The Ohio State transfer brings five-star pedigree and elite size to South Bend. If he can overcome injury setbacks, Porter could emerge as a dangerous boundary weapon.
Notre Dame has steadily improved at wide receiver in recent seasons, but the 2026 season needs to be a breakout season at the position. There is a lot of talent on the roster, but much of it is unproven. One of those very talented, but unproven players is Ohio State transfer Quincy Porter. A former top prospect, Porter will hope to make a splash in his first season with the Irish.
Here is our season preview and profile for Porter:
QUINCY PORTER PROFILE
Class/Eligibility: Sophomore / Sophomore
Height/Weight: 6-4, 207
Hometown/High School: New Milford, N.J./Bergen Catholic
CAREER STATS
2025: 4 catches, 59 yards, 14.8 YPC, 0 TD
2025 SEASON IN REVIEW
Porter played just 57 snaps as a true freshman with the Buckeyes, mostly in backup minutes. He played just four games on offense for Ohio State, but he caught four passes for 59 yards in those games. A late season injury ended his season and was also the reason he missed spring practice at Notre Dame.
FALL CAMP PREVIEW
The foremost goal for Porter this summer and in fall camp is to get healthy. He's talented, but he still needs development as a player, and the missed time stalls that a bit. Fall camp will be the time for Porter to get real reps in the offense, get first-hand experience in the scheme and start to build a connection with the Irish quarterbacks. Porter has the size, athletic talent and ball skills that Notre Dame wants and needs in the boundary (W) position. There isn't an established player returning at the position, so there's an opportunity for Porter to at the very least work himself into the rotation. Best case scenario for him is that he earns the starting role and plays to his five-star high school ranking and potential.
2026 EXPECTATIONS
There are two levels of expectations for Porter this season. His lack of experience and the fact he missed all spring while recovering from a knee injury keeps me from demanding he play like a five-star this season. The base level expectation is that Porter is able to get healthy and show enough of a grasp of the system to earn a spot in the rotation. If he can do that, Porter can use his size and downfield skill to give the offense a legit big play weapon in the boundary and a player that is capable of being a strong chain mover. If he's able to have this kind of baseline role it wouldn't take long for him to become a favorite target of CJ Carr.
Porter missing the spring and having such little experience makes it very difficult for me to predict a breakout season that many expect of the former five-star receiver. I think a more reasonable expectation is what I mentioned above, and then the 2027 season is when the big breakout happens. Having said that, I can't ignore Porter's talent and potential. You can't teach his combination of size, athletic talent and pass catching ability. That talent will give him a chance to have the kind of out-of-nowhere breakouts we saw from players like Golden Tate, Will Fuller and Equanimeous St. Brown. Remember, Tate and Fuller caught just six passes as true freshmen while St. Brown had just one catch. Tate and Fuller went over 1,000 yards as true sophomores and St. Brown went for 961 yards as a sophomore.
A GOOD SEASON FOR PORTER WOULD BE ....
One in which he gets healthy, quickly picks up the offense, forces his way into the rotation and gives the Notre Dame a big bodied presence into the boundary. While I don't predict that Porter will have a monster first season in South Bend, I think a good season is one in which he's at least a productive part of the rotation that shows good downfield ball skills and contested catch success. Anything beyond that is gravy.
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