Welcome to a series of posts we’re calling “Five Question Marks.” In this inaugural entry, BJ Konkle answers a question on the minds of many Notre Dame fans: Is there another star wide receiver waiting to emerge?
Notre Dame football has recruited, developed and ultimately produced extraordinary college football wide receivers. Some of these athletes – Jeff Samardzija, Michael Floyd, Golden Tate, T.J. Jones, and most recently Will Fuller – have gone on to successful (and lucrative) professional careers.
While Irish fans are proud to celebrate these “Domers,” it’s human nature to wonder: “Who’s next?”
Thankfully for the Irish fandom – and for quarterbacks Malik Zaire and DeShone Kizer – Notre Dame currently has an embarrassment of riches in regards to talented wide receivers. The position is probably the most well recruited of any in the recent past (with offensive line nipping at its heels.)
Here’s the talent currently on the roster, with their 247sports.com composite rankings:
- Recruiting class of 2013: Torii Hunter Jr., 4 stars; Corey Robinson, 3 stars
- Class of 2014: Justin Brent and Corey Holmes, both 4 stars.
- Class of 2015: Equanimeous St. Brown, Miles Boykin and C.J. Sanders, all 4 stars
- Class of 2016: Javon McKinley and Chase Claypool, both 4 stars; Kevin “K.J.” Stepherson, 3 stars
This provides 9 scholarship wide receivers to potentially pick from – 10 if you throw in talented walk-on Chris Finke, who I believe is likely to earn a scholarship.
As talented as this group is, they lack experience as Fuller, Chris Brown and Amir Carlisle took the lion’s share of snaps in 2015. Among those remaining, three are realistically poised and positioned to be the next potential standout wide receiver (and I’m going to throw in a dark horse candidate). It will be difficult for the incoming freshman – even one as impressive early as Stepherson – to be physically and mentally able to crack the depth chart and contribute meaningful snaps. With that being said: Purchase a nice pair of shades, because the future is bright.
Robinson’s current health concern – multiple concussions within a year – likely removes him from this conversation. Sanders introduced his slippery elusiveness in the return game last year with a punt return against UMass and a huge kickoff return against Stanford. The possibility of Sanders’ distinct threat in special teams being converted to an offensive threat makes any Irish fan grin, but he will likely remain a return specialist with the current talent that is in front of him. Brent is now fighting for carries at running back. This leaves us with a diversely talented foursome.
Here’s the case for senior Torii Hunter Jr.: He has the most game time experience and possesses the unique mental and physical ability to play all three wide receiver positions. Playing all three wide receiver positions is nothing when you consider Hunter also found himself on defense last year, contributing as a situational defensive back. He also makes time to run down fly balls in the outfield for the Notre Dame Baseball program (#NDBB). Torii’s versatility oozes out of him and is unmistakably his most attractive attribute. After graduating three seniors, Hunter finds himself in a leadership role among the wide receivers. In a candid interview on WatchND, he elaborates on this role, his ability to play multiple sports, his versatility, and his expectations entering 2016. For these many reasons, he may be the next great wide receiver to emerge from Notre Dame.
The praise that Corey Holmes has received from coaches this spring has been a pleasant surprise to many Irish faithful. The decision to redshirt Holmes last year (his sophomore season) raised questions about his ability to contribute in the future. Holmes credits his father for helping him work through the frustrations of redshirting as a sophomore. “It wasn’t until halfway during the season when I finally stopped worrying about other people and worried about my own game,” Holmes explained. This mindset paid off and the questions were answered when Holmes posted a spring 40 yard dash time of 4.39 – officially making him the fastest player on the roster. Confidence will be key for the Florida wide out as he continues to progress into fall camp. If he can translate his raw speed into football speed – similar to Will Fuller’s path to success – he may become a go-to threat and poised for a breakout junior season.
Holmes may be the fastest player for the Irish, but Equanimeous St. Brown may be the most polished receiver on the team. “EQ” played sparingly as a freshman as a back-up to Fuller, a future first round NFL Draft pick. The sophomore is listed at 6’4 and weighs 205 lbs. Brian Kelly alluded to the California blue chip’s athleticism stating, “(He) runs like a deer!” Kelly continued his praise during the 2015 season, “I think (St. Brown) would start for a number of power five teams. He’s ready to play right now. I’m just not taking Will (Fuller) off the field unless I have to.” “EQ” has the size and athletic abilities to become a transcendent wide receiver and 2016 may be the year the country learns how to correctly pronounce “Eq-uan-i-me-ous.”
