The wide receiver position is always a hot topic of debate for the Notre Dame football fanbase. It has been a position that has needed to get better over the years, but has seen some growth under head coach Marcus Freeman. There is no question, however, that there is still another level that needs to be reached. 

It has become a bit of a yearly transfer portal tradition for the Fighting Irish to search for a proven commodity or two, especially at boundary receiver. That includes Beaux Collins and Malachi Fields in each of the last two offseasons. With a promising group of pass catchers returning, including Jordan Faison, Jaden Greathouse, Micah Gilbert, Cam Williams, and Kaydon Finley, among others, it feels like adding some impact size could be the finishing touch to a strong room. 

The trend has continued for Notre Dame, once again attacking wide receiver as soon as the portal opened up on January 2. There is still a strong possibility that the Irish staff will bring in another wide receiver in the near future as well. This process may look similar on the surface, but it is actually much different.

Big early transfer portal victory  

Notre Dame made a huge splash this week when the program signed former Ohio State wide receiver Quincy Porter. Once considered to be a five-star player in the 2025 recruiting class, the New Jersey native opted to find a new home after just one season. At 6-4 and 210 pounds, Porter is seemingly exactly what Notre Dame needs in the boundary, a big body that has a reputation for making big plays.

With just Micah Gilbert returning for the Irish, on top of Cam Williams having the talent to play some in the boundary as well, there is very little proven production returning in 2026. Even though Porter made just four receptions for 59 yards as a freshman, there is a ton of context to consider while playing behind All-American Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. The talent is absolutely there, and opportunity will be available in South Bend.

What’s next for the wide receiver room? 

While Porter is a tremendous addition, he isn’t the only former Buckeye wide receiver that the Irish are looking at. Notre Dame is also pushing hard for former 2024 five-star pass catcher Mylan Graham to also wear the blue and gold. Like Porter, Graham also doesn’t have a ton of proven production on his resume. He ended the 2025 season with six receptions for 93 yards, but once again, context is needed.

Graham is a much different athlete than Porter is. At 6-1 and 195 pounds, the Indiana native brings a ton of speed to the table. The Irish said goodbye to KK Smith and Scrap Richardson this offseason, who were two of the fastest wide receivers in the room. Clearly, there is an intention to add some more big-play ability with a player like Graham. Ohio State is battling to keep the talented pass catcher right now, but most still view Notre Dame as the leader.

Unorthodox transfer portal approach

Over the last two years, Notre Dame has made it a habit of bringing in wide receivers with a proven track record of production. Between Collins, Fields, Will Pauling, and Kris Mitchell, that is a group that caught a lot of footballs on the college level. Instead of going that route, partly due to a couple of misses early on, the Irish staff opted for a youth movement. If they were to get Graham, you would be bringing in two players who combined for 10 receptions for 152 yards a year ago.

That makes those potential additions much more of a boom or bust investment. You aren’t bringing in players that are known commodities. Instead, you are bringing in two football players with all the talent in the world. Whether they sink or swim in 2026 will depend on what wide receivers coach Mike Brown can get out of them. For the sake of quarterback CJ Carr, the hope is that the push ends up being a genius one next season, or else you could waste a winning window of opportunity.

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