Notre Dame Tight Ends Have Great Potential In 2016

The Notre Dame tight ends have a lot to prove in 2016.

On paper, the 2016 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame will be better offensively than defensively. A key component of the offense will be the players at tight end. Let’s hope this season’s group will be a lot better than last years.

Last season, starting tight end Durham Smythe was injured in Notre Dame’s second game against Virginia. He didn’t return to action until playing Ohio State in the season ending Fiesta Bowl. Alize Jones led the Fighting Irish lead tight ends with 13 catches for 190 yards. For the first time in recent years, Notre Dame was not Tight End U.

Durham Smythe is a red-shirt junior. At 6’4”, 245 lbs., he was a four-start recruit from Belton High School in Belton, Texas. Symthe is a complete tight end in that he is a great receiver and also a great in-line blocker. He has the inside track to be the starter, but we’ll have to see if he is healed of his injuries.

Alize Jones, a 6’4” 240 lb. sophomore from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, played in all 13 games last season, but as stated earlier he had only 13 catches. Jones is the most talented tight end on the team. He has such great speed that Brian Kelly played him this past spring in the three wide receiver positions. There is a very good chance that Jones will play some tight end, along with playing a wide receiver position. With his talent, Notre Dame could play two tight end alignments with Smythe or Nick Weishar.

Nick Weishar is a red-shirt sophomore from Marist High School in Midlothian, Illinois. He is 6’4”, 245 lbs. and a great receiver. He played in 13 games last season and had three catches for 19 yards. He and Jones received a lot of experience with Smythe injured. If Weishar can improve his in-line blocking, he will see plenty of playing time this fall.

Notre Dame received good news a month ago when Tyler Luatua, a future sophomore, stated he would return to Notre Dame. Earlier this year, Luatua indicated he was transferring to Brigham Young to be closer to his family. Last season he was inserted only in blocking situations, thus he caught no passes.

When Luatua said he was transferring, Jacob Matusha, a defensive tackle was moved to tight end, the positon he was originally recruited for. Matusha is the fifth tight end for the Fighting Irish.

Heading into summer camp, Notre Dame has five tight ends, all with minimal experience, but some with great potential. The starter looks like Durham Smythe or Alize Jones, but most tight ends will see a lot of action. Look for Notre Dame to use a lot of two tight end sets this season in both passing the running situations.

I expect the tight ends to have 80-90 catches this season, which will be a large improvement from last season.