We are working our way through Notre Dame’s 2025 recruiting class composed of 24 signees from all over the United States. Today we’re taking a look at the wide receiver position where the Fighting Irish will hope their scouting department will have done a much better job than the national ranking services.

Wide Receiver Antavious Richardson

Bio:

Richardson is from the small western Georgian town of Greenville and committed to South Florida last summer. A couple of months later, he was offered by Notre Dame with several other Power programs doing the same. A couple weeks after an official visit, Richardson left USF’s class and committed to Notre Dame.

He played all over the field on both sides of the ball in high school, including quarterback. On the track, he was a state champion in the 100, 200, and 400 meter competitions so he’s got some legit speed.

Ranking:

369th overall, 16th ATH, 53rd in Georgia with a 0.8978 Composite score.

Size: 3/10

Richardson is listed at 6’0″ by Notre Dame but at just 166 pounds he’s very much a sprinter’s body-type right now. He’s not exactly skinny at the moment and shows pretty decent muscle build for someone projected to play receiver.

There should be room for additional size in his upper-body, though. I would expect Richardson to settle in around 185 pounds within 18 months after working with the Irish strength program.

Hype Factor: 4.5/10

Richardson walking into the Gug and immediately being one of the fastest players on the team offers plenty of intrigue about his future. A fast guy named “Scrap” has my attention!

Outlook: Guess the Position

Notre Dame was one of the only schools to offer Richardson as a wide receiver while other schools, like Alabama, preferred him on defense. I have done zero research on this but my feeling is that in Notre Dame’s modern history it’s extremely rare to see these athlete types, who do not play much receiver in high school, go on to then play and excel at receiver in college. My bet is that he will eventually move to cornerback, although he could remain a weapon as a return man on special teams.

Wide Receiver Elijah Burress

Bio:

Burress comes out of New Jersey where he was teammates with 2025 classmate and running back Nolan James. If you’ve been living under a rock during this cycle, his dad is former Michigan State and NFL star Plaxico Burress. The younger Burress was offered by the Irish in January of 2024 and ended up committing to the program a month later.

Ranking:

429th overall, 61st WR, 12th in New Jersey with a 0.8929 Composite score.

Size: 6.5/10

It looks like we’ll need to see a growth spurt for Burress to have the same size as his father. Notre Dame lists Elijah at 6’0″ and 173 pounds whereas his dad was listed at 6’5″ and 232 pounds. With a 4.59 time in the 40-yard dash, people forget what a unicorn his dad was!

Burress does look really long though and his overall body-type still resembles his father quite a bit. Right now, the focus has to be adding some additional good weight to his frame. He should easily push past 190 pounds early in his career.

Hype Factor: 6.5/10

I’m going to zag here quite a bit, especially compared to the national narrative around Burress. He’s far more college ready than you would expect looking at the player rankings. He also brings a unique body-type where he should definitely play on the outside but has the explosiveness and play-making ability to be a very good field receiver.

Outlook: Spring Surprise?

If there’s one player I’m focusing on from this class who could make some noise immediately this spring it’s Burress. I’ll be watching closely how the development of Cam Williams goes. Remember, we won’t see Jordan Faison much if at all during spring as he chases a lacrosse 3-peat and while there’s been good things said about KK Smith behind the scenes, it’s possible Burress is the most naturally talented field receiver out of this group.

Burress is polished, extremely quick out of his routes, and has the playmaking ability to make tough catches down field. I welcome all of this to the Notre Dame receiver corps.

Wide Receiver Jerome Bettis, Jr.

Bio:

Okay, you’d have to be living under several rocks to not be aware of this father/son duo. Dad certainly doesn’t need any introduction! The Junior Bus comes out of Georgia where he played at Westminster in Atlanta before transferring to Woodward Academy for his final 2 seasons of prep competition.

This was one of the earliest offers of the 2025 cycle by Notre Dame. Bettis was extended a scholarship by the Irish back on March 17, 2023 and he verbally committed to the program exactly one year later.

Ranking:

886th overall, 131st WR, 105th in Georgia with a 0.8714 Composite score.

Size: 7.5/10

While dad is built like a refrigerator and sneaky not that tall, the Junior Bettis is built quite a bit different. Listed at 6’2″ and a hefty 201 pounds on the new Notre Dame roster, Bettis is bringing really good size for the boundary receiver position.

Some are wondering how much bigger can Bettis get? As we’ll discuss below, that might impact his future at the college level and ultimately decide at which position he settles at with Notre Dame.

Hype Factor: 2/10

With such an early offer was it Notre Dame spotting a diamond in the rough or just trying to keep things in the family? In terms of national rankings, Bettis is the lowest rated non-special teams recruit to sign with the Irish in several cycles. You have to go back to Kahanu Kia and Jason Onye to get close to Bettis’ rankings, while it hasn’t been since Alex Ehrensberger in the 2020 class that we’ve seen a recruit this lowly rated.

Outlook: Development Somewhere

The debate throughout this cycle has been if Bettis will stick at receiver for the Irish. On the surface, I like him better at safety where he played on defense in high school. However, I think it’s more likely that Richardson (mentioned above) moves to defense and can Notre Dame really afford for 2025 to be a 1-person receiving class?

Additionally, there won’t be a shortage of opportunity for Bettis. The Irish won’t have incoming transfer Malachi Fields this spring as he finishes up his degree at Virginia and that leaves a pretty big gaping hole at boundary receiver following the loss of 3 players at this position from the 2024 squad. So, Bettis is likely to stick around at receiver for 2025 at least. He has pretty good athleticism and very good size, can he put it together and develop into a quality receiver for the long-term?