Quincy Porter’s Notre Dame debut may finally be getting close, and the timing could work out just about perfectly for the Fighting Irish.
Head coach Marcus Freeman said Thursday during his weekly Zoom meeting with local media that Porter is "doing more than he's ever done since he's got here." That doesn’t mean the former Ohio State receiver is ready to jump into a game just yet, but it does signal real progress after a frustrating stretch that has kept him off the field since before he signed with Notre Dame.
Porter is still not taking part in full-team drills, Freeman said, though he is working through individual drills. The coach added that Porter is still "a couple of weeks" away, but the door is clearly opening.
The receiver’s road back has been a long one. Porter had offseason surgery on his left knee, then underwent another procedure in August. Notre Dame’s training staff had said over the summer that he was expected to be back to “full go” by the start of fall camp, but that didn’t happen, and the second surgery pushed his return back even further.
If Porter does get back in time to help this season, Notre Dame has every reason to be intrigued by what he can add. He was a 5-star wide receiver in the 2025 recruiting class and checked in at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds coming out of Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey. Porter initially signed with Ohio State before transferring to Notre Dame in January of 2026.
His high school résumé was loaded. As a senior in 2024, Porter caught 57 passes for 969 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 17.0 yards per catch while helping Bergen Catholic finish 11-1 and win the New Jersey Non-Public A state championship. Over three prep seasons, he totaled 133 receptions, 2,624 yards and 38 touchdowns.
Porter’s first college stop offered a small sample of what he can do. As a freshman at Ohio State in 2025, he played in five games and caught four passes for 59 yards.
He arrived at Notre Dame with Mylan Graham, another former Buckeye. Graham has stayed healthy this season, but his role has been limited in a wide receiver group that still hasn’t fully found its footing.
Last year at Ohio State, Graham had 6 catches for 93 yards. This season, he has 3 receptions for 32 yards and has yet to score his first career touchdown.
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