Notre Dame Commit Profile: Cooper Flanagan, Tight End
Notre Dame continued its tradition of landing top tight ends when it landed Cooper Flanagan. Here's all you need to know about the future Fighting Irish tight end.
COOPER FLANAGAN
Hometown: Concord, Calif.
High School: De La Salle
Height: 6-5
Weight: 240
IB Grade: 4.0 (Top 250 caliber recruit)
Upside Grade: 4.5
Offers: Notre Dame, Alabama, LSU, Florida State, Michigan, Oregon, Washington, Tennessee, Utah, Michigan State, Oregon State, Colorado, California, Arizona
Recruited By: John McNulty
RECRUITING RANKINGS
247Sports: 4-star - No. 181 overall - No. 11 tight end
ESPN: 4-star - No. 292 overall - No. 7 tight end
Rivals: 4-star - No. 17 tight end
On3: 4-star - No. 21 tight end
On3 Consensus: 4-star - No. 253 overall - No. 16 tight end
FILM ANALYSIS
Flanagan is a bit of a throwback tight end. At 6-5 and 240 pounds he already has outstanding size for the position. Flanagan plays with good pad level in the run game, works his feet through contact and he shows good power for a young player. His initial punch is strong, but he needs to learn to strike more effectively off the ball. With more growth and technical improvement he has a chance to develop into a strong run blocker.
Flanagan isn't a vertical threat like many "modern" tight ends, but he comes off the line well and quickly get into the seams. The De La Salle standout is a quality route runner that shows a good feel for finding soft spots in the zone and he's sharp getting in and out of his cuts. He'll continue developing as a route runner and it will make him an even more effective pass game weapon.
His ball skills and hands are impressive, and Flanagan's size and length gives him a great catch radius. In the Notre Dame offense he'll first fit into the attached tight end spot, where he can thrive in the run game and in the middle of the field. He's a good enough route runner to do damage in the slot, but to become more impactful in that part of the game he'll need to gain a bit more burst, something that could certainly happen when you consider that Flanagan is still young and growing into his body.
Flanagan's combination of size, run blocking skills and pass game skillset is what makes him more of a traditional player at tight end. Flanagan's throwback game and fit as a predominantly attached player makes him a great complement to 2022 signees Eli Raridon and Holden Staes, who are more traditional players. Landing that kind of complementary group makes for a healthy depth chart.
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