Notre Dame Football: One captain is returning, another is finalizing draft plans

One Notre Dame captain officially announced he is staying for the 2022 season, while another confirmed his departure. 

Avery Davis, a sixth-year wide receiver announced his intentions to return to Notre Dame following this year's season-ending knee injury, while star defensive lineman Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa confirmed his plans of moving on from his college career, by officially putting his name in the 2022 NFL Draft. 

Tagovailoa-Amosa previously announced that Notre Dame's 37-35 loss to No. 9 Oklahoma State in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl would be his last game wearing an Irish uniform. In 2021 he tallied 25 tackles (six for loss) and two sacks over 12 starts. 

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A Hawaii native, Tagovailoa-Amosa finished his Notre Dame career with 70 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss, five sacks and two forced fumbles. 

His departure, along with nose tackle Kurt Hinish will be big losses to Notre Dame's defensive line coach Mike Elston's defensive line group. However, Justin Ademilola, Jayson Ademilola and Isaiah Foskey each announced their decisions to come back next season, forming what should be a stout pass-rushing corps. 

Davis' road through his Notre Dame career has been anything but smooth. A four-star recruit out of Texas in the Irish's 2017 Class as a duel-threat quarterback, but redshirted in his first season.

As a sophomore, Davis switched to running back, where he ran for 70 yards over nine games. Before the 2019 season, Davis transitioned to the secondary as a cornerback, before moving back to offense as a receiver, scoring two touchdowns during the year. He matched that total again in 2020, setting up a potential breakout season in 2021. However, Davis was limited to only nine games due to a torn ACL suffered in the Irish's win against Navy on Nov. 6. 

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"Fall down five times, get up six. One last year at ND," Davis wrote on his Instagram page. 

In total, Davis recorded 27 catches for 386 yards and four scores before his season-ending injury.

His return to the field at some point this fall will be crucial to a Notre Dame team that will be thin at wide receiver. 

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Kevin Austin Jr. has already announced his intentions to put his name in the 2022 NFL Draft, while senior Braden Lenzy will return for his fifth season, and — now sophomore — Lorenzo Styles Jr., will be back for Tommy Rees' offense, too. 

Notre Dame also only signed one wide receiver, four-star Tobias Merriweather, to its 2022 recruiting class. This prompted the departure of wide receivers coach Del Alexander, still unconfirmed by Notre Dame, following the Fiesta Bowl. 

Notre Dame will begin its first full season of the Marcus Freeman era on Sept. 3 at Ohio State.