Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1533229
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2025 29 2025 S P R I N G F O O T B A L L O V E R V I E W BY TYLER HORKA I t took the longest season in college football history, but Notre Dame finally got to a point of feeling like it has a true wide receiver No. 1. Following four games in a row with just 1 catch and then 2 in the Sugar Bowl, rising junior JADEN GREATHOUSE had 7 receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown in the Orange Bowl and 6 catches for 128 yards and 2 scores in the national championship game. Yep. Against two of the best teams in the country in the two biggest games of the year for the Fighting Irish, Greathouse reeled in a baker's dozen passes for 233 yards and 3 scores. He was a machine. He'll carry the confidence of knowing he can perform with the best of them, against the best of them, along with the hunger of wanting the best game he's ever played to be in a winning effort instead of in a loss. The scary part for Irish opponents? He's being joined in the Notre Dame wide receiver room by a transfer in Malachi Fields who posted back-to-back seasons of 800-plus receiving yards. The Irish haven't had a wideout hit that number since Kevin Austin in 2021. Greathouse proved he's capable if he acquires some consistency. Fields is obviously capable himself. Capable. Not a word associated with Notre Dame wide receivers of late but one that might be the new norm if Greathouse and Fields spearhead a movement that's reason for much optimism in South Bend. Now, they can't do it all on their own. Two players don't make a position group go. It'll take help from the supporting cast, maybe even contributions from a freshman class that has much to prove in the way of playing above their recruiting rankings. If they draw inspiration from position mate leaders, though, and returning players like Jordan Faison get in on the act, too, then yeah — this group of Irish receivers has potential to be as capable as any in the last handful of seasons. WIDE RECEIVERS PERSONNEL UPDATE Position Coach: Mike Brown (second season) Returning Starters: Jr. Jaden Greathouse (11 career starts) and Jr. Jordan Faison (4) Departing Starters: Beaux Collins (43) and Kris Mitchell (39) Projected New Starter: Gr. Malachi Fields (24) Top Reserves: Gr. Will Pauling, So. Micah Gilbert, So. Cam Williams and So. Logan Saldate Newcomers: Fields, Pauling, Fr. Elijah Burress, Fr. Jerome Bettis Jr. and Fr. Antavious Richardson NUMBERS TO KNOW 11 Contested catches for Jaden Greathouse in 2024, the most of any Notre Dame pass catcher. For reference, Virginia transfer Malachi Fields had 13 in 12 games for the Cavaliers last season. 15.6 Yards was the average depth per pass for KK Smith on 5 targets in 2024. The sample size is small, but that was by far the biggest number for any Notre Dame receiver among any who registered multiple targets last season. 20 Drops by Irish pass catchers in the 2024 season, a fairly average num- ber. That ranked 60th out of 134 FBS teams per Pro Football Focus. Beaux Collins led the team with 7 drops. ALL EYES ON … GRADUATE STUDENT MALACHI FIELDS Notre Dame has greatly missed the presence of a big-bodied boundary receiver lately. Fields is 6-foot-4 and rangy. He can make contested catches, but he can also make over-the-shoulder receptions down the sideline that allow quarterbacks to just throw it up and let him go get it. The Irish upgraded out wide with Fields replacing Beaux Collins, a solid commodity but not a game-changing WR1. Fields can be that. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH SNEAKY SLOT BATTLE Jaden Greathouse deserves all of his flowers and recognition for what he did in the final two games of the College Football Playoff, but Will Pauling was an accomplished player in his own right at Wisconsin. He had 837 yards and 6 touchdowns two seasons ago. He can challenge Greathouse for reps.