Written by Liam Farrell｜Senior Staff Writer｜Twitter/X: @LiamFarrell_IT
Photo by The Irish Tribune
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The highly competitive nature between the wide receivers and cornerbacks were biggest takeaway on Thursday from Notre Dame's first practice of spring camp.
"I've seen more deep balls caught in this practice than in a long time," said Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman.
When discussing the Fighting Irish cornerback and wide receiver rooms last season, the two, simply put, juxtaposed each other.
The Fighting Irish ball-hawking secondary, highlighted by All-American Benjamin Morrison and backed by young talents Jaden Mickey and Christian Gray, has become Notre Dame's new identity on defense. Morrison's abilities have been on full display since his freshman year. As a freshman, he tied the single-season interception record, and didn't allow this past year's NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, Puka Nacua, to a single catch. In his sophomore year, he had dominant performances against top tier NFL Draft talents Marvin Harrison and Brenden Rice, limiting them to three catches and two catches, respectively. Also, Mickey and Gray both showed immense promise whenever Cam Hart, who declared for the draft and had an impressive performance at the NFL combine, needed a breather.
On the opposite side of the ball, the wide receiver room was a mess. The parting ways with former wide receiver coach Chansi Stuckey and the transferring of four scholarship receivers were the biggest news of this offseason. However, with the hiring of Mike Brown, a highly touted recruiting class, and the addition of three transfer portal wide receivers; a former weakness for the Irish could be classified as the team's deepest position.
In practice yesterday, both the cornerbacks and wide receivers displayed great upside.
FIU transfer Kris Mitchell and Marshall transfer Jayden Harrison made waves with their blazing speed and ability to cut on a dime.
Jayden Thomas, who was matched up against Morrison all day, has begun to emerge as the WR1 of the group, already developing a great rapport with Duke transfer quarterback and probable starter, Riley Leonard.
The video below, released by the Notre Dame Football Media Team, displays the competitive nature that was occurring all day. In the video, Thomas and Morrison exchanged great plays, as Morrison attempted his best Odell Beckham Jr. impression, skying in the air making a one-handed snag, and Thomas bested Morrison with an incredibly difficult catch in traffic.
Via Notre Dame Football
This exciting clash of talent proves to be a storyline to monitor as spring ball continues.
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