Hopefully you enjoyed our overview of the 2021 Notre Dame recruiting class with recruit grades and some thoughts on the class. We started a deeper dive on each position group with the offensive backfield (and shoehorned the kicker into it). Today we’re going to dig into the guys whose main job is to catch the damn ball.

As a reminder, here’s our standard grading scale for this exercise:

95-100: Truly elite prospect with All-American potential
90-94: Multi-year starter with All-conference level potential
85-89: Eventual starter with chance to play as underclassman
80-84: Raw prospect with decent potential but a couple years away from impact
75-79: Likely a backup
70-74: Reach by the coaching staff

Signees

.9571 89 Deion Colzie 6-4/193 Athens, GA WR * * * * *
.9478 92 Lorenzo Styles 6-1/185 Pickerington, OH WR * * * * *
.9137 85 Cane Berrong 6-4/230 Hartwell, GA TE * * * * *
.8991 86 Jayden Thomas 6-1/205 Atlanta, GA WR * * * * *
.8776 83 Mitchell Evans 6-7/240 Wadsworth, OH TE * * * * *

WR Deion Colzie 

18S Average: 89.0

Brendan: 91

Colzie continues the recent tradition of big-bodied Irish receivers. His agility isn’t quite at the level of a guy like Chase Claypool, which limits my projection here a bit, but he’s plenty good. He has good long speed, excellent hands, and a monster catch radius. He has better tools than being pigeon-holed as a possession receiver for sure. I’ll be interested to see how much he can improve his explosiveness, as burst and getting and out of his breaks are his only noticeable weak points.

Eric: 87

Nice long and lanky frame. He eats up space with his long stride and uses his body well maneuvering against smaller defensive backs. I think he will go through a process in college of re-shaping his body and adding a lot of muscle, especially in his upper-body. I see potential to be one of the best tall receivers in this class. However, he’ll need to work on his foot speed and agility with route running. I’m not sure I see a huge impact early in his career but more of a high floor receiver who will eventually use his physicality to become a productive receiver but his ceiling is a big question for me.

Tyler:  89

I’ll take as many big-bodied receivers as Notre Dame is able to land, thank you very much. Guys like Colzie have become such a vital part of the offense over the last few years that it’s hard to imagine a guy like him not having a successful career in South Bend. I’d anticipate him developing into the safety blanket and downfield threat for whoever ends up being the starting quarterback 2-3 years from now.

WR Lorenzo Styles Jr.

18S Average: 92.3

Brendan: 97

I am shocked, SHOCKED I say, at my colleagues’ ratings here. Mark it down, Styles is going to be a monster. He was already fast, smart, tough, sure-handed, and stupid quick as a junior. Then he wanted to get stronger going into senior year, so he did – without dropping off anywhere else. And he started breaking tackles and running over dudes. I think he’s going to be the best all-around receiver the Irish have had since Golden Tate. He’s got that kind of speed and that kind of after-the-catch ability. Unlike Tate, who was a RB in high school, Styles is already polished technically; he also has one of the strongest and most serious work ethics I’ve ever seen in a prospect. He’s going to be on the field early and often.

Eric: 90

Super impressive multi-faceted athlete. He looks deadly quick and explosive with a suddenness to his first step. Reminds me of a speedier version of Avery Davis. Styles is tough to bring down in the open field with his quick feet and balance. I think he does need to get shiftier and make more defenders miss outside of using his speed. That will be key to developing at the college level and beyond. Could potentially be better as a corner at Notre Dame. He does not look 6’1” to me and his frame reminds me a lot of T.J. Jones. Can Styles play on the outside like Jones did? That’s a question for me and if he can be more than a slot receiver, gets stronger, and can use his speed all over the field his potential is really high.

Tyler: 90

Styles has really developed his game phsyically over the last year. Going into his senior season, I might have had him pegged as a slot guy only, but he’s just gotten so much more physical in his game that I think he can be dynamic on the outside as well. He’s fast, explosive, and adequately sized. I think the recruiting services have him a bit underrated right now sitting just outside the Top 100.

TE Cane Berrong

18S Average: 85.3

Brendan: 88

Berrong is another case where he committed a long time ago – June 2019 – and the shine dulled for fans, I think. He also had one of the more puzzling drops I can remember in the 247 Composite rankings, plummeting from #99 at the end of his junior year to #221 by the end of the next summer. With no games, no camps, nothing new to evaluate… I think he was a little too high at #99, but the drop was just weird. Anyway, he displays a really good mix of size and speed, soft hands, and better-than-expected after the catch ability. He should be ready to step into the Michael Mayer role after 2022 (boooo).

Eric: 84

He likes to block and looks to have developed nicely in that traditional tight end role. Good open field speed and has pretty good hands. Does a little bit of everything at the high school level as a tight end, wide receiver, and H-back. Berrong looks like a similar prospect to 2018 tight end George Takacs to me, although with not quite the same size.

Tyler: 84

Looks like he’s bulked up and gotten stronger since his junior year. Pretty good athlete all around, but doesn’t really pop out in any one area. He does have some soft hands and should prove a reliable receiving target.

WR Jayden Thomas

18S Average: 85.7

Brendan: 86

Styles is a spectacular athlete. Colzie is a monster. Thomas is a technician, which is how he’s going to get on the field. He’s one of those guys who isn’t elite in any one area but is good in all areas, and he couples it with excellent technique and football intelligence. I don’t see him as an instant impact guy but he definitely has the look of a contributor down the road.

Eric: 87

A nice mix of size and speed. Not insanely quick but will likely beat a lot of corners off the line with his burst. Gets in and out of breaks really, really well. He can shut down and come back to the ball with ease and turn back up field while running past tacklers. Reminds me a lot of Shaq Evans as a recruit coming out of high school. Potential sleeper in this class coming out of a good prep football program and a fairly polished set of skills. He could surprise with an early impact compared to some of his classmates.

Tyler: 84

Not huge, but nice size. Solid athlete all around. The thing I really like about him is his advanced polish and technique compared to most receivers his age. He also plans to play baseball for the Fighting Irish, which is pretty cool. The staff must feel he’s a mature kid with a good head on his shoulders if they’re open to the idea.

TE Mitchell Evans

18S Average: 82.7

Brendan: 83

The Irish staff loves Evans, but aside from that I’m really not sure how to project him. There’s no senior film. He played TE, QB, and P in high school (mostly QB as a senior), he was recruited at TE, and he could grow into an OT. Pitt, the other finalist for his commitment, reportedly was willing to give him a shot at QB. He does have outstanding athleticism at his size – the first play on his junior film is a designed QB run where he shakes a dude and runs through two arm tackles for a 43-yard score. At 6-7/235. I have no idea what to expect but he has a pretty good ceiling. Given his jack-of-all-trades work in high school, it may take a while to find out if he’ll reach it though.

Eric: 82

Nice athlete, I like the way he moves in the open field and isn’t content to let himself get tackled or allow his legs to get taken out from underneath him like so many tight ends. Evans has some quickness and looks to be a smooth pass catcher. His blocking will probably need a lot of work at the college level. He’s a big athlete with a solid upside at Notre Dame. I don’t see a ton of physicality right now but he’s the type of athlete that I could see switching to defensive end at some point in his career.

Tyler: 83

Evans is a real big body with plenty of physical tools to work with at this point. Nice athleticism that you don’t see out of a lot of 6’7″ guys. He’s a real load to bring down, too. Plays some QB for his high school team… Could the Irish develop their own Belldozer formation a la Oklahoma 2012? Probably too gimmicky for Notre Dame, but a fun thought.