If spring practice is any indicator, Jordan Johnson’s leap into the transfer portal won’t cripple Notre Dame’s 2021 receiver depth chart.
Johnson had been working with the second-team offense most of this spring. And when Irish head coach Brian Kelly identified the key players at receiver this spring, Johnson wasn’t among them.
Rather, the receivers’ ceiling is in the hands of a handful of seniors. Kelly has repeatedly challenged Braden Lenzy, Lawrence Keys III and Joe Wilkins Jr. to take the leap from good depth pieces to impact players. When Kevin Austin Jr. returns to full participation this summer, he will become the favorite to start boundary receiver.
“That attention to detail is the next level with these guys we have to get,” Kelly said after Saturday’s spring game. “They want to do it. They’re capable of doing it. We’re going to stay the course and when they get there, they will ascend to the level we need them to play at. We’re enjoying the process with them. They’re 100 percent all in. They flashed today, but need some work with the details.”
