28 days until Notre Dame football: Predicting the Chris Tyree target share

BlueandGold.com will release a countdown article highlighting a significant Fighting Irish football statistic every day until the 2023 Notre Dame season opener against Navy in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 26. Today, there are 28 days until the Fighting Irish and Midshipmen kick off at Aviva Stadium.

The optimism for Chris Tyree‘s potential grows by the day.

The former Notre Dame running back in his first fall camp as a wide receiver has looked good in the Irish’s first week of preseason practices. His wideout footwork is cleaner. Crisper. His WR intelligence and awareness is heightened. And then his hands. Oh man, his hands. He caught at least 18,000 passes this summer according to head coach Marcus Freeman. He’s not dropping much, if anything.

Tyree has dedicated himself to being a trusted pass-catcher in the Notre Dame offense. There is a significant chance it pays off.

Tyree had 28 targets in 2022. That was the fifth-highest total on the team, and he was still a tailback. Three of the players who were ahead of him on the list — tight end Michael Mayer (101) and wide receivers Lorenzo Styles (47) and Braden Lenzy (40) — are no longer at Notre Dame. Only wide receiver Jayden Thomas remains as a returning player who had more targets last season than Tyree. He had 38.

Tyree lined up as Notre Dame’s starting slot receiver in practices this week. He lined up in the slot 32 times last season according to Pro Football Focus. That was also the fifth-highest mark on the team. Tyree went into the offseason with a little bit of a foundation to work with in the effort to become a true slot receiver. He has built upon it through undying dedication to the craft. In many ways, this is the most important fall camp of Tyree’s career. It feels like a make or break reinvention of who he is as a football player. He’s treated it that way.

Tyree is ahead of freshman Jaden Greathouse and graduate student Matt Salerno on the depth chart at slot receiver. Both have proven to be capable players this calendar year. Greathouse had an impeccable spring, and he looks even more fundamentally sound in his first fall camp. Salerno has been doing this for many years, meanwhile. He had one of the more impressive days of any Notre Dame wideout from start to finish in Wednesday’s first fall camp session.

Greathouse and Salerno will swipe some snaps from Tyree. It’s inevitable. That’s a good thing for Notre Dame. Wide receiver depth is a welcomed change from years past. But given Tyree’s talent level and track record — he has 285 career touches from scrimmage while Greathouse and Salerno have combined for six, all belonging to the latter — he’s running a couple horse lengths ahead of his cohorts at the position.

For as much as Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman is talked up for arm strength and downfield passing, quick strikes are still very much a major part of his game. Tyree could be his main man for those. Look for him to smash his career high of 28 targets, and then some.

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