For months it has been reported that both Keivarae Russell and Ishaq Williams were at least planning on returning to Notre Dame next season following their season long exile due to the academic investigation that took place over the summer, but the fate of Davaris Daniels was unclear. Â Until now. Â Daniels, considered to be Notre Dame’s top wide receiver coming into the season declared for the NFL Draft on Monday.
Unlike Russell and Williams, Daniels was never considered a lock to return to Notre Dame.  In fact, it was unclear as to whether or not he would be accepted back to the University considering this was Daniels’ second academic issue.  All of this makes Monday’s news all that surprising – especially when you look at the depth chart for next season at wide receiver.
Will Fuller established himself as the #1 wide receiver for the Irish in 2014 while Corey Robinson continued to develop as Notre Dame’s “big” wide receiver and CJ Prosise continued to flash the big play ability that has us thinking he is primed for a huge season in 2015. Â Add in Chris Brown who may not have emerged as we thought he would but did develop into a reliable target and some of the young talent at the position and there would have been a lot of competition for a guy who hasn’t played football in a year.
In short, Notre Dame is going to be just fine at the position even with Daniels not returning – especially with the crop of incoming freshmen of Jalen Guyton, CJ Sanders, MIle Boykin and potentially Equanimeous St. Brown if he signs with the Irish on Signing Day as many are currently predicting.
It’s unclear where Daniels projects in the draft. Â Some draftniks have him pegged as a potential mid-round pick, but after the long layoff it wouldn’t be surprising to see some teams be very cautious and waiting to see if he was available in the late round or as a rookie free agent. Â Given Daniels raw, physical tools though, he has a chance to catch on somewhere even if he has to ride out a season on the practice squad as he gets caught up with other rookies who spent last season playing live downs for their respective colleges.
Daniels will also have to answer questions about his off the field issues after missing the spring semester for academic issues and then missing the entire 2014 season for a different academic issue.
In today’s NFL though, academic issues might not be as much of a concern and all it takes is one team to see something in him during pre-draft workouts for him to secure his draft status. Â Being 6’2″ and 205 lbs with some downfield speed might not make that too difficult.
While Notre Dame will be fine at the position, today’s news certainly ends what turned out to be a disappointing collegiate career that looked to have so much promise. Â Back in the 2012 BCS Championship debacle, Daniels was one of the few players who looked like he belonged on the same field as Alabama that night. Â Daniels, however, was never able to turn in consistent periods of high level play like he displayed that night, however, and his career ended with many wondering what could have been.
So it would appear that ND just may not have been the overall right fit for DD. It’s unfortunate that events did not turn out probably how DD would have liked. He’s moving on and hopefully, maybe he finds something that has better fit for him in his next stage of work and maybe learns from some of the mistakes he made to better his life.
wish him the best. when tx comes to town we’ll still have plenty of talent at wr. Go ND and Republicans!
For what its worth, at ND, you need to get the work done in the classroom as well as on the playing field. You cannot just play football at ND like at many other top notch football factories. I’m sure there are a few top recruits that shy away from ND because of the academic component. Hey just because they can run faster, throw farther, or are bigger than most doesn’t mean that ND is the place for them. I’m sure some manage to slip by at ND, but the graduation rate is much higher and you do need to go to classes, unlike some other schools. Go IRISH!
We’re his problems related to cheating or bad academic performance?
Are YOUR problems related to some type of mental or physical affliction, or are they all self-induced?
I wish Davaris the best. He had passion for Notre Dame, as did his father, as evidenced by their authentic chomping at the bit during the seemingly endless wait for “the verdict.”
Dad Phil has some inside knowledge of the workings of the NFL draft and probably gave good professional and fatherly counsel to his son, Davaris.
Davaris helped us get to the championship game in 2012, and, while all of his teammates were not quite up to the task, Davaris surely was. He had six catches for 115 yards against an elite, outstanding Bama secondary/
God bless you, Davaris and may you find success in the NFL.
That’s too bad. He had a rough time of it at ND, and might have been better off at another school. He is a talented athlete and I hope he lights it up in the NFL.
We have some great wide receivers coming back, so I don’t think his leaving will be a problem for ND.
I think he is making a mistake but he is pissed at how ND handled this.
Bad move. These are the types of players we do not need at ND, those who simply use college football as a stepping stone to the NFL. Sure, we want NFL type players but not ones that dont man up for their wrong doings at school and then just bail out. That’s why you have to respect Everett Golson for what he has done with his situation. Obviously Daniels is not going to go high in the draft at all so why wouldn’t he come back to school for one more year to prove himself. It’s because he does not care about his education or the school and selfishly wants to get to the NFL. That may fly at OSU, Bama, etc. but that is NOT what ND represents. Hope he isn’t dragging down our graduation rate percent which has always been at the top. When we do win it all one day, we will have an argument that nobody could ever beat that Notre Dame does it the right way by being “student-athletes” with top graduation rates of its football players at a prestigious academic school and runs one of the toughest schedules year after year.
Get the f outta here Daniels. Nobody here needs ya.
Boy you really told him CJ. How dare the young man try and earn a living.
In your opinion, Ron, is DD representing himself or the university in the right way?
best of luck, DD. here’s hoping a fresh start allows you to achieve to your potential.