Notre Dame Football: Tight Ends on the rise in 2017
By Walt Kosin
Notre Dame football is returning to its golden state of “Tight End U.”
Notre Dame returns four veterans for the upcoming season. Fans will be glad to see fifth-year senior Durham Smythe, seniors Nic Weishar and Tyler Luatua and junior Alize Jones whose name has changed to Alize Mack. The Fighting Irish also recruited what most college football websites regard as the best tight end class in the country in Brock Wright and Cole Kmet.
Over the last 12 to 15 years, Notre Dame became known as “Tight End U.” The group included Tony Fasano, John Carlson, Kyle Rudolph, Tyler Eifert and Troy Niklas. Starting in 2014 when Niklas left early to play in the NFL, Notre Dame tight ends have become “average Tight End U.”
A big change could happen this season. Durham Smythe returns as last year’s starter. The former four-star recruit from Texas came to Notre Dame highly acclaimed. Unfortunately, his production has not been good. Smythe played a little in 2014 when Ben Koyack was the starter, and he was injured in 2015 and missed most of the season.
Last season he was healthy and played in all 12 games. He had nine catches for 112 yards (12.4 avg.) and four touchdowns. His blocking is very good, and that’s the most important part of a tight end’s duties, and he catches the ball well.
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The good news for Smythe and the other tight ends is that new offensive coordinator Chip Long loves to throw to tight ends and loves two tight-end sets. This new system may allow Smythe to thrive and have a big season.
If Long does use a lot of two end sets, Alize Mack would probably share the starting end duties with Smythe. This four-star recruit from Nevada showed signs of greatness in his freshman season in 2015. Unfortunately, he was suspended for the entire 2016 season because of academic problems. Mack is a potential 40-50 pass reception tight end who will need to improve his blocking skills.
Nic Weishar played in 12 games last season and had three catches for 47 yards. The native of Illinois could see more playing time in the two-deep if he can impress the coaching staff during summer camp. Tyler Luatua, a three-star recruit from California is a blocking tight end and will probably play in run situations.
2017 recruits Brock Wright and Cole Kmet are the tight ends of the future for the Fighting Irish. With four upper classmen, it is hopeful that both will have red shirt years this season to give them an extra year of eligibility. But, there is a chance one of them will be too good to red-shirt, which is a great problem to have.
This position group is a real mystery. Will Durham Smythe show the skills he was known for when he was recruited? On paper, he has both pass-catching and blocking skills. He just needs to show it on the field. Alize Mack showed signs of greatness in 2015. He has worked hard and may blossom into a great tight end. Nic Weishar and Tyler Luatua look to gain more playing time.
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The most important factor for the tight ends just might be the fact that Chip Long will use them a lot more than they have been used in the last two years. I like the idea of two-tight end sets because you get more blocking for the run game and you can set up more mismatches in the passing game. This possibility should give us optimism going into this coming season.