivers and three freshmen have helped prevent any awkwardness within the competitions.
“It’s a credit to the guys in the room and the camaraderie in the room and those guys growing and enjoying being around each other,” Brown said. And then understanding that when Beaux and those guys are coming in, they have a lot of experience. Guys have been playing college football for four and five and, for Kris Mitchell, this is his sixth year. So, the young guys wanting that information from them is a big part of it, too, and so it's worked out really well.”
Collins was around the team in the spring, but he couldn’t participate in team practices/workouts until the summer as he finished his Clemson degree online. Still, he’s become an outspoken leader among the group alongside fellow boundary receiver Thomas.
“Beaux and JT have been the leaders in the group. JT has done a great job. JT has been here, played a lot of ball here. He's been a really, really vocal leader. I think the guys look up to him.
“And then Beaux coming in, he has a presence about himself as well that garners respect from the younger guys. So, those two guys have done a really, really good job with the room.”
The 6-foot-3, 202-pound Collins recorded 91 receptions for 1,290 yards and 11 touchdowns in 32 games at Clemson, including 27 starts. Collins’ work ethic has provided an example for the younger players as well.
“He's really athletic and versatile,” Brown said.
The 6-0, 183-pound Mitchell has even more experience that Collins with 38 games played in the past four seasons after redshirting as a freshman. Mitchell corralled 100 catches for 1,663 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Mitchell, who enrolled at ND in January, has proven himself as a deep threat, but the Irish are asking to him to be more well-rounded with slants, digs and double moves.
“He wasn't asked to do, I don't think, as much at FIU as we're probably asking him to do,” Brown said. So, I think everything in the spring — not everything — but I think there were some things that were just foreign to him. He's done a really, really good job of adjusting.
“He ran a couple of routes the other day. I'm like, ‘Who's that?’ So, it's been really, really fun just watching his game kind of develop. Obviously, he's got the speed aspect, and he's made some plays down the field, which has been good. So, it's just exciting to just continue to watch him grow.”
Finding a fit for Jordan Faison
Notre Dame’s wide receiver depth chart has transformed quite a bit since he was a necessary promotion to scholarship football to play in last season’s 33-20 loss to Louisville, which included a 36-yard touchdown in his freshman debut.
Faison added a national championship to his résumé in May with Notre Dame men’s lacrosse, the program that originally recruited him to South Bend. His lacrosse commitment kept him most inactive in actual spring practices with the football program, but it hasn’t prevented him from trying to expand his role in Notre Dame’s offense.
After catching 19 passes for 322 yards and four touchdowns last season, the 5-10, 182-pound Faison has been asked to try field receiver in addition to his old slot role.
“Faison is a guy who can play a bunch of different positions, and so we'll move him around,” Brown said. “He has been predominantly out to the field, probably, throughout the [preseason], but he's also played some of the slot. So, it's trying to find the best combination of guys and in the correct rotation is probably the challenge for us as coaches and just being fair to those guys so that they can get comfortable in whatever their roles will be.”
A lot of what made Faison a threat as a slot receiver can be highlighted at field receiver too. In offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock’s offense, the two roles have a lot of similarities, because they’re often changing due to motion.
So what makes Faison a viable field receiver?
“He's got good speed,” Brown said, “he's got good change of pace and he's really, really good after the catch.”
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