Notre Dame to play four of top six wide receivers in college football in 2022 per Pro Football Focus

Cam Hart, Clarence Lewis: Get Ready. The 2022 Notre Dame football schedule is full of superstar wide receivers. The Fighting Irish’s cornerbacks are going to have their hands full.

Pro Football Focus released a list of the top 25 wide receivers in college football this week. Four of the top six are scheduled to face Notre Dame this season. Here’s a look at those players.

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1. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State

Smith-Njigba might have had the best five-game stretch of any wide receiver in college football to close out the 2021 season. He caught 50 passes for 958 yards and six touchdowns in the Buckeyes’ final five games of the year, including 15 catches for 347 yards and three touchdowns against Utah in the Rose Bowl.

In total, Smith-Njigba went off for 95 receptions, 1,606 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore. His connection with quarterback C.J. Stroud should only get better. Hart and Lewis and the rest of the Notre Dame secondary are going to be seeing a lot of that combination in the season opener.

Per PFF: “The wide receiver factory in Columbus, Ohio, has another elite talent in its hands with Smith-Njigba, who had a record-breaking ending to his 2021 sophomore season when he hauled in 15 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns in last year’s Rose Bowl, helping him earn a Power Five-best 91.7 PFF grade for the year. Smith-Njigba also generated a 141.8 passer rating on his targets last year — the fourth-highest by a Power Five receiver with at least 100 targets since 2017. He has elite short-area quicks and ball skills, along with route-running ability, that holds up to the Ohio State standard. He was the nation’s most productive receiver in 2021 and it’s hard imagining that changing much in 2022.”

2. Jordan Addison, USC

As unstoppable as Smith-Njigba was, Addison actually won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top wide receiver in 2021. He caught 100 passes for 1,593 yards and 17 touchdowns. He added a rushing touchdown on seven carries for 56 yards.

Addison was a model of consistency for much of the year, catching between five and eight passes for the first 10 games of the year. He had a season-high 11 catches in the 11th game of the year and reeled in 11 receptions in the 12th. Those were the only two games in which he eclipsed 10. He went over 100 receiving yards in eight games, though, with a season-high of 202 against Virginia. He had four receiving touchdowns against the Cavaliers.

If Oklahoma transfer quarterback Caleb Williams is the real deal, and by the looks of his freshman season at Oklahoma he absolutely is, Addison could be even better in a Lincoln Riley-led offense than he was with 2022 NFL Draft pick Kenny Pickett at Pitt.

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5. Josh Downs, North Carolina

Notre Dame has seen this act before. Downs caught 10 passes for 142 yards against the Irish in last year’s meeting. Notre Dame won, but Downs was a lot to handle. He finished the season with 101 catches for 1,335 yards and eight touchdowns. He did not see the end zone in the final six games of the season after scoring eight times in the first six.

At 5-10, 180 pounds, Downs often draws a nickel corner in coverage. TaRiq Bracy staying at Notre Dame for a fifth season could come up huge when the Irish trek to Chapel Hill on Sept. 24.

6. Mario Williams, USC

Like Addison, Williams is a Trojan transfer portal addition. He went to USC from Oklahoma. As a freshman with the Sooners, Williams caught 35 passes for 380 yards and four touchdowns. His breakout game came against Texas Tech when he caught five passes for 100 yards and a touchdown, but he had just six catches for 61 yards and one score in the three games thereafter.

Here’s PFF’s full list. Notre Dame opponents are bolded. Notre Dame did not have any players make the cut.

Top 25 wide receivers in college football in 2022 per PFF

1. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State
2. Jordan Addison, USC
3. Kayshon Boutte, LSU
4. Xavier Worthy, Texas
5. Josh Downs, North Carolina
6. Mario Williams, USC
7. Keytaon Thompson, Virginia
8. Marvin Mims, Oklahoma
9. Quentin Johnston, TCU
10. Jacob Cowing, Arizona
11. Tank Dell, Houston
12. Jermaine Burton, Alabama
13. Parker Washington, Penn State
14. Dontay Demus Jr., Maryland
15. Dontayvion Wicks, Virginia
16. Rakim Jarrett, Maryland
17. Isaiah Neyor, Texas
18. Mitchell Tinsley, Penn State
19. Ronnie Bell, Michigan
20. Jayden Reed, Michigan State
21. AT Perry, Wake Forest
22. Cedric Tillman, Tennessee
23. Xavier Hutchinson, Iowa State
24. Puka Nacua, BYU
25. Trayvon Rudolph, Northern Illinois