SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jaden Greathouse didn’t lack quickness and speed in his freshman season at Notre Dame. He just didn’t always get the chance to show it as he fought through a nagging hamstring injury and the challenge of learning multiple wide receiver positions out of necessity.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Greathouse has spent the majority of Notre Dame’s spring practices working out of the slot while Jordan Faison, who pushed Greathouse to an outside spot late last season, has been busy playing lacrosse.
Greathouse focused on taking care of his body after the season ended, but he also pushed himself to get faster and stronger.
“I definitely think that I’ve been able to put it a lot on display this spring and just feeling more confident with myself,” Greathouse said. “I’m in year two now and I’ve seen the game. I’ve seen what college football is like. So, I just think that’s attributed to my confidence and my ability, the things that I can do and that just helps me play even faster."
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Greathouse, a former four-star recruit out of Austin (Texas) Westlake, proved to be an instant impact player with 12 catches for 166 yards and three touchdowns in the first five games of last season. Then came a hamstring injury in practice ahead of ND’s road game at Duke. Greathouse was completely sidelined for the 21-14 victory at Duke for the first time in his career.
Greathouse returned to action a week later but played in four straight games without recording a catch. His injury transformed him into a bit of an afterthought in the Irish passing game.
“It was definitely frustrating, for sure,” Greathouse said. “Injuries are a part of the game, but it’s definitely something that we can manage and minimize and that’s why I’m taking care of my body so well. I feel really good. Having that experience was definitely frustrating for me, so just trying to do everything that I can to not put myself in that position again.”
Whatever Greathouse can do to try to prevent hamstring injuries, he’s adding that to his focus. He’d rather not spend time on the sideline with the inability to contribute. The strength gained in the weight room can help him absorb hits better.
Greathouse finished last season with 18 receptions, the sixth-most on the team, for 265 yards and a team-high five touchdown catches. Faison caught 19 passes for 322 yards and four touchdowns in just seven games. Injuries throughout the season to Greathouse, Jayden Thomas, Deion Colzie and Matt Salerno shrank the depth chart and forced Faison into playing time and a full-ride football scholarship.
Faison, who was initially recruited as a partial scholarship player for the men’s lacrosse program, has attended more practices than he’s participated in this spring. The Irish are trying to keep Faison fresh ahead of lacrosse games.
“It’s definitely competitive, for sure,” Greathouse said. “Obviously, he’s not out here right now. But whenever he is out here (we) definitely look at each other to push each other because we know what we’re capable of. We know the standard that we hold each other to. So, it’s definitely like it’s iron sharpens iron. We’re just making each other better every single day.”
Greathouse and Faison are fairly different players. Greathouse is bigger than Faison (5-10, 179) and had a much more illustrious high school career. Greathouse’s high school experience led him to being prepared to play right away.
“He's a bigger body playing in the slot, which is a little bit different,” said Notre Dame wide receivers coach Mike Brown. “Most of the slots are smaller guys. But he still has the quickness.
“He understands how to set defenders up and how to move you guys. He understands zone coverages and spaces and zones and knows where to sit. And so he's got a really, really good feel. Natural feel. And then his catch radius is really good. He's made some really tough, contested catches here in camp. Even if you're there, you put the ball in his vicinity he's done a really good job of coming down with it.”
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Both Brown and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock have been on board with trying to Greathouse more work outside of the slot. So far this spring, he’s proven to be more capable than he was at times last year.
“Greathouse has been as pleasant a surprise,” Denbrock said. “His versatility is off the charts. He can play outside. He can play the boundary. He can play the field. He can play the slot. Him, in particular, is a guy that we’re going to have to kind of use mixed all over.
“If you watch our offense at the last place I was, the receivers rarely just lined up in one spot. We’re flipping guys around and using motion to create different things like we just discussed as far as matchups and things like that. He’s a really smart kid, and he’s a kid that can play all of those spots, which is pretty cool.”
Greathouse hasn’t just impressed Notre Dame’s offensive staff. Defensive backs coach Mike Mickens sees the potential as well.
“He's really, really good with his body control,” Mickens said. “It makes a lot of routes look the same, and he's savvy with it and he's got a quick-area burst with it. And then he's strong with his hands. So, he's a really, really good player. He causes a lot of problems for people.”
Brown, who joined Notre Dame’s coaching staff in December and coached in the Sun Bowl, continually stresses a focus on the fundamentals for Greathouse. He wants Greathouse to become more nuanced in his understanding of what defense are trying to do in coverage.
The better Greathouse can process at all, the less it will slow him down.
“We definitely can get caught up in thinking too much sometimes and that kind of forces us to slow down our play,” Greathouse said. “But just as long as we’re playing fast, all the other things will come because we know what we’re trying to do. So, as long as we’re playing fast everything will come, the technique will be good, and we’ll be able to dominate.”
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