What a week to be a Notre Dame tight end, whether it be from past, present or future.
It began with Cole Kmet declaring for the 2020 NFL Draft after previously saying he’d be around for his senior season. It’s impossible to fault the top-rated tight end in the class but still stings when you wanted to see him in blue and gold and as the ultimate weapon for Ian Book in 2020.
The week continued into the Saturday when Michael Mayer, part of Notre Dame’s latest recruiting class playing in the Adidas All-American Game. Not only did he play but he provided one of the biggest highlights of the afternoon, going 37 yards on a touchdown reception.
Finally, perhaps one of the best to ever play tight end at Tight End U sent the Vikings to the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs as Kyle Rudolph pulled down a Kirk Cousins pass in overtime to send Minnesota to the second round and the Saints home. We’ll leave the pass interference debate for a later date.
With that in mind, Nick Shepkowski and I had a conversation. It includes a bunch of former tight ends at Notre Dame and discussion as to what the future of the position may hold. I hope you enjoy a slightly different post than you’re probably used to at Fighting Irish Wire.