St. Brown Looks To Prove His Worth In Notre Dame Offense

At the handful of practices open to the media, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly was often found working closely with the team’s young W receivers.

Sophomore Equanimeous St. Brown, the projected starter, as well as sophomore Miles Boykin and freshman Chase Claypool, are the ones receiving most of the attention from the Irish boss, though Kelly said at media day he’s still not satisfied with the position.

“We are not at the level that we need to at a championship level,” Kelly said. “They are playing OK but we need better. We have a high standard for that play and they are getting better, but they need to get better quicker.”

One of the main recipients of Kelly’s lessons is St. Brown, a 6-foot-4, 205-pounder with long arms.

He was asked last week what it means to him when Kelly is so clearly focused on the position he plays.

“That means we need more work,” St. Brown said. “That’s an area we need to step up in and he’s looking for a lot of improvement.”

Kelly said St. Brown is among the receivers showing more consistency, a thought receivers coach Mike Denbrock agreed with at media day.

Though Denbrock did not say that St. Brown is the outright starter — “I wouldn’t close the door on any of the other guys,” Denbrock said — St. Brown has received most of the first-team reps in practice.

“If Equanimeous continues to grow and progress, I can see him being a guy we can lean on very heavily,” Denbrock said. “We’re going to end up playing a number of different receivers in different situations to take advantage of what their talents are.”

St. Brown said the receivers entered camp a bit rusty, but with the help of veteran Torii Hunter Jr. (the team’s leading returner with 35 career catches) and student assistant Corey Robinson helping, St. Brown said the group has come a “far way” through two weeks.

And though St. Brown lacks experience — he played just 41 snaps at receiver and had surgery on his shoulder in November — he’s expected to be a leader in his position group.

For a player with virtually no production to date, that’s been an adjustment for St. Brown.

“When I’m still learning things, I’m hesitant to speak up because I’m still in the process of learning,” St. Brown said. “Sometimes I may know more than the younger receivers, so I still need to speak up at times.”

A part of St. Brown’s improvement has been on the physical side. A special teams standout in 2015 — he blocked a kick in Notre Dame’s win over USC — his shoulder injury raised questions about his durability. And though St. Brown has battled through a sprained left thumb during camp (he said he jammed it while catching a pass), he feels that part of his game has improved.

“Last year I didn’t take as many reps at receiver, so it wasn’t that hard on me physically or mentally,” St. Brown said. “This year it’s much more reps, so mental and physical toughness is a big part of that.

"A lot of guys are doubting us right now, a lot of people, so it just drives us to go hard and prove them wrong."

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