Consider Miles Boykin the dark horse candidate to break out in 2016. Boykin is listed at 6’3 and an overpowering 225 lbs. He has been linked to lapses of inconsistency, whether that is drops or mistaken routes. But the sheer girth Boykin adds to the receiving corps is apparent in his frame. Boykin referred to his size in a recent interview, saying, “Knowing how to use (size) is the difference between knowing how to use it in the high school level, and knowing how to use it in college. People are stronger and you just have to fight through that, like running through friction and going up and getting balls and being physical with them.” Stepping up to the learning curve has been a process. If the consistency can begin to shine through, Boykin could immediately become a red zone threat, utilizing his size to essentially box out defenders in the end zone. Boykin has the summer and fall camp to convince position coach Mike Denbrock and ultimately Coach Kelly that he belongs on the field come game time.
The talent, especially young talent that #NDFB has at its disposal entering the 2016 season is second to none. The question still remains: Who will Zaire or Kizer turn to when the game is on the line…?
- What If I Told You… - September 20, 2017
- Spring Ball Miracle – Tackling Becomes A Priority - March 30, 2017
- The New And Improved Brian Kelly – Has He Learned From Past Mistakes? - March 13, 2017
atlnd
Great article. Very encouraged to hear Corey can be a burner like Will.
BJ Konkle™
Thank you!! Yes, Corey has the raw speed and just needs to learn how to turn it into football speed.
SFlafootball
Great Article! I would like to point out just a few things for fans that don’t really understand or have the knowledge of what bigtime college football is like. I really can’t blame the most of the fans, as the closest that they can get to Notre Dame Football is what they see, hear and read from the media. I can’t totally blame the media as they tend to go by what they hear out of the coaches mouths during the planned and orchestrated press conference’s (Kudos to Coach Kelly). Just stop and take a minute to really think about things…Everyone keeps saying that its important for Corey Holmes to translate track speed to football speed because they’ve heard if from Coach Kelly??? Folks…NEWS RELEASE! a 4.39 forty is speed whether its on a track or on a football field. By the way, Corey has never run track as he’s played football since 8 yrs old (I’ve known him since he was a little kid and coached him in little league). He’s 100% football player with speed and great hands and will show it when ever given a chance. Also, a 3.85 20 yard shuttle time is off the charts that no one is even talking about. To date, he’s received 0 (Zero passes) in a regular season game but is 6 for 6 (100%) in the spring games. How can a WR catch a pass if his number is never called. if you watched this years spring game you will see that he got 0 (zero) long passes thrown to him as the fastest kid on the team, while everyone else, including Stepherson and Finke both had multiple deep passes. This is to say: be patient with all of the speed talk as Coach Kelly is a genius at hiding the talents of certain players. You’ll see Holmes smash several ND records in the next two years and ND Nation will be on the bandwagon. This WR corps is very talented and versatile. If you talk with the players off the record, they will tell you that Tori Hunter is the #1 receiver and Corey Holmes is #1a. I expect huge years from them both and I challenge the fans to do their homework as most people thought that Holmes was buried on the depth chart last year when it was decided prior to the season that he would be redshirted. New Release!!! programs don’t place players 1 or 2 on the depth chart when they plan on redshirting them. This can change due to injuries or if a programs changes there stance on a redshirt…just an FYI for the fans!
Go Irish
BJ Konkle
Thanks for reading and thanks for the input! Hats off to Corey for maturely handling his red-shirt season last year and using it to get better and breakthrough this year. Sure sounds like he has a great support system at home. I totally agree with you that speed is speed, but I think Irish fans aren’t too far removed from George Atkinson III, and his speed was never fully able to translate onto the gridiron. Not a knock on Corey whatsoever, and I’m with you 100% – I believe he could very well be the next great WR to emerge. I also agree with you in that it wouldn’t shock me if Holmes wasn’t as involved in the spring game due to Coach Kelly hiding his deep ball threat. Thanks again for reading and for your comments!
Cheers and Go Irish!!