How Will Fuller, C.J. Prosise Declaring for NFL Impacts Notre Dame for 2016

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — With the desert dust hardly settled from Notre Dame football's loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl on Friday, the Irish already have a clearer sense of their 2016 outlook.

All-American junior wide receiver Will Fuller and redshirt junior running back C.J. Prosise, the team’s leading rusher in 2015, both announced their intentions to forego their final seasons of college eligibility and declare for the 2016 NFL draft. In less than 24 hours, Notre Dame’s 2016 offense officially—and dramatically—changed shape.

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"What do you want to be when you grow up?" pic.twitter.com/9jLfnDTNuP

— Will Fuller V (@Will_Fuller7) January 3, 2016"

More notably, Fuller’s absence will be predictably momentous. The junior speedster tallied 62 catches for 1,258 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2015, following up a 15-touchdown breakout sophomore season. Fuller’s teammates voted him Notre Dame’s 2015 MVP, and the wideout presented obvious matchup problems for opposing defensive coordinators.

Between Fuller and graduating seniors Chris Brown and Amir Carlisle (who just finished his fifth year), Notre Dame’s receiving corps will have a much different look in 2016. Fuller, Brown and Carlisle were the team’s top three pass-catchers and accounted for 59 percent of Notre Dame’s receptions, 66 percent of the receiving yards and 76 percent of the receiving scores.

Prosise, a converted slot receiver, contributed 26 receptions for 308 yards and a touchdown in his own right.

That leaves Notre Dame with the versatile Torii Hunter Jr. (28 grabs for 363 yards and two scores) and lengthy Corey Robinson (16-200-1) as the top returners. Sophomore-to-be Equanimeous St. Brown suffered a shoulder injury down the stretch but drew praise from head coach Brian Kelly earlier in the season as the true freshman stood idle behind Fuller.

“I think he would start for a number of Power Five teams,” Kelly said in mid-October. “He’s ready to play right now. I’m just not taking Will off the field unless I have to. He does it in practice. He’s a really good football player and capable of playing right now. Again, I’m going to get everything I can out of Will Fuller.”

Earlier this season, Fuller said he took St. Brown “under his wing.” The 6’4”, 205-pound St. Brown was a 4-star prospect and the No. 19 wideout in the nation coming out of Anaheim, California.

“He’s gonna be great for us,” Fuller said of St. Brown in October. “He’s real explosive. He has everything to be a good receiver.”

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Between St. Brown, Hunter and Robinson, Notre Dame boasts a capable front line of receivers. Finally fully healthy, Hunter turned in his best season, and Kelly has noted Hunter can play at each of Notre Dame’s three receiver spots. Robinson fought through some bumps and bruises, but his junior year was still a far cry from his 40-catch, five-touchdown 2014 season.

Second-year players C.J. Sanders and Miles Boykin and junior-to-be Corey Holmes could round out the upper tiers of the unit.

While the Irish simply don’t have another Will Fuller on the roster, they should feel less of a blow at running back.

At a position that seemed so thin on depth even before Tarean Folston’s season-ending knee injury in the opener against Texas, Prosise amassed 1,032 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in his first months as a running back. But when a concussion and high-ankle sprain slowed the 220-pounder in the final weeks, true freshman Josh Adams stepped in and delivered a standout performance against Stanford, in particular.

In total, Adams provided 835 rushing yards and six scores.

Norm Hall/Getty Images

Adams and classmate Dexter Williams (21 carries for 81 yards and one touchdown in 2015) are set to return, and a healthy Folston (a team-high 889 rushing yards in 2014 as a sophomore) helps solidify the backfield.

Prosise and Adams sure made it seem like Notre Dame could trot out converted receivers and underclassmen and still move the ball on the ground. The Irish, though, won’t have left tackle Ronnie Stanley and center Nick Martin anchoring the offensive line in 2016.

Behind two new starters and, potentially, three players in new spots along the line, Folston and Adams, in particular, will be tasked with keeping the ground attack—which averaged 5.63 yards per carry in 2015, the eighth-best mark in the nation—humming.

All quotes were obtained firsthand and all stats courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted. All recruiting stats and information are courtesy of 247Sports.com. Star ratings reflect 247Sports composite rankings.

Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco on Twitter.