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Notre Dame Football All-Decade Team: Tight End

By Nathan Erbach

SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 13: Theo Riddick #6 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish moves to celebrate with Tyler Eifert #80 after Eifert caught a touchdown pass against the Standford Cardinal at Notre Dame Stadium on October 13, 2012 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated Stanford 20-13 in overtime. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 13: Theo Riddick #6 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish moves to celebrate with Tyler Eifert #80 after Eifert caught a touchdown pass against the Standford Cardinal at Notre Dame Stadium on October 13, 2012 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated Stanford 20-13 in overtime. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 03: Tyler Eifert #80 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is pursued by Sam Barrington #36 of the University of South Florida Bulls at Notre Dame Stadium on September 3, 2011 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Tyler Eifert (2009-2012)

The Slap the Sign All-Decade Tight End is none other than the greatest tight end in Notre Dame history, Tyler Eifert. Ironically, Eifert is actually one of the lowest rated tight end recruits Notre Dame has landed in a long time, but here we are anointing him as an all-time great. Eifert only played in one game during the 2009 season, and he didn’t record any stats — but from 2010 on, he was on of the best tight ends in the country. After Rudolph went down with a torn ACL, Eifert would take over and start the remaining 8 games, finishing the season with 27 catches, 352 yards and 2 touchdowns.

His junior and season seasons, however, are really where he made a name for himself combining for 113 receptions, 1,461 yards and 10 touchdowns. Eifert finished his career with the most catches and receiving yards of any Notre Dame tight end in its storied history. In 2011, his statistics were actually better than his senior year, but Michael Floyd somewhat overshadowed those numbers. In 2012, he was the team leader in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown grabs with lesser numbers. To this day, you can’t convince me there a was better player in the Alabama/Notre Dame BCS National Championship game even with it being a blowout. He is right up there for me with Jaylon Smith and Manti Te’o for best players of my lifetime.

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Eifert was selected in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals — where he still is today. Unfortunately, a series of injuries have hampered his career, but in 2015 he showed what probably would have been a trend throughout his career — leading the NFL in touchdown receptions with 13.

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