Spring Ball Preview | Tight End

Must be nice to be Gerad Parker. He gets to walk into one of the best tight end situations in the country, at a place labeled “Tight End U” no less.

It all starts with the best tight end in the land, Michael Mayer. He doesn’t have anything to prove this spring to show he’s at an elite level, but he’ll still play up to that level because that’s what he does.

Mayer is in a situation where the staff will want to get him some reps while at the same time knowing that they already know what he is capable of. Everyone knows he is TE1 not just at Notre Dame, but in all of college football. If he had a quiet spring, it would likely be intentional on the part of the coaching staff with them working to develop the players behind him on the depth chart.

There’s a massive opportunity for both Mitchell Evans and Kevin Bauman this spring now that George Takacs has decided to transfer. With Notre Dame’s numbers low at receiver, with Cane Berrong likely out while recovering from his ACL injury, and with not wanting to overwork Mayer, it should mean plenty of reps for both of these two.

Evans had some nice flashes as a freshman, his first full season working as a tight end. This spring will be big to see if he can emerge as complimentary in-line blocker and to see if he can build on what he’s shown as a receiver. He has great potential to become a threat after the catch.

Bauman looked so good at times last August that he was being confused for Mayer. He had one practice where he was a red zone beast and anyone who saw him that day would have projected he could have emerged as a breakout candidate last fall.

An injury in the first game of the season never allowed that to happen. He was projected to compete with Takacs as the second tight end and be more of a traditional in-line player when Notre Dame was in 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends). Bauman came back late in the season, but only played 20 snaps. Evans played more than him.

While we wait for Eli Raridon and Holden Staes to arrive in the summer, Evans and Bauman will battle it out this spring to not only be the second tight end, but potentially give Tommy Rees the option to make 12 personnel more of a featured part of the offense in 2021. It should be exciting to see if one or both can step forward in March and April.