With Malachi Toney Out, Who Fills The Void?

Trinton Breeze

Today at 10:07 AM 2 min read

We have spent roughly 24 hours mourning the Malachi Toney news, but now it's time to get ready for the game, as the ball will be put on a tee in South Bend Saturday night. Toney plays 60+ snaps a game, so who is going to fill those snaps?

I am excited to see freshmen Vance Spafford and Somourian Wingo if given the opportunity, but I believe the player who needs to step up—and will step up, beginning Saturday night—is Dre Jacobs. He has recorded 9 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown so far this season.

WHY I'M LOOKING AT DRE

Jacobs, a junior transfer from South Carolina, is no stranger to this situation. He's an experienced receiver who has played in the SEC and performed well for the Gamecocks as a sophomore, including in some big road games.

Jacobs recorded 7 catches for 128 yards and a touchdown at Missouri. He also had 4 catches for 64 yards at Texas A&M in November. His biggest game came in the final regular-season game against Clemson, when he hauled in 7 catches for 141 yards and a touchdown.

Jacobs has the track record. Is he going to replace Toney's production with 15 catches and 150 yards in the first half? No. But I can see him recording 4-6 catches and approaching 100 yards.

The most impressive thing about Jacobs, in my opinion, is his home-run ability. Last year at South Carolina, he had 32 catches for 548 yards (17.2 yards per catch), and this season, he is averaging 16.7 yards per catch.

After winning the ACC title at Duke last season, Mensah and Barkate have proven they have the familiarity and ability to win at a high level. I expect Barkate to be Mensah's No. 1 target Saturday night and throughout November, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Jacobs step up and become the second-leading receiver in catches. He could even lead the Canes in receiving yards throughout November, giving Mensah another weapon heading into January when Toney is back in the lineup.

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Comments (29)

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B
bacane

Today at 11:00 AM

Can’t put this on one player. Has to be by committee -WR room, TEs, RBs. Interesting tell will be who lines up in the slot. Again, may not be just one player.

Y
YankeesCane

Today at 11:03 AM

Ispyin

Today at 11:05 AM

Trinton Breeze said:
We have spent roughly 24 hours mourning the Malachi Toney news, but now it's time to get ready for the game, as the ball will be put on a tee in South Bend Saturday night. Toney plays 60+ snaps a game, so who is going to fill those snaps?

I am excited to see freshmen Vance Spafford and Somourian Wingo if given the opportunity, but I believe the player who needs to step up—and will step up, beginning Saturday night—is Dre Jacobs. He has recorded 9 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown so far this season.

WHY I'M LOOKING AT DRE

Jacobs, a junior transfer from South Carolina, is no stranger to this situation. He's an experienced receiver who has played in the SEC and performed well for the Gamecocks as a sophomore, including in some big road games.

Jacobs recorded 7 catches for 128 yards and a touchdown at Missouri. He also had 4 catches for 64 yards at Texas A&M in November. His biggest game came in the final regular-season game against Clemson, when he hauled in 7 catches for 141 yards and a touchdown.

Jacobs has the track record. Is he going to replace Toney's production with 15 catches and 150 yards in the first half? No. But I can see him recording 4-6 catches and approaching 100 yards.

The most impressive thing about Jacobs, in my opinion, is his home-run ability. Last year at South Carolina, he had 32 catches for 548 yards (17.2 yards per catch), and this season, he is averaging 16.7 yards per catch.

After winning the ACC title at Duke last season, Mensah and Barkate have proven they have the familiarity and ability to win at a high level. I expect Barkate to be Mensah's No. 1 target Saturday night and throughout November, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Jacobs step up and become the second-leading receiver in catches. He could even lead the Canes in receiving yards throughout November, giving Mensah another weapon heading into January when Toney is back in the lineup.

BBased off of this website and the people who are ******* crying the void is likely to get filled by tears.

Is there a way to inject testosterone from this website digitally into some people's fingertips as they type

Stingarov

Today at 11:21 AM

Team approach.

But, Briggs, Wingo, & Spafford come to mind as offering very different skillsets w a chance to step up & do the funniest thing out of the blue to ND, kinda like Mali did to them last year.

S
SSCane

Today at 11:33 AM

No single receiver is filling the void of losing someone like Mali. We don’t have another receiver close to his talent on the roster ( no team does ).
Every single receiver in that room is going to need to step up. Upshaw and Barkate have to stop dropping passes. You want to be the guy? Then make the **** catch. It’s big boy football, they should be well past dropping open passes at this point. It’s not HS.
I just don’t see a one receiver on this roster that can CONSISTENTLY make the 3rd down play when needed, like Toney.
Hopefully, we can stay ahead of the chains and our other receivers and TE just do their job.

DamienCane86

29 minutes ago

Barkate
Lofton
Jacobs
Wingo
Upshaw

SSCanes

24 minutes ago

Gotta feeling this is Wingo’s breakout party

Da Jumbo Mutombo

21 minutes ago

Upshaw will go to the slot and replace Mali's role. Being that Dawson's offense is slot wr focused.

He is the obvious answer if you dont overthink it.

I think Wingo is the best fit to replace him outside, but it'll prolly be Dre as he seems to be 4th on the depth chart.

My sneaky pick is Briggs tho. I think we lean on the run with more power sets. The TEs will have a breakout gm if Dawson finally decides to use them as a top option.