During Notre Dame’s 4-8 season in 2016, the Fighting Irish receiving corps featured at least two diamonds in the rough.

Overshadowed by top target Equanimeous St. Brown were sophomore Miles Boykin and freshman Chase Claypool.

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Boykin was redshirted as a freshman the year prior, and then as a 2016 sophomore caught only six passes for 81 yards and a score. The freshman Claypool had similar numbers that year with five grabs for 81 yards and no touchdowns.

By his junior year in 2017, Boykin was up to 12 catches for 253 yards and two scores — earning MVP honors in the 21-17 Citrus Bowl win versus LSU. Then as a senior for the 2018 College Football Playoff-bound Fighting Irish he busted out with 59 catches for 872 yards and eight scores.

Boykin’s stock soared at the NFL Combine when at 6-4, 220 he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.42 seconds, which resulted in a third-round selection with the Baltimore Ravens, where he caught 13 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns last season as a rookie.

Claypool’s progress also became incrementally better but also ahead of Boykin’s pace. He snared 29 passes as a sophomore, 50 as a junior and finished this past season with 66 catches for 1,037 yards and 13 touchdowns to earn Team MVP honors.

Then at the NFL Combine he put up historically good numbers for his 6-4, 238-pound size, matching Boykin’s 4.42 40-yard dash time while also adding a 40.5-inch vertical jump and 19 bench presses of 225 pounds.

In the 50 years since 1970, only three other wide receivers from Notre Dame were selected higher than Claypool’s second-round, No. 49 overall placement by the Pittsburgh Steelers: first-rounders Tim Brown (1988), Michael Floyd (2012) and Will Fuller (2016).

Raghib “Rocket” Ismail would have been in 1991 had he not signed first with the CFL.

Also selected in the second round among Irish wideouts in that span were Derrick Mayes in 1996 (No. 56 overall) and Golden Tate in 2010 as a junior (No. 60).

Claypool lined up mainly on the short side of the field in college because of the alignment of the hash marks that allowed him to use his frame to win one-on-one matchups. The NFL does not have the same markings, but head coach Brian Kelly said Claypool’s versatility (including lining up at slot in the past), blocking, durability and work ethic should enable him to thrive in the league for a long time.

“He can block down and block anybody — safeties, rovers, corners … he can mismatch on them. He has great versatility,” Kelly said. “Physically fit, answers the bell every week, very durable play after play, snap after snap. He’s not a guy that is prone to injury.

“Everybody’s looking for traits, and the physical traits for him are his size and length and catching radius … he has an incredible drive and competitiveness in him that separates him amongst many.”

By his junior year, Claypool’s practice habits became far more conspicuous.

Not surprisingly, the top draft picks at receiver from Notre Dame had the best NFL rookie seasons. Here is our top five that Claypool will attempt to match.

The Heisman winner who would be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015 returned a kickoff for a touchdown in his NFL debut and finished with 43 catches for 725 yards (16.9 yards per catch) and three scores. Extra credit for his special teams work.

Lost is the fact that he had a season-ending injury in the opener of his second year and after his first four seasons he had less than 100 career catches.

A first-round selection following his junior year, he had the most starts (13) by an Irish rookie receiver in the NFL, finishing with 47 catches for 632 yards (13.4 yards per catch) and two scores. Injuries have plagued him since, but he remains productive when healthy.

Although he started only three times his rookie season, the all-time receiving king at Notre Dame still grabbed 45 passes for 562 yards and two scores at Arizona.

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Fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting as a Notre Dame senior, Snow enjoyed an outstanding pro career with the Los Angeles Rams, including a Pro Bowl. As a rookie he grabbed 38 passes for 559 yards (14.7 yards per catch) and three scores — which in those days could be argued as even more impressive than the top three listed.

The sixth-round pick as a junior caught 21 passes for 328 yards and no scores as a Green Bay rookie, but was sidelined last season due to an injury.

We gave him the slight nod over Tate, who also turned pro following his junior campaign and likewise caught 21 passes, although for only 222 yards and no touchdowns.

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