Notre Dame: Dismissals of Stepherson, four others stretch offense thin

What will Notre Dame due to replace the newly dismissed Kevin Stepherson as well as the other players cut loose from the football team?

Yesterday, some long-awaited, though unhappy news from the Notre Dame football program finally broke: the team had officially dismissed wide receiver Kevin Stepherson along with three other players—running backs C.J. Holmes and Deon McIntosh and defensive tackle Brandon Tiassum.

Truthfully, that had been all but a foregone conclusion since he and Holmes, who was also dismissed from the team, got arrested for shoplifting at University Park Mall in Mishawaka.

That, unfortunately for Stepherson, represented his proverbial third strike (that we know about). Coupled with his arrest in August 2016 stemming from a marijuana charge (which he’d just gotten off probation for) and the four-game suspension he got to start this season due to a violation of team rules, he wasn’t long for the Fighting Irish football team.

McIntosh suffered his fate after being sent home from the Citrus Bowl due to a violation of team rules.

And Tiassum? Well…I don’t know why he’s not on the team anymore, to be honest. Nothing indicates that he did anything conduct-wise, so he just might not have been in Notre Dame’s plans.

Also, him leaving hurts less with Jerry Tillery coming back for his senior season. As such, he might not be missed as badly.

You know, I get that Brian Kelly worked hard to change the “process” of the team in hopes of getting them back into National Championship contention, but it looks like he still has some work to do on the culture.

And now, Kelly has to figure out the roster holes that he (understandably, for the most part) just created.

With Stepherson (again, very understandably) gone, Notre Dame now has big talent and depth issues at wide receiver.

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The sophomore wideout had been their third-leading receiver with 19 catches for 359 yards and five touchdowns. He especially started to break out at the end of the regular season for the Irish, posting back-to-back 100-yard games.

With Equanimeous St. Brown entering the NFL Draft, that now leaves Chase Claypool and Miles Boykin as Notre Dame’s best two receivers. Claypool had 29 catches for 402 yards and two touchdowns, and Boykin just had a breakout Citrus Bowl (three catches, 102 yards, one ridiculous TD). But they’re far from well-established options.

As such, the door is probably wide open for new enrollee Micah Jones and recruits Kevin Austin and Braden Lenzy. Unless they land a transfer or an unexpected wide receiver recruit, they’re going to need their kids to step up.

Ditto for the running backs room.

Notre Dame now has just three scholarship running backs heading into next year—Dexter Williams, Tony Jones Jr. and Jahmir Smith. Williams has always been explosive, but health limited his effectiveness last year. Now, the Irish will count on him to carry the load for the offense.

What we don’t know, though, is if Notre Dame can find more backfield help this late in the game.

Next: Stepherson done with Irish?

In the end, Kelly and the Irish must have some plan to replace these players, or they might not have been so quick to cut bait. In the end, it’s Notre Dame, right? Someone always wants to play there.

At least, Notre Dame hopes so. Because if they can’t find replacements for these dismissed players, particularly the offensive ones, next season won’t go very far.