Transfer Target: Notre Dame Beaux Collins Has Talents That The Irish Desire
In the transfer portal, Notre Dame has prioritized wide receivers, and with the commitment of former Florida International wide receiver Kris Mitchell, the Irish have already secured a top target. The Irish are far from finished, as they hosted Beaux Collins, a former wide receiver for Clemson, last week. Fans of the Fighting Irish are probably familiar with Collins, and for good reason—he has caught five passes against Notre Dame in the previous two seasons. Before he chose Clemson, Collins was offered by the Irish and was one of their top targets as a high school player.
As a true freshman, Collins—a former Top 100 recruit—became an instant member of the Clemson lineup. Since then, he has been a vital component of the pass game, appearing in 32 games with 27 starts.
As a true freshman, Collins played more outside than in the slot; however, as a sophomore, he transitioned to a more visible outside role. In my junior year
Collins weighs 210 pounds and is listed as 6-3. Over his three years at Clemson, he has gained a significant amount of weight, which has enhanced his play strength. Collins proved to be a far more skilled blocker as a junior. Collins has the kind of catch radius you want in a boundary player because of his excellent length.
Collins is a long-striding, graceful athlete. He’s not a burner by any means, but he can chew up a lot of ground with his long strides and good off-line ability. He demonstrated an improved ability to explode out of cuts and accelerate vertically in the latter part of his sophomore and junior seasons. He has demonstrated the ability to get over the top against some elite corners, much like Miles Boykin did in his playing days. The strides made it appear slow, but he covered a lot of ground. Collins has good foot quickness and agility, which are useful both after the catch and when running a route.
During his time at Clemson, his route running has undoubtedly improved. His route package was quite simple in his first two seasons, which hurt the Clemson offense. Additionally, he didn’t really fit the Clemson system very well, and the majority of his output came from deep balls and short throws with little in the way in between. Collins should be most successful in the middle, and we saw a lot more of that in the 2022 season. Due to offensive alignment changes, which saw Clemson shift from field-boundary to more of a left-right alignment, Collins spent most of his junior season 2023 playing on the right side. Collins demonstrates his ability to manipulate his release by playing at various speeds.
