Notre Dame Receiver Tobias Merriweather Named An Athlon Sports Breakout Player

Notre Dame sophomore wide receiver Tobias Merriweather is expected to make a big jump for the Fighting Irish in 2023, and there are even some national publications starting to take notice.

In its preseason college football preview magazine, Athlon Sports named Merriweather one of its 13 breakout players for the 2023 season.

"With tight end Michael Mayer off to the NFL, the Fighting Irish are desperately looking for fresh faces to emerge in the passing game for new quarterback Sam Hartman. Merriweather caught only one pass last season - a 41-yard touchdown - but the staff is counting on him to emerge as a big-play threat on the outside. The former four-star prospect has the size (6-4) and skill set to be the No. 1 receiver for Hartman." - Athlon

Here is that touchdown pass Athlon is referring to.

Tobias Merriweather’s first career catch is a TOUCHDOWN! #GoIrish

📺: @nbc and @peacock pic.twitter.com/bpXT8sKMo8
— Notre Dame on NBC (@NDonNBC) October 16, 2022

Going from just one catch to being "the guy" in an offense is asking a lot, but Athlon is correct that Merriweather certainly has the talent to do just that. My number one ranked recruit in the 2022 recruiting class, Merriweather will need to turn a breakout spring into a breakout fall. Not only does he have size, but Merriweather is a quality route runner with top-notch ball skills and the ability to stretch the field.

That kind of breakout isn't unprecedented at Notre Dame.

In 2016, then sophomore wideout Equanimeous St. Brown broke out and led the Irish offense with 58 catches, 961 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns. This came after a freshman campaign in which he only hauled in one catch for eight yards.

In 2013, then freshman Will Fuller caught just six passes for 160 yards and a touchdown. As a sophomore, Fuller made a huge jump, catching 76 passes for 1,094 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Former Irish star Golden Tate made a similar jump to Fuller. After hauling in just six passes for 131 yards and a touchdown as true freshman, Tate jumped up to 58 catches for 1,080 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore.

The presence of Hartman should certainly give Merriweather plenty of opportunities to make more plays this season. Merriweather easily beat out Lorenzo Styles for the starting Z position during the spring, and he'll be in position to make a lot of plays. Hartman threw more deep balls than any quarterback in the country the last two seasons, and if that continues at Notre Dame you can expect Merriweather to be one of his frequent vertical targets.

A pair of Notre Dame opponents also made the list of breakouts. Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord and Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik were two of four quarterbacks named to the breakout list.

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