It may be quicker to list Notre Dame’s returning receivers or the even fewer who will be available for the Irish in a bowl game. Of Notre Dame’s top-eight pass-catchers this season, it will be without five for sure and presumably six in any postseason appearance. Freshman receiver Rico Flores Jr. and sophomore tight end Holden Staes joined the offensive perimeter exodus on Friday, both announcing plans to enter the transfer portal when it opens on Monday.
They follow this week’s departures of senior receiver Chris Tyree, sophomore receiver Tobias Merriweather and freshman receiver Braylon James, not to mention receivers coach Chansi Stuckey, dismissed from the Irish coaching staff on Tuesday.
Flores, in particular, will be a costly loss. The No. 23 overall receiver in his recruiting class, Flores led all Notre Dame receivers with 27 catches this season, gaining 392 yards and scoring once. But more impressively, 24 of those receptions and 359 of those yards came in the last nine games, growing into the role more and more as the season went on and as the Irish needed more from him.
“Thank you for taking a chance on a kid from Sacramento, California,” Flores wrote on Twitter. “After prayer, careful consideration, and many conversations I have decided to enter the transfer portal to find a new home.”
Thank you… pic.twitter.com/l74gnC47o0
— Rico Flores Jr🕴🏽 (@lil_reek_) December 1, 2023
Flores’s opportunity in 2023 came in part because of his own talent — a consensus four-star recruit who strongly considered Georgia and Ohio State — and in part because Notre Dame did not have enough receivers to operate without turning to multiple freshmen. That latter problem will only be exacerbated in both the short- and the long- terms.
RELATED READING: Notre Dame 99-to-0: No. 17 Rico Flores Jr., early-enrolled freshman receiver, four-star recruit
Losing Staes will compound it. He caught 15 passes for 176 yards and four touchdowns, memorably snagging a pair of scores as the Irish pulled away from North Carolina State.
“I will always cherish the relationships that I have made with my teammates and members of the Notre Dame football family during my time in South Bend,” Staes wrote on Twitter. “... After many conversations and prayer with my family, I have made the decision to enter the transfer portal.”
Staes moved into a more prominent role after junior tight end Mitchell Evans’s late-season ACL tear, and Staes’s speed and size made him a possible hybrid tight end/receiver of sorts, one that could patch over this growing Notre Dame problem.
Writing my own story. Thank you ND pic.twitter.com/rqypWBjSTJ
— Holden Staes (@Hstaes13) December 1, 2023
Instead, the Irish receiver and tight end depth chart in a possible New Year’s Day bowl game may not even go two-deep.
Sixth-year former walk-on Matt Salerno appeared in Notre Dame’s last two games of the regular season, gradually returning from a broken leg. Presumably, he will be close to full-go in a bowl game. Junior Jayden Thomas played through a problematic hamstring injury, one that may finally recover during this month off. And junior Deion Colzie could possibly — emphasize that word, possibly — see action after a knee scope cost him the final eight games of the regular season.
Within an hour of Flores’s and Staes’s transfer decisions becoming public, Irish Sports Daily’s Matt Freeman reported freshman KK Smith will be available in a bowl game, a shoulder injury costing him the season thus far.
The only sure things at receiver are freshmen Jaden Greathouse and former walk-on Jordan Faison.
Among tight ends, Notre Dame is down to sophomore Eli Raridon and freshman Cooper Flanagan.
That’s it. Four genuinely healthy pass catchers.
Presuming junior running back Audric Estimé opts out of any bowl game to begin preparing for the NFL draft, the Irish should have four running backs to supplement the passing game.
Notre Dame freshman WR KK Smith will make his debut for the Irish in the bowl game. Smith had missed the regular season due to shoulder surgery before fall camp. pic.twitter.com/Trj9KTnEqq
— Matt Freeman (@mattfreemanISD) December 1, 2023
Looking ahead to 2024, Notre Dame’s current roster can, at best, expect five returning receivers, and three recruits are expected to sign their National Letters of Intent later this month.
Eight receivers is not enough for a roster in modern college football, meaning the No. 1 priority for the Irish in the transfer market is no longer a quarterback but instead multiple receivers.
INTO THE TRANSFER PORTAL
Fifth-year defensive end Nana Osafo-Mensah
Fifth-year center Zeke Correll
Senior receiver Chris Tyree
Senior defensive tackle Aidan Keanaaina
Sophomore receiver Tobias Merriweather
Freshman receiver Braylon James
Freshman receiver Rico Flores Jr.
Sophomore tight end Holden Staes
