Notre Dame Must Get Tobias Merriweather On The Field .... Now

One immediate change that Notre Dame must make is getting freshman wideout Tobias Merriweather on the field

Notre Dame has been brutally bad on offense through the first two games of the season, but there are things the staff can and must do to get things back on track.

All week Irish Breakdown is going to look at things that can be done to get things going on offense, like playing Chris Tyree more. Another change that must be made - and made immediately - is getting freshman wide receiver Tobias Merriweather into the rotation.

In fact, if it were up to me, I'd put Merriweather into the starting lineup, but that's a different discussion. One thing is for certain, Merriweather absolutely needs to become a regular part of the rotation ... immediately.

There will always be talk about him being a freshman, not knowing the entire offense, needing to earn trust, etc, etc, etc. We've heard this story before, and it's why we constantly hear about Notre Dame's sophomores and sometimes juniors being inexperienced. Notre Dame's unwillingness to get freshmen receivers involved has been a problem for years, and it's time to end that.

Notre Dame is one of the few big time program that struggles to get freshman receivers onto the field without them being blocked by current stars. Getting Merriweather onto the field and into playmaking situations is vitally important, and has to happen. It's imperative that offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey force the issue with Merriweather and to get him ready to go.

There are a number of reasons Merriweather needs to become a rotation regular, and why the California game is the perfect time for him.

At the top of the list is size.

Merriweather has excellent height at just over 6-4, and his length is even better. Putting a player with his catch radius and ball skills is something that first-time starter Drew Pyne could really, really use at quarterback. Right now Jayden Thomas, who stands just 6-1 1/2, is the tallest receiver in the rotation. Adding Merriweather to the rotation would give Pyne another big weapon outside of the tight ends.

There's another reason Merriweather's size is ideal, especially for the California game, and that is the Golden Bear corners are small. Starting corners Isaiah Young and Lu-Magia Hearns III stand just 5-10, as does nickel back Collin Gamble. True freshman Jeremiah Earby - the No. 1288 player in the 2022 recruiting class according to 247 Sports - is ironically the only corner on the two-deep that stands taller than 5-10.

Merriweather gives Notre Dame the kind of weapon that can use his size to out-play the small Cal cornerbacks, which puts the defense in a bind (which could help take the pressure off Michael Mayer and the run game) and as I mentioned already, gives Pyne an outside safety valve that he can simply throw the ball up to in tight spaces.

Another reason to play Merriweather is his playmaking ability.

I'm of the belief that Merriweather is the team's most talented wide receiver, at least from an athleticism standpoint. I realize that he doesn't have the experience of other players on the roster, but he's simply too talented not to play.

Merriweather has the size and speed to stretch the field, something the offense needs even more of. Putting him on the field with Braden Lenzy and Lorenzo Styles would give the Irish three legitimate playmakers at wide receiver, and three players that can stretch the defense.

The freshman also has some after-the-catch skills, something that could be effective in the RPO concepts and when working across the field on crossers and levels concepts.

Playing Merriweather also helps alleviate the high volume of snaps we are seeing from the wideouts.

Lenzy and Styles are both averaging over 50 snaps a game, which for Lenzy especially could be problematic the deeper we get into the season. Up next is Jayden Thomas, who is averaging 45 snaps a game. The next highest snap count at wide receiver is Matt Salerno, who has played just 18 snaps.

That's a large disparity of reps. Notre Dame's second team receivers have combined for just 25 snaps.

Getting Merriweather involved helps alleviate that a bit, on top of getting an extremely talented football player on the field.

Playing Merriweather isn't an end-all-be-all for the offense. Putting him in the game doesn't mean the Irish are going to go out and start scoring 50 points a game. It is, however, a very important first step to getting the talent on the field that is needed for the offense to make the leaps it needs to make for the offense to get better in a hurry.

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