Big days ahead for Notre Dame wide receivers

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - There’s was good news and bad news coming from the Notre Dame football team this past weekend.

On Saturday, we learned two things—Tyler Buchner will be the starting quarterback for the Irish, and wide receiver/captain Avery Davis will miss the 2022 season after tearing his ACL during practice last week.

Both announcements require some adjustments in the wide receiver room. In terms of the Tyler Buchner news, the receivers can now hone-in on one quarterback and get used to his tendencies.

Wide Receivers Coach Chansi Stuckey touched on what’s to come for the next two weeks of camp.

“Key word is rapport,” Stuckey says. “It takes time, and naming Tyler the starer—the guys, I need you to lock in. Even how the ball spins, arm angle, all those nuances are critical for that receiver to that receiver-quarterback relationship. I’ve just been harping on the guys that as much of that you can get, make sure you get it.”

Sophomore wide receiver Jayden Thomas expressed a lot of confidence in Buchner’s playmaking abilities.

“He’s really smart,” Thomas says. “The kid’s smart. I talk to him all the time, try to pick his brain. Just him reading defenses. He’s dual threat. He can also make the explosive plays with his feet. He can take a hit, and he can make that throw that I’ll say nobody else can make.”

Graduate wide receiver Braden Lenzy agreed with Thomas.

“I’d say just his overall playmaking ability is insane,” Lenzy says. “I think he brings a very dynamic element to the offense. I’m really excited to see him this year.”

As for the Avery Davis news, his absence leaves an already thin wide receiver room even thinner. Only two returning receivers have caught more than 20 passes in a season—Lenzy and Lorenzo Styles—and only Lenzy has experience as a starter.

Stuckey and Lenzy talked about filling the void left by Davis’s injury.

“Avery, he’s such a big void that’s left there, and it can’t be filled by just one person, so you have to do that as a group,” Stuckey says. “Braden’s been stepping up in what he’s doing. Lorenzo (Styles), Deion (Colzie)’s even been stepping up, so it’s kind of a conglomerate of the whole unit that’s doing the job and trying to fill that void.”

“I’ve definitely tried to step more vocally, kind of be a hand to reach out to some of the young dudes,” Lenzy says. “But I don’t know if I’ll ever completely fill that leadership necessarily as Avery because that’s not just captain. I think in a lot of people’s eyes, at least on the offensive side, that’s the captain.”

Notre Dame’s season begins on Sept. 3 at Ohio State. Kickoff at Ohio Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m.

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