Why the Notre Dame offense has immense upside after Blue-Gold Game

For all the fanfare bestowed upon Notre Dame’s quarterbacks for the impressive performance they put forth in the Blue-Gold Game on Saturday, it’s only right to give the players they threw the ball to some love. There were 14 of them in total, seven from the Blue Team and seven from the Gold.

Just five of the 14 were scholarship wide receivers.

That line standing alone might imply emphasis with negative connotation. How could the wideouts let walk-ons and running backs and tight ends and even a converted safety who used to be a tailback steal so much of the target share? Does Notre Dame have a wide receiver problem again?

Right now, maybe. Several of them were held out of the game because of injuries. But when they inevitably come back — and they will; none of the ailments are detrimentally long-term — Notre Dame is going to have the deepest and perhaps most talented wide receiver room it’s boasted in quite a while.

Take it from head coach Marcus Freeman, who did not hesitate when asked where the Irish’s personnel has improved the most since he took the program over in Dec. 2021.

“I think I’m really pleased with what we’ve added to this roster in terms of our wideout room,” Freeman said. “I’m confident in the guys that we have returning in this wideout room, but I’m also confident the guys that we brought in to really elevate the room as a whole.”

Returning: senior Deion Colzie had 4 catches for 58 yards in the Blue-Gold Game, and sophomore Jaden Greathouse had 3 for 38. Brought in: Florida International transfer Kris Mitchell had 2 catches for 69 yards, early enrollee freshman Micah Gilbert had 5 for 79 and redshirt freshman KK Smith had 3 for 54.

That’s 17 receptions for 298 yards plus 3 touchdowns, 2 from Gilbert and one from Mitchell, from Notre Dame scholarship wide receivers in a glorified scrimmage that had a running clock in the second half. Not a bad day, all told.

It should get even better.

Just wait until sophomore Jordan Faison returns from his debut season as a collegiate lacrosse player, a sport in which he’s scored 16 goals in his first 10 career games. Sound familiar? He was Notre Dame’s most productive wide receiver in the second half of the 2023 season when he put up 19 catches for 322 yards and 4 touchdowns in seven games.

Just wait until Clemson transfer Beaux Collins enters the mix. He had 38 catches for 510 yards and 3 touchdowns in 11 games for the Tigers last year, all in spite of playing in what was by all accounts a broken offense.

Just wait until Marshall transfer Jayden Harrison comes back from his foot injury. He was one of the most explosive players Notre Dame had early in the spring. He’s coming off the best year of his career with 28 catches for 410 yards and a touchdown for the Thundering Herd.

Just wait until Jayden Thomas finally gets his hamstring right. He’s one of the most respected Notre Dame seniors on the roster for having 46 catches for 671 yards and 5 touchdowns the last two seasons despite being banged up for much of his appearances.

Cam Williams was the highest-rated Notre Dame signee in the class of 2024. He came on strong in the latter half of the spring schedule before tweaking his hamstring days before the Blue-Gold Game. Logan Saldate is a fellow four-star signee in the class of 2024 who arrives in South Bend over the summer.

That’ll give Notre Dame 11 scholarship players with which to work in fall camp. We only saw five of them contribute in the Blue-Gold Game. Not even half.

Notre Dame appears to have the best quarterback room from top to bottom it’s had in a decade and a half, or longer. The Irish just might have the best wide receiver room it’s had in a while to go with it. Remember those running backs and tight ends mentioned at the beginning of this, too? Yeah, they’re not going anywhere. And at some point, Mike Denbrock‘s tight end room will get a health boost with the return of Mitchell Evans, Notre Dame’s leader in receptions in 2023 despite playing in eight of 13 games.

Denbrock stepped out of a good situation at LSU and into another at Notre Dame. He might not have a Heisman Trophy winner in South Bend, but he’s got a whole lot. More than enough.

“I believe this probably is, I want to say, one of the most talented rosters we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Freeman said. “Now it’s our job to build that talent and mold that talent and make sure we teach that talent to get to where we want to go.”

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