Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/783750
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2017 33 2017 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE and made clutch 35- and 45-yard grabs in game-winning, fourth-quar- ter drives versus USC and Temple. Declared academically ineligible in 2016, Jones was allowed to practice with the scout team and Jan. 11 he sent out the following tweet: "For all who are concerned. Yes, I am cleared and back for the 2017 spring season. Thank you!" His return provides a Tyler Eifert- like dimension — Eifert won the Mackey Award for the 12-1 Irish in 2012 — as a flex tight end. First- round pick Will Fuller at wide re- ceiver noted that it was Jones who had "the best hands on the team" in 2015. Next, new Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chip Long also coached tight ends each of the last nine sea- sons, starting with Arkansas (2008- 09) as a graduate assistant, at Illinois (2010-11), Arizona State (2012-15) and most recently Memphis (2016). Last season with the Tigers, his tight ends combined for 36 catches (three times the Irish total in 2016) for 423 yards and five touchdowns. It can't hurt that the expected play caller also coaches your position group. Finally, the return of at least three other multiple monogram winners at the position should make tight end one of the more experienced and deeper positions on the team. Fifth-year senior Durham Smythe took the lion's share of snaps in 2016 with 633, while senior Nic Weishar — a former Parade All-American and the all-time tight end receiving leader in Illinois high school history — had 262 (about 22 per game). Tyler Luatua, who like Weishar will be entering his senior year, was a productive blocker/H-back as a 2014 freshman, especially in the Music City Bowl win versus LSU. Yet he took only 38 snaps last season, although he could well be a starter at many Power Five conference schools. CHANGING THE COURSE From 2005-14, five of the six start- ing Notre Dame tight ends were sec- ond-round picks or better. They had enormous success under head coach Brian Kelly his first four seasons, but less so the past three. The collective position the past six years has dropped in catches as fol- lows: 66 (notably Eifert's school re- cord 63), 58, 42, 31, 20 and 12. Since 2013, when Troy Niklas caught 32 passes for 498 yards and five touchdowns, while Ben Koyack (who caught his first NFL score in the 2016 regular-season finale) had 10 for 168 yards and three scores, the tight end production has especially declined. In 2014, Koyack made 30 of the 31 grabs at the position while totaling 317 yards. In 2015, Jones recorded 13 of the 20 tight end receptions. In 2016, Notre Dame tight ends combined to grab only 12 passes (one per game) for 159 yards, although Smythe did snare four touchdowns, two of them versus Army West Point. The worst season for Notre Dame tight ends in terms of pass catching production came in head coach Bob Davie's last season in 2001 (5-6 fin- ish), when John Owens and Gary Godsey combined for six catches, 79 receiving yards and one score. Yet even Owens would enjoy an eight- year NFL career from 2002-09. New blood at tight end just might aid a transfusion again in its pro- duction. The addition of Wright and Kmet could help get it pumping even more. ✦ Doubling Down Signing two tight ends in a given recruiting campaign has become regular at Notre Dame. The addition this year of Cole Kmet and Brock Wright marks the ninth time since 2000 it oc- curred. How will they stack up against the previous eight? 2000: Jerome Collins and Billy Palmer They each had only six catches apiece at Notre Dame, but Palmer was often used as a blocker, and Collins was on an NFL roster three seasons (winning two Super Bowl rings). 2002: Anthony Fasano and Marcus Freeman Fasano last month completed his 11th season in the NFL and has 287 career catches (35 touchdowns). Freeman had 14 catches at Notre Dame and played one year in the NFL. 2003: John Carlson and Greg Olsen Olsen transferred from Notre Dame to Miami two weeks into fall camp and has made the last three Pro Bowls. Carlson caught 100 passes at Notre Dame and 210 (15 touchdowns) during a six-year NFL career. 2006: Konrad Reuland and Will Yeatman Both Californians transferred, Reuland to Stanford and Yeatman to Maryland, and had NFL careers. Reuland died this past December at 29 from a brain aneurysm. 2008: Joseph Fauria and Kyle Rudolph Fauria transferred to UCLA after one year and would play in the NFL. Rudolph, who caught 90 passes in college, turned pro after his junior year and he already has 265 career catches (83 this year) and 29 touchdowns. 2011: Ben Koyack and Troy Niklas Both are currently in the NFL, with Niklas — who played defense as a Notre Dame freshman — becoming a second-round pick after his junior season. 2013: Mike Heuerman and Durham Smythe Injuries ended the football career of Heuerman prior to the 2015 season. Smythe also was sidelined most of 2015 with two surgeries, but was the starter last season. 2014: Tyler Luatua and Nic Weishar Both are trying to find a niche entering their senior seasons. Weishar has caught three passes each of the past two years, while Luatua briefly left the program in 2016 before opting to return. — Lou Somogyi Kyle Rudolph had a standout Notre Dame career and has caught 29 touchdown passes in his six-year NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND