Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/393046
UNDER THE DOME Will Fuller By Andrew Owens In each of head coach Brian Kelly's first four seasons at Notre Dame, there was never a question about which player represented the team's go‑to receiving option. In 2010 and 2011, Michael Floyd held that title before Tyler Eifert (2012) and TJ Jones (2013) assumed that role the past two seasons. Once Troy Niklas declared he would enter the NFL Draft last January, that left inconsis‑ tent senior wide receiver DaVaris Daniels (49 receptions in 2013) as the leading returning pass catcher. He, of course, has been held out of action during the ongoing academic dishon‑ esty investigation. In an offense that relies on a number of tar‑ gets rather than one primary option, sopho‑ more wide receiver Will Fuller emerged during the first month of the season with a team‑ leading 25 receptions for 344 yards and five touchdowns through four games. A year ago, Fuller 's blazing speed was evi‑ dent as a freshman sent to the field to pri‑ marily run fly routes. Now with a year in the program under his belt, Fuller has improved as a route runner and is a threat everywhere on the field. In addition to his most memorable catch of the first three games — a 75‑yard touchdown against Rice when he breezed past the Owls' secondary — he has caught passes on every‑ thing from slants to screens. While Fuller is unlikely to emerge from a talented group as much as Floyd, Eifert and Jones did, he is the best bet to lead the Irish in receptions in 2014. Corey Robinson By Douglas Farmer Sure, Corey Robinson may have barely half of Will Fuller's 25 catches, but Robinson's emer‑ gence against Syracuse — where he snagged eight of his 13 receptions through four games this season — should be a harbinger of what is to come. Robinson's 6‑4½ frame and even more im‑ pressive wingspan make him the most allur‑ ing target on the field. Week by week, senior quarterback Everett Golson has paid more at‑ tention to that massive bull's‑eye. Robinson certainly lacks Fuller's blazing speed — as well as junior C.J. Prosise's physicality and senior Amir Carlisle's shiftiness and quickness, for that matter — but his ability to position him‑ self is unparalleled, almost as if he is preparing to leap for a basketball rebound. Despite Robinson's length and innate body control, he has been limited to 190 yards and two scores on those 13 catches through four games. Breaking his right thumb about a week before the season opener certainly played a part in the sophomore's slow start. Heading into October, Robinson said he expected to ditch his brace any day, and he has expressed a comfort level with the nuisance of pain since he notched his first score of the season against Purdue Sept. 13. As long as that injury is healing on schedule, Robinson will feel more at ease catching Gol‑ son's bullets, and he will catch more of them, especially as Notre Dame enters a portion of the schedule where defenses will have corners fast enough to keep up with Fuller, if not tall enough to outleap Robinson. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHICH NOTRE DAME PLAYER WILL LEAD THE TEAM IN RECEPTIONS IN 2014? Listen to the discussion in this digital exclusive