Notre Dame State of Recruiting: Tight End Continues To Be A Strength

Notre Dame continues to recruit the tight end position at a high level

No program has produced big time tight ends like Notre Dame has in the last 13 seasons, and the future remains bright for the Fighting Irish tight end room.

From 2010 to 2022, no program produced more NFL Draft picks than did Notre Dame, who was tied with Stanford in this department. Notre Dame produced six players to go in the first three rounds during that stretch, while the Cardinal had just three.

Notre Dame has also produced three All-American tight ends, which ties for the most in all of college football. The latest was Michael Mayer, who was a freshman All-American in 2020, a third-team All-American in 2021 and a first-team All-American in 2022.

Replacing the star tight end won't be easy, but Notre Dame returns a talented roster, and more reinforcements are on the way as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Gerad Parker looks to continue the program's success at the position. 

2023-24 RECRUITING SUCCESS

From a pure recruiting rankings standpoint the 2023 and 2024 class isn't your typical Notre Dame tight end haul, but make no mistake, this is a group the Irish coaches targeted early, wanted in the class and ultimately landed.

2023 signee Cooper Flanagan was a Top 100 recruit when he committed to Notre Dame but slowly dropped once he pledged to the Fighting Irish. The 6-5, 240-pound tight end was a standout for national powerhouse Concord (Calif.) De La Salle on both sides of the ball as a physically imposing tight end and a quality edge player.

Notre Dame landed a player like that as part of the 2019 class, and that player ultimately became the program's all-time sack leader. That would be Isaiah Foskey, who was also a tight end-defensive end combo player for De La Salle. Flanagan played in a run-oriented offense, which limited his production and masked his potential. The Notre Dame staff targeted him very early as it was seeking more of a traditional tight end that could do damage as an attached player, and that's exactly who Flanagan is.

Notre Dame invited many of the nation's top tight ends in the 2024 class to campus last summer for the Irish Invasion, and North Carolina standout Jack Larsen was the best of the bunch during the workout. That prompted the Notre Dame staff to make him their top target at the position. Like Flanagan, Larsen was highly ranked when he pledged to Notre Dame but has seen a steady fall in the rankings despite an outstanding junior season.

Larsen is more of a hybrid tight end that can play attached at times, but he can also play in a wing look, he could be a fullback in certain situations and he can line up in the slot. Larsen isn't an elite athlete but he's a quality route runner and his ball skills/hands are as good as any tight end in the 2024 class.

Notre Dame made a run at Nebraska standout Carter Nelson as a second tight end in the 2024 class but lost out to the in-state Cornhuskers. 

2025 BOARD

The 2025 tight end class is absolutely loaded, and Notre Dame has already landed arguably the top tight end in the class. That would be Oklahoma star Nate Roberts, who pledged to the Irish in June.

Roberts is a very intriguing prospect. At 6-4 and 230 pounds as a rising junior, Roberts already has traditional tight end size, and he showed as a sophomore that he's more than willing and capable of thriving in the run game. What makes Roberts special, however, is that with that size comes outstanding athleticism and very impressive speed. 

Roberts can do damage in traditional tight end ways, but he also has the big play ability to be a major weapon in the vertical pass game. Roberts has the kind of vertical ability that Notre Dame has lacked in recent seasons even with the presence of Mayer.

With the Irish missing out on Nelson I would expect the staff to focus on landing a second tight end in the 2025 class. Wisconsin standout James Flanigan is the son of former Fighting Irish star defensive lineman Jim Flanigan. Notre Dame is battling Wisconsin and others for Flanigan, who is no sure thing for the Irish.

Notre Dame is also active with players like Oklahoma standout CJ Nickson, Georgia big man Ryan Ghea, Georgia standout Ethan Barbour, California athlete AJ Ia and Texas pass catcher Jack VanDorselaer.

TRENDING

Notre Dame is poised to continue being the nation's dominant tight end program. Georgia is making a surge of late, but the Irish roster is very talented and re-enforcements are on the way. Sophomore Holden Staes and junior Mitchell Evans are expected to be a strong 1-2 punch in 2023, and if the Irish can get Eli Raridon back to health he could be a star. Flanagan added a very important skillset, and Larsen is a great complement to the current roster.

Landing Roberts shot things forward in a big way, and if Notre Dame can add a second top tight end in the 2025 class there will be no doubt that the Irish are going to continue thriving at the position under Parker. 

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Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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