Miami's explosive receiving corps, bolstered by portal talent, headlines Notre Dame's daunting 2026 schedule. Who else poses a significant threat?
Notre Dame is set to face some young and talented receiving corps this upcoming season. Like the majority of schools, the teams on their schedule very vastly impacted by the transfer portal. We are taking a look at entire pass catching units including both receivers and tight ends. There are some familiar faces and some units that were entirely built through the portal. I broke down the top pass catching units on Notre Dame's schedule, and it wasn't easy due to the various transfer portal acquisitions. There's a relatively big drop off after the first couple of units, but there's a lot of talent and potential across the board.
1. Miami Hurricanes
This pass catching unit, I'd argue, is now head and shoulders above the rest. The Hurricanes return one of the top pass catchers in the country in Malachi Toney who broke out as a true freshman in 2025. As a 17 year old, Toney caught 109 passes for 1,211 yards, averaged 11.1 yards per catch and hauled in 10 touchdowns. He'll be joined by Duke transfer Cooper Barkate who was an 1,100-yard receiver for the Blue Devils last season. Tight end Elija Lofton is headed into his second year as the No. 1 tight end and will likely be more productive this season. Miami also snagged Vandrevious Jacobs from South Carolina who is a big-play threat down field. This will be the most challenging pass catching unit on Notre Dame's schedule.
2. SMU Mustangs
The Mustangs return two pass catchers from last season in Yamir Knight and Jalen Cooper. Knight was the team's third leading receiver after tallying 54 receptions, 637 yards and five touchdowns. Cooper, a rising sophomore, returns and will play a much larger role within the offense. He's a 6-2, 180-pound big play weapon who averaged 16.9 yards per catch in 2025. They'll both be joined by a pair of transfer tight ends including Theo Melin Ohrstrom from Texas A&M and Randy Pittman from Florida State. This should be an extremely productive unit behind third-year starting quarterback Kevin Jennings.
3. Wisconsin Badgers
The Badgers are one of the few teams on Notre Dame's schedule that returns it's top two pass catchers from 2025. Tight end Lance Mason (30 rec., 398 yards, 13.3 YPC, 4 TD) and receiver Vinny Anthony II (31 rec., 391 yards, 12.6 YPC, 1 TD) both return to Madison in 2026. Neither player had an overly productive season last fall, but subpar quarterback play prevented them from taking off. Receiver Chris Brooks also returns after an 11-catch, 124 yard season. Wisconsin also added two receivers from the portal; Jaylon Domingeux comes in from Southeast Louisiana and Shamar Rigby transfers in from Oklahoma State. Both players are big-bodied weapons on the outside with Domingeux being the most productive of the two.
4. North Carolina Tarheels
Wide receiver Jordan Shipp comes back to Chapel Hill to headline the North Carolina receiving corps. He was their leading receiver in 2025 after catching 60 passes for 671 yards and six touchdowns. Shipp heads into his junior season and will be joined by a host of portal players including Wisconsin's second leading receiver Trech Kekahuna who transferred over from the Badgers along with quarterback Billy Edwards. The Tarheels also picked up a pair of tight ends from the portal in Jelani Thurman from Ohio State and Jordan Washington from Texas. New offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino will have some talented pass catchers to work with this season.
5. BYU Cougars
Despite leading receiver Parker Kingston's likely absence from the program in 2026, there is still some talent remaining on the roster. Receivers JoJo Phillips and Cody Hagen both return in 2026. They didn't have extremely productive seasons last fall after combining for 26 receptions and 258 yards, but their numbers will be called upon this season to step up and take on a significantly bigger role. The thing that puts BYU still in my top five was their portal acquisitions at tight end. They picked up Walker Lyons from USC, which is a tremendous snag from the transfer portal. The 6-4, 245-pound tight end hauled in 20 receptions for 223 yards and two touchdowns last fall for the Trojans.
