Latest in a series of stories looking at some of the questions facing Northwestern heading into the 2022 season.

Questions: Will NU win over/under 4.5 games in 2022? l Who will be Northwestern's QB in 2022? l Will Northwestern's offensive line be better in 2022? l Who will be Northwestern's leading rusher?

He's coming off a serious knee injury, but I still like Bryce Kirtz to lead the Cats in receiving in 2022.

Before going down and missing the final seven games of 2021, Kirtz had hauled in 19 catches for 203 yards, an average of 10.7 yards per reception. He went over 80 yards against Michigan State and Duke, and showed an ability to get behind a defense and make big plays down the field.

Kirtz seemed to be ahead of Malik Washington in the pecking order before the injury, so look for Kirtz to be the Cats' QB's top target this season.

The leading receiver for the Cats will be Malik Washington. Washington has been an exciting player with loads of potential his entire career with Northwestern, and this could be a year where he puts it all together. Last year, Washington caught 44 passes for 578 yards as the No. 2 when Stephon Robinson Jr. was healthy, and as the No. 1 when he wasn’t.

Northwestern’s top four targets will all be experienced. Charlie Mangieri and Marshall Lang are back at tight end, and Bryce Kirtz will be back at receiver. Those three should give defenses a bit more to think about than Washington at WR1, and give him some room to work and to lead the team in receiving yards.

It says a lot about this offense -- and this upcoming season -- that our staff has been split in trying to predict the starting quarterback, the leading rusher and the leading receiver. That's probably not a good sign.

I'm going to go with Washington, in part because Kirtz, who I see as his main competition, is coming off of a serious injury, and partly because Washington really established himself has a go-to receiver last season, when he finished second to Robinson in catches and yards. He also racked up a lot of yards after the catch -- something that this offense is going to need.