Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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26 MAY 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED a connection with everybody," Hart- man said. "It's a loaded room. That's the cool part. You're running with a deep group. You don't have 'a guy.' You get to throw with everybody. You get to grow with everybody." LIFE AFTER MICHAEL MAYER Will a tight end be among Hartman's go-to receiving threats? To be deter- mined. It's not as easy as throwing the ball up to No. 87 anymore. Michael Mayer is no longer in South Bend. He left behind a talented group he'll be keeping his eyes on from wher- ever he lands as an NFL draftee. "The tight end room is not in trou- ble," Mayer said at the end of Notre Dame's pro day in late March. "We've got plenty of tight ends in there that can play at a very, very high level." Maybe once the season starts. But right now? Not exactly. Senor Kevin Bauman and sophomore Eli Raridon are both recovering from ACL tears suffered last fall. The soon- est they can return to full football-re- lated workouts is sometime this sum- mer. They could both be full-go for fall camp, but all 15 of Notre Dame's spring practices were spent without them as options to get familiar with Hartman throwing them the ball. By way of that reality, junior Mitchell Evans and sophomore Holden Staes were funneled a vast majority of the spring reps. They have 4 catches for 40 yards in their careers — combined. Mayer left Notre Dame with 180 for 2,099 — both records for an Irish tight end. The shoes to fill are bigger than Ron- ald McDonald's. "For the past three years, it's been great to come in here, come to the facil- ity and work with [Mayer] every day," Bauman said. "You pick up those little things, take things from each other. He's been great to work with. He's going to go on to do great things in the NFL, and it's great to have a guy like that to model your game after a little bit." The reputation for Notre Dame as a factory for next-level tight ends wasn't built by Mayer alone. He simply fostered it and raised the bar. It's up to Bauman and his younger position mates to keep it held high. FIGURING OUT THE BACKFIELD Imagine what Logan Diggs or Audric Estimé could have done with 200 car- ries in 2022. The former had 165 and ran for 822 yards on 5.0 yards per carry. The latter carried 156 times for 920 yards on 5.9 yards per tote. They com- bined for 15 rushing touchdowns. In 2023, it might not have to be left to the imagination for what the two ju- niors can do with a significantly larger workload. Senior Chris Tyree worked out with the wide receivers for a large portion of spring practices. He was almost ex- clusively a running back his first three years with the program. Failing to reach his freshman-year rushing total of 496 yards on 6.8 yards per carry in each of the last two seasons and the emer- gence of Diggs and Estimé in the Irish backfield might have dictated Tyree's future, though. He only averaged 4.4 yards per carry on 100 rushing attempts last year. He only mustered 5.8 yards per reception, too. Diggs was at 21.1 and Estimé put down a mark of 15.0 in that category. Freeman said Tyree is a guy Notre Dame needs on the football field, but not with averages like that. Perhaps a permanent shift to slot receiver is in everyone's best interest. Notre Dame could use some help there with Styles struggling in his sophomore season. The way Angeli sees it, the slot might be the best place for Tyree anyway. "He definitely makes a big matchup nightmare," Angeli said. "If you put a backer on him, he's going to be really hard to cover. If you put a safety on him or a nickel on him, it's going to be even Five Breakout Candidates From The Offense 1. Sophomore Wide Receiver Tobias Merriweather The only thing keeping Merriweather from seeing the field is what's above the shoulders. If he can prove he knows the playbook front to back, there is always room for his 6-4, 205-pound frame on the boundary. Look for Merriweather to do what he did on a 41-yard touchdown catch versus Stanford last fall with more regularity in his second season. 2. Sophomore Offensive Guard Billy Schrauth A starting spot on the Notre Dame offensive line is there for the taking for Schrauth, who teammates — past and present along both sides of the ball — can't stop raving about. Schrauth is up to 6-4½ and 304 pounds, so size and strength aren't an issue. He's only going to improve in both areas. It's about staying healthy and earning trust in the coaching staff for Schrauth. 3. Sophomore Running Back Jadarian Price Price won last spring with his 52-yard touchdown catch in the spring game and constant head turning in media- viewing portions of practice. Then the worst occurred; he injured his Achilles over the summer. He could be fully healthy for fall camp, and if he is, he might just earn the No. 3 role in the running back room behind juniors Logan Diggs and Audric Estimé. 4. Junior Tight End Mitchell Evans Evans was the benefactor of being a clear No. 1 tight end during spring practices with senior Kevin Bauman and sophomore Eli Raridon both sidelined while recovering from ACL injuries. Evans reeled in all three of his career catches in the Gator Bowl. One of those was the game-winning touchdown. He has potential to be the team's TE1 all season long. 5. Junior Wide Receiver Jayden Thomas There is room for two juniors on this list. Thomas averaged 14.4 yards per reception as a sophomore, which ranked first among Notre Dame wide receivers who had at least two catches. He's a fighter for the football in toss-ups downfield, and that pairs perfectly with Sam Hartman at quarterback. — Tyler Horka A starting spot on the Notre Dame offen- sive line is there for the taking for sopho- more Billy Schrauth. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER