Notre Dame Football: Projected depth chart after 2018 NSD
By Jacob Wilson
Wide Receivers
Starting wide receivers: Chase Claypool, Miles Boykin, Chris Finke
Backups: Michael Young, Freddy Canteen, Jafar Armstrong
The Irish also took a hit to their receiving corps this offseason, with the departure of Equanimeous St. Brown and dismissal of troubled sophomore Kevin Stepherson opening plenty of starting spots for the Irish in 2018. Chase Claypool and Miles Boykin both showed flashes on the outside last season, and Chris Finke has established himself as a consistent option in the slot.
Regarding backups, the Irish have plenty of options to choose from. Notre Dame has put together quite the wide receiver class over the past few months, with players such as Micah Jones, Kevin Austin, Lawrence Keys III, and Braden Lenzy prepared to contribute immediately. While their time will surely come, I see Young, Canteen, and Armstrong rounding out the wideout rotation in 2018.
Tight Ends
Starting tight end: Alize Mack
Backups: Nic Weishar, Cole Kmet, Brock Wright
Once one of the strongest aspects of Notre Dame’s game, the tight end position has since fallen off as a primary source of success. Incoming senior Alize Mack, formerly Alize Jones, was hyped up to be the next great Notre Dame tight end before an academic ineligibility ruling took a year under a more polished quarterback in DeShone Kizer away from him.
Mack struggled with current quarterback Brandon Wimbush under center, and saw many of his snaps ceded to the more reliable Durham Smythe. Smythe, although considered a blocking tight end by many, posted significantly better stats than Mack despite serving in a similar role. It will certainly be interesting to see if fifth-year senior Nic Weishar does the same with Smythe gone.
Behind Weishar are tight end protegees Cole Kmet and Brock Wright. Neither was utilized in the pass game as Kmet would finish with 14 yards to Wright’s zero. However, Wright would function as a blocker from time to time. All eyes will be on these two as offensive coordinator Chip Long works them deeper into the offense.