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Report: Notre Dame WR Beaux Collins signs with New York Giants as undrafted free agent

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•04/26/25•

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beaux collins-2
Notre Dame wide receiver Beaux Collins. (Bill Streicher, special to Blue & Gold)

If the question is which Notre Dame wide receiver caught more passes than any other during the 2024 season, the answer would almost be Beaux Collins. If the question is which Notre Dame wide receiver had the most receiving yards during the 2024 season, the answer would almost be Beaux Collins.

Almost. Almost.

Saturday was another almost for Collins. There was a chance he’d hear his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft, but he ultimately did not. He went undrafted. Quite quickly, though, he was signed as a priority free agent. Collins is going to get a shot to further his football career with the New York Giants, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Collins had 41 catches for the Irish last season. Among Notre Dame wide receivers, only rising junior Jaden Greathouse had more with 42. Collins accumulated 490 receiving yards, which ranked second again amongst Irish wide receivers. Greathouse led the way with 592. Collins was one of three Irish players to reel in 3 touchdowns; Greathouse had 4, and tight end Mitchell Evans had 3.

Always interested in Notre Dame as evidenced by his recruiting visit to South Bend as a high schooler from California, Collins spent three seasons at Clemson before spending his final year of eligibility with the Irish. At the end of it all, he posted 132 receptions for 1,780 receiving yards (13.5 yards per catch) with 14 touchdowns. He never had more than 5 touchdowns in any season, but he never had fewer than 3. He consistently offered up what he could.

This might not be what most Irish fans remember him for but it can forever be a claim to fame for Collins — catching the touchdown that got the monkey off quarterback Riley Leonard‘s back.

Leonard had not thrown a touchdown pass through nearly an entire month of Notre Dame’s season last September until he lobbed up a fade down the right sideline into the arms of Collins, who came away with a 38-yard score that put the Irish up 14-3 just before halftime and gave the home crowd a reason to breathe a little easier at the break. It was a seminal moment in a season that, again, nearly ended with the Irish as the last ones standing in college football.

Aside from that score, Collins was quiet for long stretches of his senior season. That included the College Football Playoff when he was hampered by a hamstring injury. In those four games, Collins caught 6 passes for 63 yards. His one catch against Georgia, though, was a 13-yard score that gave the Irish a 10-point cushion at halftime. Another mighty big TD stored away in his Notre Dame file.

There was a three-game stretch coming out of Notre Dame’s first bye week when Collins asserted himself as Leonard’s temporary go-to guy as well. In blowout victories against Stanford, Georgia Tech and Navy, Collins amassed 8 catches for 178 yards and a touchdown. Notre Dame needed to show in any way it could that it was worthy of rising up the rankings at that time, and Collins aided in that effort.

He might not have ever fully lived up to his recruiting class of 2021 ranking of No. 97 nationally and the No. 16 wide receiver in the nation, per the On3 Industry Ranking, but the Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco product still did enough to give himself the opportunity to earn his keep in the league. That’s all anyone with professional football aspirations can hope for when it comes time to transition from college ball to the NFL.

Collins has a 6-3, 206-pound athletic frame to couple with the confidence he can take from being given this chance, too. At Notre Dame’s Pro Day, he recorded a 10’10” broad jump, 38″ vertical and 5.52 40-yard dash. Those are metics NFL coaches can work with.

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