Beaux Collins didn’t come to Notre Dame with an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine on his mind.

The wide receiver made the decision to leave Clemson and complete a graduate transfer to Notre Dame last offseason for a couple of reasons.

“I just wanted to win,” Collins said Friday in Indianapolis about choosing Notre Dame over Clemson. “That was the biggest thing. I’m a team-first guy. I could have gone anywhere to get the stats and all that, but I wanted to win a national championship.”

Notre Dame felt like the right place for Collins, who caught 91 passes in three seasons at Clemson, to end his college career.

“I chose Notre Dame just for the people mainly,” Collins said. “Coach [Marcus] Freeman, he’s hard to pass up. The smile, the genuine kind-heartedness that he has, it’s amazing. Especially guys like [quarterback] Riley Leonard choosing to go there as well, it was kind of a no-brainer to go there and compete with guys that love football just as much as I do.”

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Notre Dame fulfilled Collins’ desire to win despite falling short in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game to Ohio State. Because the Irish season lasted until Jan. 20, it limited Collins’ ability to prepare for last week’s NFL Combine testing and workouts. He opted to skip that portion of the event and focused on his interviews with NFL teams.

“I just look at it as a positive,” Collins said. “Just being able to play a season that was that long, being able to make it to the national championship. Not a lot of guys got to be able to experience that. I’m just appreciative of the opportunity.”

A left calf strain prevented Collins from finishing Notre Dame’s 27-24 victory over Penn State in the CFP semifinal at the Orange Bowl. He was surprised that he was able to recover in time to play 11 days later in the title game, in which he caught four passes for 32 yards.

Collins described himself as being back to 100% last week as he continues to prepare for Notre Dame’s Pro Day, which is expected to be in late March. But an inability to physically compete at the NFL Combine didn’t take away from his ability to embrace it.

“It means everything for me to be here,” Collins said. “It’s been a dream ever since I was at the age of six. Being on the podium like this, it’s just amazing to be here. The experience has been second-to-none. I’ve learned a lot from these guys that I’m around in my group, learned a lot from scouts, coaches and everything.”

The 6-foot-3, 201-pound Collins has been training with Ryan Capretta of Proactive Sports Performance in Thousand Oaks, Calif., to prepare for Notre Dame’s Pro Day. It’s a bit different than what he was doing to prepare throughout ND’s season.

“The combine and pro day gets you really great at working out,” Collins said. “Preparing for football’s a whole different beast. You have to get in football shape, running repetitive routes, series, drives, things like that.”

The testing standards for wide receivers in the 2025 NFL Draft, which will be held April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisc., were set during Saturday’s workout. Thirty-nine wide receivers ran the 40-yard dash in range between 4.29-4.70 seconds with a median of 4.44. Thirty-six receivers completed the vertical jump with a range of 30-41.5 inches with a median of 46.25. Thirty-three receiver participated in the broad jump in a range of 9 feet, 6 inches and 11 feet, 2 inches with a median of 10-4.

Collins feels confident in his functional speed in allowing him to stretch the field against defensive backs. The biggest questions he’s received from teams to date have been about his ability to finish.

“Finishing catches, finishing with the ball in my hands and things like that,” Collins said. “I feel like I’m a very self-aware guy. It’s just learning what’s best and what I need to work on, which is finishing plays down the field and being more elusive with the ball.”

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Pro Football Focus graded last season as Collins’ worst of his college career in terms of offensive and receiving grades. His 59.8 offensive grade and 58.5 receiving grade were significantly impacted by dropping seven passes, according to the PFF analysts. Only 15 FBS wide receivers, per PFF, dropped more passes than Collins last season.

Collins still finished third on Notre Dame’s roster with 41 receptions last season. He turned those catches into 490 yards and three touchdowns.

Collins attempted to impact Notre Dame’s offense in multiple ways, and he’s selling himself as a “silent assassin” at receiver.

“Like I’m gonna make plays whether it’s passing or in the run game that will benefit my team,” Collins said. “Whether that’s one play within the game that sparks a big run or a catch.”

In just one season with the Irish, Collins embraced a leadership role with new teammates. That Notre Dame’s receivers and coaches empowered him to do so gave him a lot of confidence.

“Just being a leader when it’s not comfortable,” Collins said. “I tried to stay through my first couple years just being quiet, leading with energy and by example and things like that. But there are times when a team needs a vocal leader, especially in the wide receiver group.

“We’re a pretty chill group. But they needed guidance for sure. There were a lot of young guys that I feel like I helped this year.”

Collins, in turn, grew as a player himself. It didn’t hurt that he had 16 games to do so with a national championship contender.

“It’s given me an edge on a lot of guys being able to show that I’m a team player, being able to play that long, the ability to play in high intensity games and come out with the Ws and things like that,” Collins said. “I think it’s benefitted me in the long run.”

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