Notre Dame Football’s Class of ’22 Could See Huge Boost This Week

Notre Dame’s class of 2022 could be in for a monster week on the recruiting trail with two of its top targets set to announce their commitments. The Fighting Irish are considered the odds on favorites for both of the pivotal targets who both happen to be wide receivers – Tobias Merriweather and CJ Williams.

First up this week is Tobias Merriweather. The 4-star, top-150 overall prospect is set to announce his college decision on Wednesday with Notre Dame, Oregon, and Stanford among his finalists. All recent Crystal Ball predictions point to Notre Dame including a recent prediction from well-known West Coast recruiting expert Greg Biggins. He will announce his decision at 5:00 PM ET live on CBS Sports HQ.

Merriweather visited Notre Dame on June 11 and the Irish have been considered the favorite ever since. Some felt that he would be in Notre Dame’s class by the end of June following the flurry of official visits, but his recruitment has stretched into August.

On Sunday, another top wide receiver, CJ Williams, is set to make his announcement as well. Williams, a top-100 overall prospect, is announcing Sunday at 4:30 PM ET. Like Merriweather, Williams is announcing on CBS Sports HQ and all of the Crystal Ball predictions point to Notre Dame at the moment. Stanford, Alabama, USC, and Texas are among his five finalists along with Notre Dame.

Crystal Ball predictions are ultimately meaningless, but having all recent predictions for both Merriweather and Williams pointing to Notre Dame is obviously a great sign for the Irish. And Notre Dame needs commitments from both the way their wide receiver board has fallen.

Notre Dame needs to hit on both Merriweather and Williams this week. The Irish have a commitment from fast-rising receiver Amorion Walker, but other top targets have either committed elsewhere such as Nicholas Anderson, or are not trending in Notre Dame’s direction. Both have been linked to Notre Dame and considered Irish leans for some time, but I’m sure Del Vaughn Alexander and the Notre Dame offensive coaching staff would feel much, much better if both make it official this week.

Should both pick Notre Dame this week, their main focus on offense will turn to the offensive line where the Irish have three commitments but have their eyes set on adding another two. There will also be some speculation about whether or not the Irish pursue a fourth wide receiver – again assuming Merriweather and Willimas fall the way most expect them at this point.

Notre Dame has fallen to fourth in the 247Sports team rankings behind Ohio State, Penn State, and Alabama; but would move back into 3rd with commitments from both Merriweather and Williams (assuming no commitments from Alabama between now and then). Only Alabama has a chance to catch Ohio State for the top spot, but Penn State is within reach for Notre Dame. How long they can stay in the top-5 will depend on the Irish securing a few more elite prospects over the next few months.