Notre Dame's Future Receiving Corps In Good Hands

In the first part of a series this week reviewing 2016, we look at a current young receiving duo whose leadership will be needed in 2017.

There is little to celebrate during a 4-8 football season at Notre Dame. Yet even amongst the rubble, some possible treasures can be found. For the Fighting Irish in 2016, it was at receiver.

Sophomore Equanimeous St. Brown and freshman Kevin Stepherson statistically had two of the best seasons ever at Notre Dame respective to class year at their positions. Part of that is passing is more prominent than ever in football, so the opportunities are better than in the past.

“Impact” also is not necessarily determined by stats alone. Someone such as Raghib “Rocket” Ismail caught only 13 passes as a 1988 freshman, but his presence that season provided a huge overall impact to the offense to thrive en route to a national title.

Nevertheless, Stepherson and St. Brown are to be lauded for their productive seasons:

Equanimeous St. Brown — 58 catches, 961 yards, 16.6 yards per catch, nine touchdowns

• The lone sophomore ever to snare more passes and touchdowns in one season at Notre Dame was Will Fuller in 2014 with 76 grabs and 15 touchdowns.

• Two sophomores totaled more receiving yards than St. Brown’s 961: Fuller (1,094) and Golden Tate in 2008 (1,080). Both had an opportunity to play a 13th game in a bowl win. Tate especially made the most of it with six catches for 177 yards and three TDs in a 49-21 win over Hawaii in the Hawaii Sheraton Bowl.

• Like Fuller and Tate, St. Brown made a meteoric ascent from freshman to sophomore seasons. Both Fuller and Tate caught six passes apiece as freshmen before breaking through as sophomore. St. Brown had only one catch as a season and then was sidelined the final three games and the bowl because of shoulder surgery. Even then, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly envisioned greatness for St. Brown.

"He can play for a lot of major BCS teams right now that are in the top in the country," Kelly said in November 2015. "I think he's an outstanding football player and one of the great ones in the country moving forward.”

• Also deserving mention among best sophomore receivers were two from the 1960s: Jim Seymour (1966) and Thom Gatewood (1969).

In a 10-game season, Seymour helped the Irish to a national title with 48 catches for 862 yards (18.0 yards per catch) and eight TDs.

Including the Cotton Bowl, College Football Hall of Fame inductee Gatewood’s 11-game campaign had numbers similar to St. Brown’s: 53 catches, 855 yards (16.1 yards per catch), nine TDs.

Kevin Stepherson — 25 catches, 462 yards (18.5 yards per catch), five touchdowns

• The lone Irish freshman ever to catch more touchdowns was Michael Floyd in 2008 with seven — despite missing three games with an injury. The future first-round pick easily holds the school record for most catches by a freshman (48), and receiving yards (719).

• In addition to Floyd, the only other Notre Dame freshman wideouts to total more receiving yardage were Tony Hunter in 1979 (690) and Joe “Small Wonder” Howard in 1981 with 463, one more than Stepherson.

• The 18.5 yards per catch from Stepherson were eclipsed only by Rocket Ismail in 1988 (27.7), Howard in 1981 (27.2) and Hunter in 1979 (25.6), with a minimum of 12 catches (one per game) the requirement.

• The previous best freshman receiving marks under Kelly came in his first season 2010 with T.J. Jones: 23 catches, 306 yards, 13.3 yards per catch and three TDs.

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