Notre Dame Football: Top Storylines vs. New Mexico

Is Cole Kmet Back?

During the later part of fall camp, the Irish lost their starting tight end and No.3 WR with broken collarbones. Cole Kmet and Michael Young suffered the same injury that required surgery to fix — with the recovery times for both set between 4-10 weeks.

It was expected Kmet would miss the season opener, but his progression since the injury has most signs pointing to him returning to the lineup sooner rather than later, which would be huge for the offense.

Backup tight end Tommy Tremble stepped up big time in the victory over Louisville, recording his first career touchdown to go along with 49 yards on 3 catches. However, Cole Kmet is a Mackey Award watch list member for a reason, and his presence was and is going to be vital for the offense this year.  The staff had planned on incorporating more tight end work in the passing game.

After returning in a limited role in practice over the bye week, Kmet has not been ruled out to return in the New Mexico game. While his presence most likely won’t be the deciding factor in the game, letting Kmet get a few snaps and catches under his belt before the Georgia game is important.

Kmet was a highly regarded player all off-season and was expected to have a breakout-type season for the Irish this year. His size and pass-catching abilities have been compared to Tyler Eifert, and he has about as high a ceiling as any Notre Dame tight end in recent history.

A Cole Kmet return this week would be huge for this team, and will be one less offensive weapon sidelined with an injury as we await the returns of Michael Young and Jafar Armstrong.