Notre Dame Football: 5 early bold predictions for 2018 season

3. Chase Claypool breaks out

Remember the expectations placed upon Equanimeous St. Brown before the 2017 season? They weren’t quite fair, especially since the Fighting Irish were undergoing a quarterback change with DeShone Kizer moving on to the NFL.

Brandon Wimbush was in his first year as the team’s starting quarterback and it was obvious early on that he was a run-first player. How would St. Brown adjust to the new quarterback’s style? Apparently the connection was never strong enough as his numbers dipped in 2017 compared to his breakout 2016 campaign.

In fact, St. Brown finished with just 515 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 33 receptions down about 450 yards from the season before. He has since announced he will be entering his name in the 2018 NFL Draft, forgoing his senior year.

That leaves sophomore Chase Claypool as the presumed No. 1 receiver. He has the size — at 6-foot-4, 228 pounds — to be a threat from all over the field, especially the red zone, and has strong hands as well. He’s going to have the season that St. Brown was supposed to have in 2017 and become a top NFL receiving prospect.

I’ll predict 60 catches for over 900 yards and eight touchdowns.