This Guy Plays Notre Dame Football: #80 Micah Jones, 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.

#80 Micah Jones, Wide Receiver

Jones was a solid, promising prospect in the 2018 Notre Dame recruiting class’s impressive wide receiver haul, serving as a big red zone target to complement Kevin Austin’s go-to receiver skill set and the burner/super-agile talents brought to the table by Braden Lenzy and Lawrence Keys III.

At 6’5” and 206 pounds, Micah Jones was a low 4-star prospect, ranked 376th nationally in the 247sports composite rankings, considered the #63 wide receiver and #5 prospect in Illinois. He caught 53 passes for 824 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior at Warren Township High School in Gurnee, IL, earning himself the honor of 2017 Illinois High School Football Coaches Association First Team 8A All-State.

With that kind of size and production, Jones had plenty of suitors aside from the Fighting Irish, with offers from schools like Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ole Miss, and Syracuse, among others.

He was offered by the Irish in June 2016, and after an unofficial visit that fall, he felt sure enough about ND that he committed in February 2017. After signing in December of that year, the big receiver enrolled early in January along with a number of his classmates.

Now, with a little more muscle on his frame at 6’5” and 219 pounds, Jones has yet to see much playing time, buried behind some very talented big receivers you may have heard of, such as Miles Boykin and Chase Claypool.

Jones didn’t see any action as a true freshman in 2018, spending the year on the offensive scout team. Last season, he played in just 4 games, and has yet to make a reception in game action.

Spirit Animal

Giraffe

Micah Jones is 6’5” and still trying to find his footing in a crowded but largely unproven depth chart. A tall, at times awkward fit there reminds me of my absolute favorite animal, the giraffe. Easy pick.

Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images

2020 Outlook

For whatever reason, Jones hasn’t been able to make much headway on the depth chart at the boundary receiver position. Kevin Austin is considered the likely starter after sitting out 2019, and with 5th-year Javon McKinley and 5-star 2020 frosh Jordan Johnson joining the fold, it will be tough sledding for Jones at the spot.

Still, Jones could maybe see a little situational action thanks to his size, potentially in the red zone. And even if the first team is all set there, I imagine the rising junior will at least get some solid run with the second team offense in blowouts, hopefully giving him the opportunity to flash some skills and some blocking ability that may earn him PT as a senior, following a track similar to Javon McKinley in terms of making a slight leap late in his career.