This Guy Plays Notre Dame Football: #22 Kendall Abdur-Rahman, Wide Receiver

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a roster full of players, and we want to talk about them all. One Foot Down’s player profile series will take a look at every single one of them, and hopefully we all learn a little bit more about these guys, and Notre Dame’s chances for the upcoming 2020 season.

#22 Kendall Abdur-Rahman, Wide Receiver

Kendall Abdur-Rahman came to South Bend in the fall of 2019 as a versatile but largely regional prospect. As a 3-star “Athlete” from Edwardsville, Illinois, he was the #530 player in the country, #31 ATH, and #8 player in Illinois according to the composite rankings of 247sports.com. The 6’0”, 189-lb recruit was viewed a little more favorably by 247 Sports alone, as they had him as a 4-star prospect and the #14 ATH in America.

Either way, Abdur-Rahman had some solid Midwestern offers to his name when he committed to Notre Dame in September of 2018, choosing the Irish over the Michigan State Spartans, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Iowa State Cyclones, Iowa Hawkeyes, Illinois Fighting Illini, Purdue Boilermakers, and Indiana Hoosiers.

After a senior year in which he was the star QB for his high school squad (647 yds passing, 15 pass TDs, 3 INT to go along with 1,135 rush yds and 19 rush TDs), he signed on Early Signing Day in December and then headed to campus in the fall of 2019.

Last season as a true freshman, Abdur-Rahman did not see any action, meaning he has 4 years of eligibility remaining starting with the upcoming 2020 season.

Spirit Animal

Matt Saracen in Season 3 of Friday Night Lights

Abdur-Rahman appeared to have been a similar (albeit more athletically-gifted) QB talent to my beloved Matty Saracen — versatile, tough, got it done both on the ground and through the air, and probably developed into a damn good leader.

However, when the competition got amped up in Season 3 of FNL, Saracen was moved to wide receiver to keep his athleticism and leadership on the field while more classically-talented QB J.D. McCoy was made the starter. Similarly, Abdur-Rahman was an unquestionably-good QB in high school, but coming to ND with some better QB options, he’s now doing his thing at wide receiver.

And who knows, maybe in the CFP championship game, BK will have to turn to Abdur-Rahman at halftime to quarterback the offense in the second half, and he leads the squad on a fantastic comeback that *spoiler alert for a show from 12 years ago* ultimately falls short.

2020 Outlook

Kendall Abdur-Rahman has plenty of upside thanks to his athleticism and speed. Of those 19 rushing touchdowns he had his senior year of high school, 10 were 40-plus yards, and 5 of them were 80-plus. The kid can run a little bit, and he also doesn’t appear to lack the hands needed to play the position.

However, he’ll still likely be third on the depth chart at the slot receiver position in 2020, with Lawrence Keys III the assumed starter and ever-scrappy and resilient Avery Davis probably slotted to back Keys up there.

However, Abdur-Rahman is a versatile and athletic enough player to still likely see the field in some capacity, so look out for him on special teams and in offensive garbage time — he will continue to gain experience, develop his body for another year, and hopefully be ready to be a nice piece in the WR rotation in 2021 after a few seniors have moved on.