Tag: post-spring top 25

ESPN: Receiver is Notre Dame’s biggest question mark

Hope the Irish can make strides in that this season.

No matter how good a college football team is, there always is a weakness the opposition looks to exploit. Notre Dame is no exception.

ESPN has determined what it believes to be the biggest question mark for each team in its post-spring Top 25. Notre Dame was fifth on that list, and David Hale is the writer who listed receiver as the most pressing issue for the Irish. He elaborated this way:

“There’s room for optimism with this receivers corps, which includes the addition of transfers [autotag]Beaux Collins[/autotag] (Clemson) and [autotag]Kris Mitchell[/autotag] (FIU), along with holdovers [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag], [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayden Thomas[/autotag]. But last year’s leading wideouts, Chris Tyree and Rico Flores Jr., both transferred, and it was a unit that struggled often even with them. No wide receiver caught more than 27 passes in 2022 or 2023. Notre Dame hasn’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since [autotag]Chase Claypool[/autotag] in 2019.

With [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag]’s legs, a big O-line and a talented backfield (not to mention a burgeoning star in tight end [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag]), there’s not a ton of pressure on the receivers to put up earth-shattering numbers, but genuine progress will be critical to an Irish offense that lost three games last season – all scoring 23 points or less. In those three games, the wide receivers combined for just two touchdown grabs and none had more than four catches in any one game.”

It’s a fair assessment, and the Irish have taken steps to address receive with five freshman receivers new to the program in 2024, including [autotag]Cam Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Micah Gilbert[/autotag]. Results might not happen right away, but at least the Irish were aware of this Achilles’ heel with their offense. It will be a fun group to watch develop.

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Notre Dame football makes RJ Young’s post-spring top 25

Not much to complain about here

There have been some questionable post-spring top 25’s that have hit the internet over the last month, and Notre Dame has been the focus of one of them.

You won’t hear nearly as much backlash from Fox Sports [autotag]RJ Young[/autotag]’s list, as the has the Irish as his No. 15 team. He didn’t completely omit Notre Dame, but having them at that spot is pretty fair. You could make the argument that they should be ranked a bit higher, but you won’t see social media cause a storm.

There are surely more than a few questions surrounding Notre Dame, which includes Riley Leonard’s health, replacing three starters on the offensive line, and who will be the next pass rusher.

Notre Dame should be in this range when the real preseason polls come out, and will be in contention for a College Football Playoff spot as well.

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