6. Michigan State Spartans
Wide receiver Chrishon McCray returns to East Lansing after recording 24 receptions, 330 yards and three touchdowns last fall. He's expected to headline the Spartan's receiving corps along with Notre Dame transfer KK Smith who is a big play player in the waiting. Smith wasn't able to crack the rotation in South Bend, but found a solid home with Michigan State. They also picked up Michigan receiver Frederick Moore from the portal. Tight end remains a question mark, but rising sophomore Jayden Savoury is expected to take on a much larger role in this year's offense.
7. Boston College Eagles
This pass catching unit will look significantly different than it did a season ago. The only returner is receiver Jaedn Skeete who hauled in 13 passes for 140 yards and three touchdowns last fall. The Eagles picked up Reed Swanson in the portal from Colgate after the 6-6, 215-pound boundary receiver tallied 57 catches for 937 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025. Swanson is expected to fill the void left by Reed Harris who transferred to Arizona State this offseason. Boston College also picked up Javarius Green from North Carolina who caught 13 passes for 150 yards for the Tarheels last fall.
8. Purdue Boilermakers
The Boilermakers will also have a complete overhaul at receiver, with Corey Smith being the lone returner from last year's wide receiver production. He tallied 14 receptions for 237 yards and one touchdown last season. He'll be one of quarterback Ryan Browne's go-to targets this fall. Tight end George Burhenn also returns to take on a larger role this fall. Purdue brought in Jaylan Hornsby (8 rec., 103 yards, 12.9 YPC, 1 TD) from Syracuse and Asaad Waseem (66 rec., 699 yards, 10.6 YPC, 5 TD) from Florida Atlantic. Those four are expected to be featured in the Boilermaker passing attack this upcoming season.
9. Stanford Cardinal
Wide receiver Caden High returns to Stanford for his senior season to lead the receiving corps. High recorded 37 catches for 414 yards and one touchdown last fall including a four-catch, 34 yard game against Notre Dame last fall. They also return receiver Marcus Brown and tight end Benji Blackburn from last year's roster. Their biggest portal addition was Yale wide receiver Nico Brown who hauled in 71 catches for 1,085 yards, averaged 15.3 yards per catch and had 11 touchdowns in 2025. He'll be one of Davis Warren's top targets in this year's offense.
10. Syracuse Orange
The main weapons in Syracuse's passing game this season will all be built through the transfer portal. There's so much uncertainty with this offense that prevents them from being higher on this list. The Orange brought in Elijah Moore (3 rec., 52 yards, 17.3 YPC) from Florida State, Cole Weaver (45 rec., 642 yards, 14.3 YPC, 1 TD) from Miami (OH) and tight end Noah Meyers (32 rec., 357 yards, 11.2 YPC, 3 TD) from Western Kentucky. The skilled talent on the perimeter is a step down from where it was at last fall and with some uncertainty at quarterback, this offense has a lot of variance in 2026.
11. Rice Owls
Receiver Payton Matthews is one of the few returning pass catchers for the Owls from last season. Matthews caught four passes for 93 yards last fall. The Rice offense isn't built around the passing game, which is why they rank this far down. They brought in Barry Jackson Jr. from Cincinnati, Max Mosey from Holy Cross and Preston Zinter from Notre Dame who is expected to compete for the No. 1 tight end spot after playing linebacker his first three years at the collegiate level. This offense will, once again, be built around the ground attack which is another reason they brought in Jacurri Brown at quarterback from UCF.
12. Navy Midshipmen
With the departure of Eli Heidenreich and Brandon Chatman, the Midshipmen have little to no experience on the perimeter. They're in a similar boat to Rice; this season, I think we'll see a more traditional Navy triple option with Braxton Woodson under center; he isn't the passer that Blake Horvath was. Navy will be implementing all new starters at fullback, halfback and wide receiver. This will be a new-look offense for head coach Brian Newberry and one that will feature Woodson as a runner.
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