Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com AUGUST 2018 31 catchers dropped 23 passes, and lead- ing receiver Equanimeous St. Brown caught merely 41 percent of the 83 balls directed toward him. Despite the loss of St. Brown (left a year early for the NFL) and big-play wideout Kevin Stepher- son (dismissed from the team), the Irish receivers showed significant improvement during spring prac- tices. Senior Miles Boykin and junior Chase Claypool both compiled more than 100 receiving yards in the Blue- Gold Game, and sophomore Michael Young was a spring standout despite missing time with a concussion. Long raved about the effort that group showed during spring drills. "Just overall a competitive group, way more than it was last year," he said. "The makeup is where I want it to be right now." Boykin was outstanding during Notre Dame's 21-17 bowl victory over LSU, but he has only 18 career receptions. Claypool's 34 career re- ceptions lead the position, so there is not much coming back in regards to proven production. Boykin, Claypool, Young or an- other player stepping into the shoes of past luminaries such as Will Fuller (2013-15), Michael Floyd (2008-11) and Golden Tate (2007-09) would be a welcome sight, but it isn't some- thing necessarily needed for the Irish offense to truly thrive. When Notre Dame went 12-1 dur- ing the 2012 season, the leading pass catcher at wideout was TJ Jones (50 receptions for 649 yards). What it needs is a group that can make the tough plays. "It's always great to have that guy, but it's rare," said Long, whose of- fense had a 1,000-yard receiver in 2016 at Memphis and 2013-15 at Ar- izona State. "You want to have an overall group that … will compete their butts off. If they do that we'll be fine. The fun thing about our of- fense is everybody's touching the ball some way or the other. "It's nice to have an alpha in the boundary, but I think we have the ability to have a few of them if people want to play us in man coverage." Notre Dame will have an additional weapon in the passing game this sea- son due to sophomore quarterback Avery Davis cross-training at the po- sition. Davis caught two passes for 24 yards in the Blue-Gold Game and carried the ball 11 times for 30 yards. He also completed both of his pass at- tempts, but his best chance at making an impact in the fall will be as a pass catcher and occasional runner. "Avery is a playmaker," Long said. "The staff and I were watching the spring game and there was no doubt he had a different speed than any- body on the field. It was just a dif- ferent gear. If he shows that and can take care of the ball, I'm going to get the ball in his hands." Davis came to Notre Dame set on playing under center, but the opportu- nity to make his mark somewhere else became more appealing than standing on the sidelines as a quarterback. "He's a great kid, he's a winner," Long said of Davis. "When you move a kid they have to have success to see why you're doing it, and he saw where the ball was coming every time he got out there. … He likes what we are doing with him and still working some quarterback. He knows he'll be a focal point of the offense." Long stated that he gave Davis a choice during the winter, and the de- cision for Davis was an easy one. "[I told him] you can either signal on the sideline or you can go score touchdowns," Long said. "He said, 'I want to score touchdowns.'" Notre Dame adds possibly its best group of freshmen wideouts in the fall as well. Kevin Austin, Braden Lenzy, Micah Jones and Lawrence Keys were all ranked as four-star players by at least one recruiting service, and each was rated in the top 200 by at least one service. Austin was a top-100 player according to Rivals and ESPN. During summer workouts, the staff also decided that cornerback recruit Joe Wilkins Jr.'s skill set could be bet- ter used at wideout. "They are all very intelligent and great fits," Long said of the rookie pass catchers. "Athletically, they can all run, they all ran track. Lenzy and Austin both played defense, so they have that innate toughness in them. "If a kid can play some kind of de- fense he can transition a lot quicker [to college] because of the physicality on the offensive side of the ball. When I evaluate receivers I really want them to be playing corner or safety, just be doing something [on defense]. That really excites me, so I don't think the game will be too big for them." Stepherson was the lone consistent big-play weapon at wide receiver last season, and he's gone. None of the returners have shown the week after week ability to stretch the field or make plays after the catch. Long is hopeful that Young and Davis can provide some of that, and both Clay- pool and Boykin have demonstrated flashes as well. Getting more home-run produc- tion from the returning players is vital to advancements in the pass- ing game, but the newcomers will be waiting in the wings to push the veterans and potentially provide that should the older players falter. "To be able to stretch the field is important [to the offense]," Long ex- plained. "Big-play potential out there, we just didn't have it at times last season. When we break a one-on-one tackle, it's going to look like our run game last year. It's exciting to get things out in our screen game and get better — just be able to get the ball to more playmakers out there that can create." Improved play on the outside will need to be manifested by fewer drops, more competitive catches and an in- crease in big plays. If that happens along with an improved version of Wimbush, the aerial game should complement the ground attack to make the offense more lethal and less one-dimensional. ✦ Notre Dame needs a breakout season from its wide receivers, which are led by senior Miles Boykin. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA