Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 NOV. 30, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TODD D. BURLAGE I n the preseason, Notre Dame wide receiver Chase Claypool laid out the two statistical goals he was chasing as a senior in 2019 — haul in at least 1,000 receiv- ing yards and 10 touchdown catches. But until one game-winning and season-changing drive against Vir- ginia Tech Nov. 2, neither statistical mark seemed attainable. Trailing the Hokies 20-14 and count- ing down the closing minutes of what looked to be a second straight Irish loss, Claypool made a 26-yard catch on a fourth-and-10 play that kept Notre Dame's drive alive and set up senior quarterback Ian Book's seven-yard game-winning touchdown run with 29 seconds left in a 21-20 Irish win. Claypool finished that game with eight receptions for 118 yards, and a momentum boost that pushed his game to a higher level. The following Saturday against Duke, Claypool added another five catches for 97 yards with a touchdown, and then against Navy two weekends ago, he was unstoppable, recording seven catches for 117 yards with four touchdowns, earning a spot on the Pro Football Focus Team of the Week. Heading into his game last weekend against Boston College, Claypool had 768 receiving yards and nine touch- downs, bringing both of his preseason statistical goals well within reach. "Chase is having an awesome year," Book said when asked about Claypool's torrid November. "I would say that it is starting to show on Satur- days because of how hard he is work- ing during the week in practice." Always one to put teammates first, Claypool deflected all the praise back to Book. "I think he fully trusts me now," said Claypool, who still insists that the clutch fourth-down catch against Virginia Tech brought a momentum and attitude change for both him and the team. "Ian is throwing the ball up and giving me a chance to make a play, and I'm happy that I'm able to make some plays for him to build that trust a little more." A BRIGHT FUTURE Claypool's versatility and reliabil- ity — especially in the biggest mo- ments — has brought a similar trust from the Irish coaches. "He's a guy that virtually has all of the weapons," head coach Brian Kelly said of Claypool's arsenal of receiving gifts. "So why wouldn't you throw him the football in those situations?" In addition to Claypool's work on the Irish offense, this gifted 6-4, 229-pound all-around athlete is also Notre Dame's best special teams player. Claypool has 23 career tackles on the Irish punt and kickoff cover- age units, and he recovered a muffed punt earlier this season against Geor- gia that set up a Notre Dame score. Considering NFL rosters carry only 53 players, scouting analyst Scott Wright, president and founder of NFL- DraftCountdown.com, believes Clay- pool's work on special teams will help to separate him from many of the other wide receivers in the 2020 draft class. "Claypool is going to have a long career in the NFL even if he never con- tributes on offense due to his incredible ability as a special teams ace," Wright explained. "But there is a whole lot of upside too for him as a pass catcher due to his size and athleticism." And when Claypool — one of only eight Canadian players ever to suit up for Notre Dame — presumably ful- fills his professional promise and is drafted in the spring of 2020, he will join Miles Boykin from earlier this year and Equanimeous St. Brown from 2018 as the trio of Irish receivers selected in three consecutive drafts, a feat that has happened only two other times at Notre Dame (1964-66 and 1994-96). Working against Claypool in prac- tice the last three years has given Irish senior cornerback Troy Pride Jr. a firsthand perspective on how talented his rival and teammate is. "He can embarrass you blocking, he can run by you, he can catch over you," Pride explained. "So it's a very tough challenge for any defense to face." "He's a warrior, he plays so hard," Kelly added. "Everybody knows we're going to go to him — and still he comes up with big plays." GETTING NOTICED Even up to his junior year of high school, Claypool never had any in- tention of arriving where he is today. As the best wide receiver on the Notre Dame roster, Claypool remained anonymous as a late-arrival to the game of football at Abbotsford High School in British Columbia, Canada RIGHT AT HOME Canadian import Chase Claypool is hitting his stride with the Irish en route to a bright future in the NFL