How Cole Kmet became Notre Dame Football’s greatest weapon

Notre Dame tight end Cole Kmet introduced himself to the nation on one of the biggest stages of the season.

Heading into the 2019 season, Notre Dame fans were hopeful for what their tight end would be capable of. While the rest of the nation didn’t quite know his name yet, even the Irish faithful sat in shock last Saturday as Cole Kmet put on quite a show.

Kmet suffered a broken collarbone during spring camp. While it prolonging his inevitable breakout, it set up the stage perfectly.

Much like when Dexter Williams made his season debut following a suspension last season, Kmet made his impact on not only his first touch, but the first play of the game. It might not have resulted in six-points like Williams as he broke free for a 45-yard run, but it controlled and calmed the nerves for the Notre Dame faithful, watching the Irish deal with the hostile environment in Athens.

Kmet broke towards the sideline after releasing from his block and then displayed the ahleticism that teams will struggle to deal with for the rest of the season.

The first attempt to tackle Kmet went directly to his legs. The defender bounced off Kmet and onto the turf. Three Bulldogs were able to push him out of bounce a handful of yards later.

His size, speed, strength, and athleticism make you wonder how it took this long for him to break out in his third season with the Irish.

Kmet is basically a wide receiver in a tight end’s body.

Out of Cole Kmet’s nine catches vs. Georgia, only once did it take a single defender to bring him down. Even at that point, it was the force of the impact that he created with his speed that brought him to the ground. It’s more likely that the play will be called dead before multiple defenders can finally complete the tackle.

Normally the strength that Kmet comes with compromises a player’s speed. That is nowhere near the case with Kmet. He was the first person off the line more often than not last Saturday.

His speed out of the gate quickly gets him in between the secondary before they can decipher the play. Many times Ian Book was able to hit his tight end in the middle of the field or as he completely blew past the secondary all together.

With Michael Young sidelined with the same injury, Kmet’s breakout was a dream for Notre Dame and will become a nightmare for everyone else. Moving forward, it’s hard to imagine Cole Kmet mot being Notre Dame’s most dangerous offensive weapon for the rest of the 2019 season.