CLASS IMPACT: TE Mitchell Evans To Notre Dame
Notre Dame picked up a commitment from Wadsworth (Ohio) High School tight end Mitchell Evans. The 6-7, 240-pound tight end picked the Fighting Irish over Pittsburgh, who was actually recruiting him as a quarterback.
Evans also had offers from Florida State, Louisville, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Boston College, Purdue, Syracuse, Virginia, Indiana, Iowa State, Duke, Kansas and Georgia Tech.
Let's take a look at what the commitment of Evans means for Notre Dame.
CLASS IMPACT
Evans gives Notre Dame its 15th commitment in the 2021 class, and the eighth offensive commitment. He became the second tight end to commit to the Irish, joining standout Cane Berrong in the class.
There are two ways to look at this commitment. The first is from a numbers/need standpoint and the second is from a quality of talent standpoint.
From a talent standpoint, Evans is a solid football player (see full breakdown below), so there are no complaints there. The issue, however, is that Notre Dame is in good shape at the position from a numbers standpoint.
There has been talk in the last year that Notre Dame felt tight numbers in the 2021 class, and looking at the 2021-22 roster the depth chart seems deep at tight end already, so taking a second tight end was a bit of a head scratcher unless that player was an elite talent.
2018 signees Tommy Tremble and George Takacs have eligibility for the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Notre Dame's 2020 tight end haul (Michael Mayer, Kevin Bauman) was the nation's best, the Irish have Berrong in the 2021 class already and they recently landed a commitment from 2022 four-star tight end Jack Nickel.
Even if only one of Takacs and Tremble return for a fifth season Notre Dame will have six tight ends on the roster in 2022, which is a high number for that position.
NOTRE DAME FIT
Evans hauled in 19 passes for 306 yards and seven touchdowns. He is a big target and the first thing that stands out about his game is his size.
Some have talked about him possibly moving to offensive tackle down the road, but hopefully that is not the staff's plan. With Joe Alt already in the class taking another project offensive tackle to go with Pat Coogan would be a poor strategy.
Evans moves well for his size. He has solid speed for his size, but I like how nimble he is with his feet. He's is fluid and smooth, which you don't often see from a player his size. Evans gets off the line quickly as a route runner and blocker, and he projects well from a route running standpoint with more technical work.
The Wadsworth standout can use his size to do damage down the seams, he is a quality route runner and he shows a great feel for finding soft spots on the field against the zone and when working across the field.
Evans has strong hands and catches the ball effectively away from his body. He has the tools to be a great red zone weapon, which you've already seen from him at the prep level, with seven of his 19 catches going for touchdowns.
Evans has the size and power to become a dominant blocker at the next level.
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