Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2024 53 D uring practice at the Irish Athletic Center March 7, Notre Dame senior quar- terback Riley Leonard was in trouble. He s u cce ss f u l ly d rew t h e Irish defensive line offside with a hard count, but junior center Ashton Craig's snap was at his feet. Leonard stumbled, picked up the ball and with a free play in his back pocket, he heaved it up toward graduate student wide receiver Kris Mitchell down the right sideline in a one-on-one matchup with junior cornerback Jaden Mickey. With Notre Dame's 2023 wide receivers, the play probably would have ended there. Mitch- ell, though, might be different. He soared over Mickey's head to make the catch, and before the younger cornerback knew it, he was off to the races and into the end zone. The Notre Dame offense went nuts, prompting new offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock to shout something that stuck with head coach Marcus Freeman. "Get back to the huddle!" Freeman recalled Denbrock yelling. "Get used to that! That's what we do!" If you're an offensive player on that field, how can you not be psyched to hear that? Making dazzling catches for big gains against strong secondaries — and Notre Dame has a very strong secondary — wasn't something the Irish did last sea- son. It's only been one day, but their remade wide receiver room looks like it might be a game-changer for Den- brock's offense. That wasn't the only terrific play Mitchell made. He zoomed to track a deep ball on a stop-and-go route for a score along that same sideline earlier in practice. His speed, his vertical and his explosiveness are traits Notre Dame missed with its wideouts a year ago. Combine that with fellow graduate transfer Jayden Harrison's big day, and the Irish have cause to be very excited about Leonard and/or junior quarter- back Steve Angeli's new targets. "They can run," Freeman said after practice. "I think I saw more deep balls caught in this practice than I've seen in a long time. It's really good to see." The early returns on new wide re- ceivers coach Mike Brown's unit looked promising even without senior Beaux Collins, who is in South Bend but still enrolled at Clemson. Also present but not practicing is sophomore Jordan Fai- son, who will be limited in spring ball to keep his legs fresh for lacrosse. Harrison did most of his work in the short game, catching slant after slant after slant out of the slot. He's as quick and shifty as advertised, giving Notre Dame a versatile pass catcher in a com- plementary role. You can bet Denbrock is going to scheme him touches in space, given his acumen for making plays with the ball in his hands (he's an All-Amer- ican kickoff returner as well). Adding to the deep passing game, se- nior wideout Jayden Thomas squeaked past junior corner Benjamin Morrison down the left sideline and hauled in a long ball from Angeli. The coaching staff believed Thomas was their best wide receiver entering last season, but a lingering hamstring injury prevented him from breaking out. He looks leaner and more explosive than he did last season, perhaps a credit to strength coach Loren Landow's speed training. Morrison got Thomas before that, though. On a long Leon- ard pass in around the same area — which looked ticketed for No. 83's arms — Morrison reached up and somehow inter- cepted it with one hand. The same is true of Mitchell and Mickey. At the very begin- ning of practice, Mickey blan- keted Mitchell during the first one-on-one rep of the morning and broke up Angeli's pass. The talented and talkative corner- back yelled "Let's go!" after- ward, with a third word between "let's" and "go." That competition between two talented units, Freeman ex- plained, will help the Irish mov- ing forward. "It's going to be great for both sides," Freeman said. "The speed, the ability to throw the ball downfield is obviously going to be great for our offense, and it's going to be a great challenge for our DBs. I love it. I can't wait to see this competition throughout spring." Back in fall camp of 2023, Sam Hart- man — known for his sky-high average depth of target and ability to push the ball down the field — couldn't complete deep passes against the Notre Dame secondary. A few of his throws missed the mark, but more often than not, the wideouts were losing at the catch point. At the time, that seemed to be merely a sign that the Irish just had excellent defensive backs. That, of course, was true. But looking back, it was also a red flag for the pass catchers. Great second- aries like Ohio State, Duke, Louisville and Clemson shut Notre Dame's deep passing game down. The Irish knew that couldn't happen again. They might have fixed the prob- lem in one offseason. ✦ Graduate transfer Kris Mitchell's speed, vertical and explosiveness are traits Notre Dame missed with its wide receivers a year ago. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER OFF THE DOME JACK SOBLE Staff writer Jack Soble has covered Notre Dame athletics for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2023. Contact him at Jack.Soble@on3.com. Get Used To Remade Receiver Room Making Plays