Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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30 APRIL 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2025 S P R I N G F O O T B A L L O V E R V I E W BY TYLER HORKA I t's that time of year to count up all of the catches Notre Dame's scholarship tight ends have, combined, in their careers and be shocked at how minuscule the number is. You only need to know basic addi- tion at the level of an early ele- mentary schooler to tabulate the answer. It's 41. ELI RARIDON has 16. Arkansas transfer Ty Washington has 14. Kevin Bauman has 6. Cooper Flanagan has 5. And there you have it. Forty-one. Playing the tight end position isn't all about catch- ing passes, obviously. But at Notre Dame, the tradition has long been to have a tight end or two who can do that at an elite level. Even in a year that did not meet lofty expec- tations, Mitchell Evans led all Fighting Irish pass catchers with 43 receptions in 2024. And that's two more than all six of the schol- arship tight ends have ever had, to hammer that point home. The broader outlook for Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock's position group is one of uncertainty. Optimism? You're certainly entitled to it — at your own discretion. The reality is you're putting your faith in a senior in Raridon who has torn his ACL twice and has subsequently not been the prolific player he was billed to be upon arriving in South Bend, a graduate student in Bauman who's suf- fered two ACL injuries of his own and only has half a dozen career catches be- cause of them and Washington, a former Razorback who didn't exactly leave Fay- etteville on the best of terms. It's a shaky group at the top made shakier by the status of Cooper Flanagan, who suffered an Achilles injury in the Sugar Bowl Jan. 2. He'll be out a long while. Notre Dame might need stabilization from sophomore Jack Larsen and true freshman James Flanigan to get the group by. It's a thin squad, but maybe not as thin as the ice the 2025 Irish tight ends are crawling across. TIGHT ENDS PERSONNEL UPDATE Position Coach: Mike Denbrock (second season) Returning Starter: Jr. Cooper Flanagan (7 career starts) Departing Starter: Mitchell Evans (18) Projected New Starter: Sr. Eli Raridon (6) Top Reserves: Flanagan, So. Jack Larsen and Sr. Ty Washington Newcomers: Washington and Fr. James Flanigan POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH WHO'S WITH RARIDON? The door has swung wide open for Eli Raridon to be Notre Dame's top tight end in his senior sea- son. Every good offense has at least two reliable tight ends, though, so who is the second one for Notre Dame? With Cooper Flanagan recovering from an Achilles injury and Kevin Bauman's best contribution being moral support, the options are Ty Washington, Jack Larsen and James Flanigan. ALL EYES ON … FRESHMAN JAMES FLANIGAN The No. 7 tight end in the recruiting class of 2025, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, could have an opportu- nity to play right away c o n s i d e r i n g w h a t 's ahead of him on the depth chart — five players who don't really have the pedigree of a Michael Mayer or Mitchell Evans. It's very possible it's Flanigan in this group of six scholarship tight ends who has that kind of prestige and potential. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER NUMBERS TO KNOW 59 Targets for Mitchell Evans in 2024. The rest of Notre Dame's tight ends were tar- geted a combined 23 times. Eli Raridon had the most of those with 14. Cooper Flanagan had 7, and Kevin Bauman and Davis Sherwood had 1 apiece. 61.1 Pro Football Focus run-blocking grade for Eli Raridon in 2024. He hasn't been the same run blocker since suffering his second ACL tear in 2022. He had a run-blocking grade of 78.9 in five games before the injury that year. 218 Special teams snaps for departed tight end Davis Sherwood in 2024, the sec- ond most of any player on the Notre Dame roster. Sherwood was a respected special teamer out of the tight ends unit for all of his four seasons in South Bend.