Notre Dames Future At Wide Receiver Is V

If you're focus is on the right now, on numbers and on proven production you might find what I'm about to say a bit nutty .... but there is no doubt in my mind that the future of the Notre Dame wide receiver room is incredibly bright. In fact, don't be surprised if in the very, very near future we are talking about that group being one of the best in the nation.Yeah, I said it, and I believe it.Notre Dame's wide receiver production in 2022 leaves much to be desired, as the unit combined for just 85 catches, 1,150 yards and nine touchdowns. We've seen players like Michael Floyd, Golden Tate, Will Fuller and Chase Claypool surpa s those numbers by themselves. We can talk about the context of why the production was down, including the presence of the best tight end in college football, the fact the team spent most of the year playing with its backup quarterback, and a ground attack that fueled the offense for most of the season, but there's no spin for that lack of production.Production matters, obviously, but the lack of production masks a group that has some talented young players, and a room that is about to receive a huge, huge boost in depth and talent. It's about projection at this point and not about production, but that projection is Atlanta Hawks Hoodie what has me believing this unit is about to explode.I was also pleased with the technical growth that I saw from the unit during the season. A good evaluator can watch how receivers go about their busine s and evaluate their ability to get open independent of whether or not the quarterback throws them the football. We saw this unit grow and improve throughout the season, and position coach Chansi Stuckey deserves a lot of credit for that. It was also a unit that took pride in their blocking, which fit the run-first mentality of the 2022 offense.Stuckey is only going to improve as a coach, and the players are going to get better and better as they learn more about him and vice versa.It all plays into why I'm so fired up about this unit moving forward.We didn't see much of freshman Tobias Merriweather, but the little time he did spend on the field he showed of the talent that had me grade him as the best wide receiver to sign with Notre Dame since Floyd back in 2008. Merriweather has all the tools to be a big Onyeka Okongwu Jersey time receiver.I contend that if the quarterback play improves and as Merriweather continues to develop physically he could not only become the team's top target, but a true star at the collegiate level. His combination of size, speed and ball skills is outstanding, and if he can stay healthy there's no doubt that Merriweather can quickly emerge as an impact player.We've seen this movie before at Notre Dame.Equanimeous St. Brown caught just one pa s for eight yards in his first season at Notre Dame, but as a sophomore the California native broke out with 58 catches for 961 yards and nine touchdowns. Of all the Notre Dame receivers over the last decade, St. Brown has a skillset that most closely resembles the one Merriweather po se ses.Tate only caught six pa ses for 131 yards as a true freshman in 2007 and Fuller caught just six pa ses for 160 yards as a true freshman in 2013. Both had monster sophomore seasons despite the first year experience, with Tate exploding for 58 catches, 1,080 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2008 and Fuller racking up 76 catches for 1,094 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2014.Can Merriweather make a similar jump? I won't be at all surprised if that happens.We have already started to see what sophomore Deion Colzie can do when he's healthy and given the opportunity to play. He didn't make his first catch until Notre Dame's 41-24 win over Syracuse in late October, but Colzie quickly inserted himself as arguably the top playmaker at the position.He caught two pa ses for 50 yards against Navy, and both converted 3rd-and Dikembe Mutombo Jersey -long situations. He did the same with his only catch (for 23 yards) against Boston College and he made huge plays against USC. Colzie caught three pa ses for 75 yards, and his combination of vertical speed, exceptional catch radius and hands were on full display.Colzie oozes potential, and that potential started to turn into production in his second season. That experience should also send him into a whole different level as he heads into his junior campaign.If I'm wrong about Merriweather being "the guy" next season it will be due to two reasons, in my view. One is he and Colzie serve as sort of "co stars" like we saw with Miles Boykin and Claypool in 2018, or Floyd and Tate in 2009. The other is that Colzie turns into that player. He has that kind of potential. Of course there's a third option, which I'll discu s below.The best part is that Colzie and Merriweather don't project to the same position, with Merriweather projecting best as an X (field) receiver and Colzie projecting best as a W (boundary) player. With Notre Dame wanting to be more of a power team, having two long, vertical oriented players that can take the top off the defense and win contested throws is a great fit, and gives the offense a huge boost.I don't think Thomas will ever be the go-to impact player that Merriweather and Colzie can be, but over the next couple of seasons don't be surprised if he's DeAndre' Bembry Jersey the glue player. That means I don't see him putting up the raw production that his cla smate (Colzie) and the younger Merriweather produce, but it means that when the game is on the line he'll be every bit the target they will.It also means that Thomas will do the dirty work at a high level, which we saw from him this season. I hammered Thomas for his blocking in early games, but by the middle of the season he became a force on the perimeter in the run game. Thomas also began to play with more confidence and an edge as a player. He is a thick athlete with strong hands, which should allow him to develop into a strong route runner and chain mover.If Merriweather and Colzie both force their way into the lineup I don't think that hurts Thomas, and I'd argue it helps him. If those two players and the very, very talented freshman cla s can lock down the outside rotation it would allow Thomas to play a lot more in the slot, which is where I think his game is best suited.Look back at his best plays from 2022, they were almost exclusively with him lined up in the slot.Thomas could be a challenge over the middle for nickels, linebackers and safeties, and it allows him to be a consistently effective edge blocker while allowing Notre Dame to maintain using him as a run game weapon out of 11 personnel instead of being in 12 or 13 personnel.Scroll to ContinueThe wild card is sophomore Lorenzo Styles. He was expected to be the team's top Evan Turner Jersey wideout in 2022 once Avery Davis went down with an injury, but Styles never really took that next step. In some ways he regre sed, and his body