Notre Dame added another quality tight end to its 2022 class today when Holden Staes announced for the Irish. The 6’5″, 230 pound Georgian committed to Penn State last summer but re-opened his recruitment in February. This wasn’t a case of second thoughts after his recruitment blew up, as he already had almost all his major offers before he backed away from his pledge to the Happy Valley Weirdos Nittany Lions. The one he didn’t have was Notre Dame; that one came five days after he decommitted. Coincidence? I tend to think not.
Given his size, position, athleticism, and point of origin, Staes will draw inevitable comparisons to Tommy Tremble. I think Tremble was a bit more of an athletic prospect though, while Staes has more of a frame to grow into an inline threat. Staes is a great complement to Eli Raridon, who I think projects as more of a move tight end than an inline guy. That’s not to sell Staes short as a receiver by any means – we’ll get into it more below, but he shows plenty of promise in that part of his game too.
Recruiting Service Rankings
247Sports Composite — 4 star (.9036 rating), #268 overall, #10 TE, #25 in GA
247Sports — 4 star (90 rating), NR overall, #15 TE, #28 in GA
Rivals — 4 star (5.8 rating), NR overall, #14 TE, #32 in GA
ESPN — 4 star (81 rating), #268 overall, #6 TE, #27 in GA
Irish Sports Daily — 4 star (91 rating)
Cohort
In addition to Notre Dame and Penn State, Staes holds offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, USC, and Wisconsin, among many others.
Highlights
As a receiver Staes reminds me a bit of my old college roommate; even when he was covered, he was open. Those are the guys who know how to get that tiny bit of space at the last second, or to shield you off the ball, or to time the jump just right, and it’s so frustrating to defend them. There is clearly no amount of traffic that concerns Staes as not only is he fearless over the middle, he’s actually aggressive. He shows exceptional hands, catching everything smoothly and away from his body; he has to be an absolute nightmare to cover in short areas. I don’t think he’s going to take the top off the defense, but he’s fast enough to cause some real damage if you don’t give him enough attention.
As a blocker, the spirit is clearly willing but the technique needs some work. Staes moves really well and definitely tries to deliver a big blow in the run game. He seems unsure what to do with his hands sometimes; I saw a couple of blocks that were at least borderline holds. He can lose leverage sometimes too and win by overpowering, especially on the move, which is pretty common at this stage of a prospect’s development. The key thing here is that he likes to hit people, as is also evidenced by his defensive highlights. An affinity for blocking is an enormous part of getting good at it, so I have no doubt Staes will work it all out at the next level.
Impact
Staes and Raridon will be freshmen in what will very likely be Michael Mayer’s last year (booooo). George Takacs, in line to be TE2 this season, could be a fifth year then. Mayer’s classmate Kevin Bauman will be a junior. Cane Berrong and Mitchell Evans, who both flashed in the Blue-Gold Game, will be sophomores. I see almost no way that either of them will make an impact as a freshman, not because of shortcomings on their part but just because of how healthy the position is. Fast forward to 2023, though, and it’s a different story. Mayer and Takacs will both be gone, and there will be rotation minutes available for at least one of the 2022 tight ends. Who gets on the field more may depend on which profile the staff needs more. I think ultimately both could be front-line players as upperclassmen. Tight End U just keeps rolling right along.
Welcome to the Irish family, Holden!
I don’t expect TEs to “take the top off a defense.” I only mention this as I saw similar comments elsewhere about Raridon. Both seem able to get open 20-30 yds. downfield which is more than good enough. Staes seems to have exceptional hands and moves quite well. Like you said he seems to relish contact and seems fearless over the middle while catching the ball. I think he and Raridon are going to make a fantastic TE duo at ND.
BTW….kudos for Happy Valley Weirdos.
I call ‘em like I see ‘em.
Wait, who was your college roommate?
Yeah, my question too!
Lake Dawson
Wow! A GREAT player!
My few claims to those kinds of contacts were players down the hall, including Rocky Bleier, and John Huarte. But never roomates!!
Heh, I’m just talking pickup football on the quad. My roommate was 5’11/185 and ran about a 6 flat in the 40 (sorry man!), don’t think Lou had a spot for him.
I was pretty friendly with Lyron Cobbins, who lived in my dorm. Really solid dude with the dimensions of a refrigerator. My little brother, about 9 or 10 at the time, invaded his room once. “Are you Mr. Cobbins?” “Yes.” “Do you know my brother Brendan?” “Yes.” “Cool.” [Sits down, grabs Sega remote, and starts playing.]
Kinda knew a couple of other guys enough to say hello, and another roommate almost walked on at punter. But I didn’t room with any varsity guys.
I’m tired of going overboard on TE’s when we have such chronic needs for game changer WR’s. Those are the guys we need to get to the next level, given decent QB play. Having a championship level QB would ice the cake then.
Not to worry , this will be it for TEs this year.
I had a similar thought, while I love keeping the TE room filled with talent, how many do they truly need?
Well, we’re losing Mayer and Takacs after 2022 and quite possibly Bauman too if he gets passed by one of the younger guys. That would leave a TE depth chart for 2023 of Berrong, Evans, Raridon, and whatever true frosh sign in the ’23 cycle, for a team that regularly runs two-TE and occasionally even three-TE sets. Plus Staes has pretty good upside.
Also, and I cannot stress this enough: There. Will. Always. Be. Room. I feel quite confident projecting that taking Staes will not preclude the staff from taking any other individual player they like.
My point was we spend way too much time getting TE’s, and strike out on championship WR’s, who are the real difference makers if we want a CFB crown, or even just to win a playoff game.. Bama has had very ordinary starting TEs over the last few years, but world class, first round WR’s. I’d like us to try that formula for a change instead of repeating our quest to be TE U.
So, step one is recruit less talented tight ends ? That shouldn’t be too hard. Bama must have been being deceptive when they offered Staes.
Nah, now you’re being obtuse, which isn’t at all like you. Step one is recruit FEWER tight ends and land more top tier WR’s instead.
The comment about Bama’s TE meant it doesn’t seem to be a critical factor in Saban’s formula for success.
As Brendan showed above we are not recruiting too many TEs. The recruiting of WRs certainly needs to improve. I don’t think TE recruiting adversely affects WR recruiting at all.
I think it’s the mindset, Tindma. It appears we are very conscious of being TE U in our recruiting. I’d like to see the aspiration switch to becoming WR U.
No offense but, I think that’s silly. Fans may but, surely no one on the staff has that mindset
None taken. But for some reason they strike out on top WR’s way more often than not, but always get good TEs.
Well we’ve landed a borderline top-50 WR in each of the past two classes, so it’s not perfect but it’s hardly nothing either. And they have several top-100 receivers coming to visit next month.
I guess I don’t understand the apparent annoyance at recruiting certain positions as well as anyone nationally, as if this isn’t something we can build on at other spots like WR.