Position Breakdown: Receivers

Notre Dame lost two very good receivers in Jeff Samardzija and Rhema McKnight from the 2006 team so this unit is somewhat of a weak spot on paper. Only junior David Grimes has real game experience and the rest of the group is very young. The saving grace is the tight ends, who are very good. John Carlson might be the best in the country and Konrad Reuland was the best tight end prospect in the country coming out of high school in 2006.

After spring practice, the two leading wide receivers seemed to be Grimes and George West, a sophomore from Oklahoma. I would say that Robby Parris, from St. Ignatius in Cleveland is third on the depth chart, he looked pretty solid in the Blue-Gold game. He is similar to Samardzija, I think he will be very solid for the Irish the next few years. A guy I really liked at the spring game was Barry Gallup, a So. from Massachusetts. He looked very fast, with good quickness. He didn't play much in the actual scrimmage part but just in watching pregame warm-ups, I think this guy can play, watch out for him.

There are several other guys in battle for a chance to play but they apparently did not stand out to coach Charlie Weis in spring practice. D.J. Hord is a Jr. from Missouri who played on kickoff returns as a freshman but snapped his Achilles tendon in a workout last summer and missed the entire 2006 season. Richard Jackson, So. from Florida is a big receiver who looks to be in the mold of another Samardzija type. He did not play much, if any, as a freshman so it's hard to say what he might be able to do.

I think when it's all said and done, Grimes and West will be the top two receivers. Grimes has the experience and West was a kickoff returner last year who has good quickness, though he is small at around 5-8 or 5-9. I believe Parris will be the #3 receiver, he is just a big receiver who will put his body in front of the defender and be a good possession receiver for the Irish. The 4th receiver is a toss-up to me right now, it'll either be Hord or Gallup. Hord had very good speed and quickness before his injury but he apparently looked rusty in spring ball and did not make an impact in the final spring scrimmage. If he can get over the mental hurdle of trusting his foot after the injury, I think he could be pretty good. As mentioned, I think Gallup could be a guy who will stretch the field for Notre Dame. I think Weis will have to find a place for him at receiver, his speed is just too much to have him on the bench. The receivers will probably struggle early, but with coach Weis going to more of a power run game this year, I think they will do a respectable job. This may not be the strongest unit on the team but at least there is some pretty solid depth at the position.