Emerging receiver Micah Gilbert aims to break through a crowded depth chart, honing his skills against top talent for a pivotal season.
The talent in Notre Dame's wide receiver room is exceptional, but the proven talent outside of returning senior Jordan Faison and returning redshirt junior Jaden Greathouse is relatively unproven. A lot of attention is being given to the two Ohio State transfers Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter, understandably so. But there's another rising redshirt sophomore in the room that's looking to make a big splash this offseason. Receiver Micah Gilbert looks to take that next step this offseason to solidify himself in the 2026 receiver rotation.
"I would say I'm one of the very all-around receivers in the room, Gilbert shared. "I can play almost any position. So the main goal going into the season was just consistency, being a guy you can count on all the time in the game, crunch time and at the start of the a game. So just being consistent and being able to move around and do positions knowing the whole offense is my goal this offseason."
In 2025, Gilbert was the first receiver to haul in a touchdown pass from quarterback CJ Carr down in Hard Rock Stadium. Unfortunately, a nagging hand injury kept Gilbert from consistently being in the rotation and his usage fell to the wayside. This is a loaded room with 15 scholarship players, the North Carolina native is remaining focused on his main goal.
"The main thing is to just focus on your path and focus on your goal," Gilbert shared. "Consistency kills all; you hear it a lot. So I just focus on what I need to do every day, how I can better myself and what I need to improve on. But also taking an outward look, learning from others and learning from the mistakes of others. But the main thing is just focusing on my own path."
Luckily for Gilbert working in the boundary, this offseason he gets to compete daily with the best cornerback in the country, Leonard Moore. Moore returns for his third and likely final season in South Bend. The 6-2, 205-pound boundary receiver is reaping the benefits of going against No. 15 on a daily basis.
"There's confidence in him, but it's also confidence in myself to knowing I'm going against the best in the nation every day," Gilbert said. "The fact that we can make each other better every time we are going on good, it's a great thing to be on this team and be able to be in practice and go against the type of competition like that. So you just take it and it's a blessing, honestly, and you take advantage of it every day."
Last season, Gilbert had the benefit of watching, learning from and being around veteran boundary receiver Malachi Fields every day. Fields is a day-two NFL draft hopeful and had a very productive collegiate career. The Charlotte native learned a lot from Notre Dame's second leading receiver in 2025 and looks to apply the things he learned this season.
"His ability to attack the ball was something that I really watched and tried to take notes of because I felt like that was the next part of my game," Gilbert explained. "I can really good routes, I can stretch the field and I can go deep. Now I'm adding the ability to go rise up and get the the football to stretch the field. It creates a whole new level."
For the first time since 2020, Notre Dame will have a returning starting quarterback under center. Unlike 2020, the receiving corps will play a bigger factor, and it has more talent top to bottom, and make a larger impact especially in the bigger moments of the season. Gilbert's emergence this offseason will help solidify a very talented six-man rotation and give Carr several weapons on the perimeter.
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