headtopics
National Championship Winners Have High-End NFL Pass-Catchers, So Does Notre Dame? The Irish's national championship hopes could be determined by having that future first-round pass-catcher emerge.
Notre Dame wide receiver Jordan Faison addresses media after a Notre Dame football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Thursday, Aug.
15, 2024, in South Bend.
| USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect It's not so much a trend as it is a prerequisite to win a national championship.
While national champs can come in all shapes and sizes, one thing has persisted into the 12-team Playoff era.
In 12 years of the Playoff era, only two champions failed to have a future first-round pass-catcher.
Who were those teams, you ask?The 2018 Clemson squad, which saw Tee Higgins come off the board at No.
33 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft en route to a $115 million contract, and the 2014 Ohio State squad, which saw Devin Smith get selected No.
37 overall in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Shoot, even that run-heavy 2023 Michigan squad had tight end Colston Loveland, who eventually was a top-10 pick and became a late-season star for the Chicago Bears.
You actually don't need to make it a College Football Playoff era trend if you want to include the likes of 2013 Florida State and 2012 Alabama .The last champ who truly didn't have a first-round talent catching passes was 2011 Alabama.
It also had peak-Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy and a defense that allowed 8 points per game.
Needless to say, it could overcome that.
That'd be no small feat at a place that hasn't had the best recent history of producing top-end wide receiver prospects.The tight ends have been solid.
Michael Mayer was selected No.
35 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.
So far, he's the only Irish receiver/tight end who came off the board in the first two rounds during the Marcus Freeman era.
The last time that the Irish had a Round 1 pick at one of those positions was Will Fuller back in 2016.He's the lone such player to accomplish that feat at Notre Dame in the Playoff era.
How much that explains the Irish's inability to win their So will a lacrosse-less Jordan Faison be that guy? What about a healthy Jaden Greathouse? Or will the anticipated breakout of Micah Gilbert take the sport by storm?If Faison's focus on football turns him into a route-running savant, that could be on the table.
We already saw Greathouse light it up on the biggest stage, and for all we know, he'll pick up where he left off against Ohio State after a lost 2025 campaign.in hopes that he'll stay healthy and deliver on the potential that he flashed with CJ Carr's memorable first career touchdown pass in last year's opener.All three of those guys scored touchdowns in top-10 matchups.
Say what you want about Notre Dame's regular-season schedule, but anyIn this era of the sport, it's extremely rare to have three returning receivers who have already succeeded on that stage.
That matters.
If you don't think that matters, go back to when the Irish punched their ticket to the national championship against Penn State What was the shocking stat that came from that semifinal game?Penn State's wide receivers didn't account for a single catch.
You could argue that it was the all-important difference in a game that was decided by three points.
Of course, so was Greathouse's ankle-breaking 54-yard touchdown that tied the game with five minutes to play.
What we've seen in these title runs is that at some point, your receivers have to step up and make a play.Notre Dame watched its title dreams come to a crashing halt when Jeremiah Smith did that to cap off Ohio State's title.
It's unfair to Smith to say that he's the type of player that all champions need.
With all due respect to the Notre Dame pass-catchers, they don't have one of those.Miami might be the only team in America whoBut as Notre Dame inevitably racks up wins and Carr puts up eye-popping numbers, watch if that future first-round pass-catcher emerges.
It's significant.
Connor O'Gara is a Midwestern-born, 30-something dad who has been covering college football for the last 13 years.After moving to Orlando and being the writer who launched the Big Ten site "Saturday Tradition" in 2015, Connor pivoted to predominantly SEC and national content for Saturday Down South in 2017.
In addition to writing a daily column and hosting the site's twice-a-week podcast , he consistently appeared on national platforms like the SEC Network's "The Paul Finebaum Show" and Sirius XM's "Off Campus." He's been a Heisman Trophy voter the last 4 years and continues to be one of the voices of reason in college football.
But Connor's biggest claim to fame? After watching his alma mater win a national championship, he asked Curt Cignetti the question that got him free beer for life.