Heading into fall camp, Notre Dame football appeared to have a ton of talented wide receivers.

The volume of pass catchers in South Bend is as strong as it has been in quite some time, and most believed the wide receiver room hierarchy was fairly well established heading into the 2026 college football season. Based on what we have seen and heard over the first couple of weeks of fall camp, however, it appears that wide receiver room is more open than initially thought for head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish.

As wide receiver coach Mike Brown continues to evaluate the room and set the depth chart ahead of Notre Dame’s season opener on Sept. 6 against the Wisconsin Badgers at Lambeau Field, two underrated wide receivers on this roster appear to be pushing for legitimate playing time that not many people saw coming.

True freshman Bubba Frazier

This one shouldn’t be overly shocking for those who have followed the offseason, including spring practice. The Georgia native has put together a strong offseason for Notre Dame. At about 5-foot-10, 180-plus pounds, Frazier is a smaller pass catcher, but he has been dazzling the Notre Dame coaching staff with his after-the-catch ability and the speed he brings to the table.

When you look at the Fighting Irish wide receivers specifically, there are a lot of talented pass catchers, but none of the known commodities bring this type of dynamic element after the catch.

Jaden Greathouse, if healthy, is good after the catch. Jordan Faison is incredibly slippery and can make a lot of things happen with the football in his hands. There are plenty of thoughts that Mylan Graham can bring that to the table as well. None of them, though, bring it the way a jitterbug like Bubba Frazier can.

His ability goes beyond explosiveness and quickness. Frazier also has some underrated strength to him. He evaluates space well, finds it, and has the combination of tools to take advantage of designed opportunities with space in front of him.

It remains uncertain exactly where Frazier fits positionally, whether he will see more of his action in the slot or potentially at the Z, where Faison will spend most of his time. Regardless, it appears that Frazier is going to play in 2026. Perhaps the role is sparse early on, or there’s a chance we see more and more of him as the season progresses.

With a quarterback like CJ Carr, you know the ball is going to get out of his hands pretty quickly for the most part. Having a player with Frazier’s skill set could unlock after-catch opportunities in the screen game, the short game, and RPOs. Frazier can do a lot of damage.

Redshirt sophomore Matt Jeffery

Although Frazier was a bit of a wild card compared to some of the preseason chatter around guys like Devin Fitzgerald in the freshman class, he was still a more likely breakout than what we have seen from redshirt sophomore Matt Jeffery.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: a talented wide receiver who is also a scholarship lacrosse player and a tremendous player in that arena is turning heads on the football field for Notre Dame. This isn’t quite the trajectory we saw with Faison when he came in during his true freshman year and quickly earned a role and a scholarship from the Notre Dame football team.

It has taken Jeffery a couple of years to reach this point of potentially playing. But for local media who have been at practices, Jeffery is a player who has consistently been brought up seemingly each and every session.

While he’s not a big wide receiver at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, Jeffery is strong, has good hands, and is an extremely underrated athlete. He’s a player who can help win outside the numbers. If his impact is legitimate, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him become the primary backup to Faison at the Z position.

Jeffery has gone from a fun walk-on with an obvious great athletic background to a player who could legitimately play real snaps in 2026. Just how much will depend on how a couple of the bigger and more talented names end fall camp.

Right now, though, Jeffery has positioned himself to be a huge surprise for the Fighting Irish in 2026.