Notre Dame’s 2022 wide receiver class suffered some 11th-hour attrition.
Tobias Merriweather, though, kept his feet planted firmly in it.
The four-star receiver from Vancouver (Wash.) Union signed with the Irish Wednesday morning. He’s the only receiver in the program’s 2022 haul thus far, but a highly regarded one. Rivals ranks him as the No. 25 wide receiver and No. 167 overall recruit in the nation.
Merriweather (6-4, 180 pounds) caught 30 passes for 502 yards and three touchdowns as a senior this season, while adding 23 rushing yards and a score. A starter in the secondary as well, he intercepted three passes and returned two of them for touchdowns. He totaled 415 yards on 28 catches in a six-game junior season.
Merriweather committed to Notre Dame Aug. 5, choosing the Irish over Stanford. He took official visits to both schools in June. Oregon and Michigan were also heavily involved, but Merriweather chose to wrap up his recruitment in the summer instead of stretching it to fall and taking a couple more visits.
Nearly four months later, a trip to see Merriweather was Brian Kelly’s last in-home visit as Notre Dame’s head coach — unbeknownst to Merriweather and his family during it.
Kelly and three Irish assistants visited Merriweather in Washington Nov. 29, and news of Kelly’s impending departure for LSU broke minutes after they left.
Some of the nearly 20 schools that offered Merriweather re-engaged with him after Kelly left. Merriweather considered taking an official visit elsewhere on the first weekend of December but never did. Irish head coach Marcus Freeman, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and receivers coach Del Alexander visited him Dec. 6 — the same day Freeman was introduced as the program’s new leader.
As it stands, Merriweather is the only receiver in Notre Dame’s class. Four-star Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei wideout CJ Williams decommitted from the Irish Monday. Three-star Ponchatoula (La.) High’s Amorion Walker flipped to Michigan on Wednesday. It’s a small input at a position low on numbers.
Merriweather will join a Notre Dame wide receiver unit that ended this season with seven scholarship players. He would make eight next year if all others return. That number could shrink, though, depending on seniors’ Kevin Austin Jr., Braden Lenzy, Joe Wilkins and Avery Davis decisions on whether to use their fifth-year option (or sixth, in Davis’ case). It’s also likely Notre Dame grabs another receiver by the February signing period or pulls one out of the transfer portal.
Notre Dame sees Merriweather playing the “W” boundary receiver position, which Austin currently mans. Recent Day 2 draft picks Chase Claypool (second round, 2020) and Miles Boykin (third round, 2019) also played on the boundary.
Merriweather will enroll at Notre Dame in June.
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