We are breaking down the Notre Dame football prospects ahead of the NFL Draft which begins on Thursday, April 27th in Kansas City, Missouri. Today we’ll take a look at a record breaking tight end hoping to have his name called in the first round.

SPECS

Name: Michael Mayer
Hometown: Independence, Kentucky
Position: TE
Height: 6-4 1/2 (per NFL Combine)
Weight: 249 (per NFL Combine)
40: 4.70 (t-9th out of 13 TE)
Vertical: 32.5 (12th out of 14 TE)
10-Yard Split: 1.66 (13th out of 13 TE)
Broad: 9′ 10″ (10th out of 15 TE)

STATS

YEAR REC YDS AVG TD
2020 42 450 10.7 2
2021 71 840 11.8 7
2022 67 809 12.1 9
Total 180 2099 11.7 18

BIO:

Mayer was a consensus 5-star prospect out of Covington Catholic across the Ohio River from Cincinnati and considered one of the best tight ends in several classes when he enrolled at Notre Dame for 2020. He would make an immediate impact as a freshman and ultimately re-wrote the record books for Irish tight ends. In 3 seasons, Mayer either tied or outright led the team in receptions every single year.

Looking back at his recruiting class, only Arik Gilbert was ranked higher as a tight end. Gilbert played for LSU, transferred to Florida, transferred to Georgia, and has transferred to Nebraska this off-season while catching 143 fewer passes than Mayer.

STRENGTHS:

NFL-ready body since the day he stepped on campus at Notre Dame. All-around tight end with very few weaknesses in college. A very willing blocker with plenty of experience inline with the Irish. An elite pass catcher from inside 15 yards of the line of scrimmage. A very physical runner who shakes off contact from defenders and is difficult to knock of his routes. Surprising suddenness and cutting ability given his bulky frame. Always seems to create separation at the top of his routes. A pure pass catcher who high-points the ball extremely well and displays strong hands keeping the ball away from his body. Uses a stiff arm well to elude defenders and create additional yards after catch. Constantly fights for extra yards and can be very tough to bring down in the open field.

WEAKNESSES:

The biggest questions surrounding Mayer in the NFL will be over how high a franchise thinks his ceiling can become in the pros. He might struggle a lot more against bigger, heavier, and longer defenders in the NFL who will limit his ability to get open on the shorter routes. Although his open field running is perhaps a little underrated, questions remain about his athleticism and athletic ability to make plays downfield and his general explosiveness at the NFL level.

OVERVIEW:

Mayer is a classic case of a player with a ridiculously high floor but a ceiling that is difficult to assess. His workout at the NFL Combine didn’t do a lot to answer the ceiling criticisms for someone who isn’t an inch or two taller with longer arms or better speed.

He’s been drawing some comparisons to Rob Gronkowski which seems a little inaccurate, if unfair. I think the comparison to 11-time Pro Bowler Jason Witten is much more spot on. Witten was able to break 1,000 yards in a season on 4 separate occasions and that’s an achievement Mayer could shoot for in the modern era of tight ends.

PREDICTION:

1st Round, 18th Overall to the Detroit Lions

“Just watch the tape” has been a rallying cry for Mayer supporters and despite a lackluster Combine that seems to be exactly what the NFL world is doing. It was believed Mayer could be a borderline 1st round prospect coming into this off-season but if the consensus among the mock drafts are any indication, he’s safely in the 1st round.

Most of the NFL folks have Mayer going as high as 15th to the Packers but likely not falling past the Bengals at 28th overall with the Lions, Chargers, and Cowboys as the other likely destinations in the 1st round from teams that could be looking for a tight end.

We’ll predict Mayer lands in Detroit to team up with former Notre Dame teammate Brock Wright. The Lions traded T.J. Hockenson to Minnesota last year and got rid of a cap hit of over $9.3 million. Both Wright and 2022 5th-round pick James Mitchell offer decent and cheap production for young tight ends but inserting Mayer on a rookie contract could be huge for a Lions offense that made a surprising amount of noise last season.