Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1494359
30 APRIL 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA I t's the end of an era for the Notre Dame tight ends room. It may have been a short-lived era, but it's over, nonetheless. The most decorated tight end in Fighting Irish football history is gone after three prolific seasons. Michael Mayer com- pletely rewrote the record book at the position, amassing 180 catches for 2,099 yards and 18 touchdowns in his career. Those are all bests for a tight end in the storied history of the program. "Next man up" is incredibly cliché, but it's also incredibly relevant in this instance. The Irish are tasked with replacing the production of a player who produced more at his position than anyone else who had ever come before him in more than a cen- tury's worth of football. How do they do that? By committee. Junior Mitchell Evans made his case to be the team's top tight end in 2023 by playing a secondary role to Mayer in the second half of last season then starting in Mayer's place when the first-round draft hopeful sat out the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl while prepping for the NFL Draft. Evans had the best game of his young career against South Carolina, catching 3 passes for 39 yards and a touchdown. The score was the game-winner. Evans did not reel in a single reception in any game before then, though. Notre Dame has a cast of inexperienced charac- ters at the tight end spot this year. Senior Kevin Bauman is the elder statesman of the bunch, and he only has 5 catches for 59 yards and 0 touchdowns in his first three seasons. In addition to Bauman, sophomores Eli Raridon and Holden Staes are the others in prime position for 2023 playing time. They have 1 catch for 11 yards between them. Getting on the field as a Notre Dame tight end has long been about more than just receiving statistics. Mayer was a fine run blocker, too. Offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Gerad Parker has to figure out who can help him the most in the passing game and the running game when deciding how to divvy up reps at the position he oversees. No more relying heavily on No. 87. 2023 SPRING FOOTBALL OVERVIEW T IGH T ENDS MITCHELL EVANS PERSONNEL UPDATE Position Coach: Gerad Parker (second season) Returning Starter: Jr. Mitchell Evans (7 career starts) Departing Starter: Michael Mayer (27) Projected Starter: Evans Top Reserves: Sr. Kevin Bauman (1), So. Holden Staes (1), Jr. Davis Sher- wood and So. Eli Raridon Newcomers: Fr. Cooper Flanagan ALL EYES ON … SOPHOMORE ELI RARIDON Raridon seemed poised to thrive as a tight end No. 2 alongside Michael Mayer until he tore his ACL just a few weeks after Kevin Bauman tore his. Coming off a second ACL injury in as many years, it's intriguing to see how good Raridon can be if he stays healthy. POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH WHO'S NO. 2? With the injuries to Eli Raridon and Kevin Bauman, Mitchell Evans was able to assert himself as Michael Mayer's sidekick in the second half of the 2022 season. He seems like the probable starter. Who will be the Robin to his Bat- man? Raridon, Bauman and Staes are all fighting for those secondary reps. NUMBERS TO KNOW 6 Total combined receptions for every tight end on the 2023 Notre Dame roster. Mitchell Evans owns 5 of those. Holden Staes has the other. Michael Mayer leaves the program with 180, an all-time record for an Irish tight end. 49.3 The Pro Football Focus run-blocking grade for both Kevin Bauman and Holden Staes. The only players on the Notre Dame roster with worse run-blocking grades in 2022 were tight ends David Sherwood (41.2) and Cane Berrong (39.4). The latter left the team as a transfer. 92.5 Michael Mayer's overall Pro Football focus grade in 2022. That was the best grade of any tight end in the country. Eli Raridon had the team's second-best tight end grade, 72.9, before he tore his ACL after five games. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER