What's Next: Notre Dame Looks To Finish 2022 WR Class Off With A Bang
The Notre Dame defensive staff dominated summer recruiting but the Irish offensive staff got on the board in a big, big way yesterday when it landed Vancouver (Wash.) Union wide receiver Tobias Merriweather.
Merriweather joins a Notre Dame class that also has Ponchatoula (La.) High School wideout Amorion Walker. Wide receiver was a major need for Notre Dame in the 2022 class, and that need grew even greater when the Irish lost four players to transfer during the offseason.
Landing Merriweather is a huge first step to the kind of dominant wide receiver class the Irish need in 2022, and now it's about the finish.
CJ WILLIAMS IS NEXT UP
There were two wide receiver targets at the top of the Notre Dame board that were must gets; Merriweather is one and CJ Williams is the other. The Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei pass catcher is one of the nation's top pass catchers from one of the nation's premier programs.
Williams is planning to announce his college decision on Sunday, when he'll choose between Notre Dame, Alabama, USC, Texas and Stanford. Notre Dame is in great shape in this recruitment but closing will be the key.
The 6-2, 195-pound receiver can play all over the field thanks to his ability to play physical football on the outside, his route running potential inside and outside and his ability to find soft spots in the zone, which can be used outside and inside.
Should Notre Dame land Williams to go with Merriweather it would give the offense a pair of Top 100 wide receiver recruits. This would be true on the Irish Breakdown rankings, the SI99 rankings and the 247Sports rankings. Notre Dame has never signed a pair of Top 100 receivers in the same class during the Brian Kelly era.
MORE SPEED IS NEEDED
Williams is very important to Notre Dame's class, but even if the Irish land him there's a strong case to make that the staff should push for one more receiver. That receiver needs to bring a different skillset to the offense, and there are two players in mind: Xayvion Bradshaw and Major Everhart.
Bradshaw and Everhart are on the smaller side but the reason they are must-gets for Notre Dame is their speed. Both can absolutely fly, with Bradshaw showing home run speed on film and Everhart also posting truly elite track times. Everhart has run a 10.34 in the 100-meter dash in high school, which is absolutely elite speed.
Bradshaw is slated to visit Notre Dame in September and they are pushing to get Everhart on campus in the fall as well.
Land Williams and one of these two speedsters and this would not only go down as the hands down best wide receiver class of the Kelly era it would also give the Irish the kind of class that absolutely closes the gap on the elite offenses in college football.
Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge
Irish Breakdown Content
Notre Dame 2021 Roster
Notre Dame 2021 Schedule
Notre Dame 2022 Commits Big Board: Offense
Notre Dame 2022 Commits Big Board: Defense
2022 Big Board: Running Back
2022 Big Board: Slot Receivers
Notre Dame 2022 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2022 Class Big Board
Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board
———————
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content, our premium message board and gets you a FREE subscription to Sports Illustrated! Click on the link below for more
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!
Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Subscribe to our Irish Breakdown Rumble channel
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Follow me on Parler: @BryanDriskell
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook