Most of the roster churn for 2021 took place in January when a slew of now-former Notre Dame players put their names in the transfer portal. Another name got added from Notre Dame on Friday when wide receiver/running back Kendall Abdur Rahman announced he was entering his name with the intention of transferring.
Anytime a player puts their name in the portal, they have the option of returning just like Houston Griffith did, but the depth chart ahead of Abdur Rahman and the wording of his statement make it seem pretty clear that he will be suiting up for someone else in the fall.
Abdur Rahman was part of an unheralded wide receiver class in 2019 that featured just him and current cornerback Cam Hart. Both receivers moved to other positions relatively quickly with Hart moving to corner during the 2019 season and Abdur-Rahman making the move to running back in fall camp.
With a resurgent running backs room and a suddenly deep wide receiver depth chart, albeit with unproven potential, there was not a clear path to playing time at Notre Dame any time soon for Abdur-Rahman. It would have been difficult to imagine him overtaking either Avery Davis or Lawrence Keys in the slot this season. On the outside, Jordan Johnson, Xavier Watts, and Lorenzo Styles stood in his way now with Deion Colzie and Jayden Thomas reporting in the summer.
There will probably be a few more transfers like this between now and Signing Day 2022 which is why it is usually pointless trying to project how many signees the Irish will have in a given year – the number is almost always higher than everyone projects. And then a number of scholarships open up afterward like we’re seeing with Abdur Rahman.
Abdur-Rahman has good athleticism and should be able to establish a much more defined role with a smaller program.
