Notre Dame football: Could Michael Mayer be the best TE in Irish history?
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team has an absolute star at the tight end position, begging the question of whether or not he is the best to ever do it at the school.
Going into the 2022 college football season, the Notre Dame football team does have question marks on both sides of the ball. On offense, the issues are glaring, as they have yet to figure out who their starting quarterback will be, and are also very thin at the wide receiver position.
While the Irish do not have big numbers at wide receiver, they do have elite talent at the tight end position, something that will take some of the pressure off of the passing game. Michael Mayer is the best tight end in football, and when it comes to the history of the Notre Dame football team, he has pushed his name into some elite company.
In 2022, he is going to be relied upon to shoulder a lot of the load on offense and be a security blanket for whoever wins the starting quarterback job. In the process, he is going to set a bunch of records along the way.
Notre Dame football star to break numerous records
Looking at the all-time receiving records in program history, it is clear that Mayer is entering rarified air. The true junior has dominated the college football landscape across the past two seasons, putting him in a position to re-write the record book for a tight end at this storied program.
Even with just a solid season, he should move past the likes of Tyler Eifert, Ken MacAfee, and Tony Hunter in terms of receptions and receiving yards. If he can accomplish that in only three years, does that make him the best tight end in the history of the program?
MacAfee is widely regarded as the best, as he was a three-time All-American, and Eifert was named All-American twice. Mayer had a strong true freshman season in 2022 but broke out in 2021, hauling in 71 passes, the eighth-highest total in a single season in program history, and the most for a tight end.
Mayer is going to have to win the John Mackey Award in 2022 and be named an All-American to become the best tight end in program history in my opinion. If he can do that, based on numbers and production, there is a real case for him to be the best to ever do it in South Bend.
Going early in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft could solidify that.