August camp normally ushers in an excess of practice viewing windows, video and frequent availability of Brian Kelly and players. Yet this month has featured closed practices and only a couple Zoom press conferences from Kelly as Notre Dame prepares to play a season that isn’t guaranteed to go its full length.
We can’t see who is taking all the first-team reps, or who might be out with an injury or a COVID-19-related absence. The Sept. 12 season-opener will be a lot more revealing than a normal first game.
There are curiosities at each position, battles to be settled and goals to accomplish that are worth talking about now, though. Here’s our best attempt to sort through them. Up next: A look at Notre Dame’s wide receivers.
Returning players: Javon McKinley (Grad.), Avery Davis (R-Jr.), Kevin Austin (R-So.), Joe Wilkins (R-So.), Micah Jones (R-So.), Lawrence Keys III (R-So.), Braden Lenzy (R-So.), Kendall Abdur-Rahman (R-Fr.)
Departed players: Chase Claypool, Chris Finke, Isaiah Robertson (medical)
Incoming players: Bennett Skowronek (Grad.), Jordan Johnson (Fr.), Jay Brunelle (Fr.), Xavier Watts (Fr.)
Offseason developments: Notre Dame lost its team MVP in Claypool, a second-round pick in April’s draft. Finke was the team’s third-leading receiver. Notre Dame added Skowronek as a grad transfer. Austin is Claypool’s presumed replacement at the boundary receiver spot, but suffered a foot injury in August that will keep him out until at least October.
In Short
An inexperienced but skilled group of receivers has plenty of talent to be a dynamic group, though Austin’s injury stings. No returning receiver has more than 13 career catches, which created the need for experience. Enter Skowronek, who caught 110 passes at Northwestern from 2016-19. Without Austin, he’s even more important.