Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer goes to Las Vegas Raiders in NFL Draft
Tight End University has added another name to the long list of players who have been selected in the NFL Draft. Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer was taken by the Las Vegas Raiders with the No. 35 overall pick in the second round Friday night.
Vegas traded up from the No. 38 pick to snag Mayer, who unexpecedtly had to wait until day two of the draft to hear his name called. The Raiders also gave up a fifth-round selection (No. 141 overall) to reel in their replacement for Darren Waller, who was dealt to the New York Giants for a third-round pick (No. 100 overall) in March.
Notre Dame has now had 26 tight ends chosen in the NFL Draft, more than any other program all-time. Mayer is the fourth Notre Dame tight end to hear his name called in the last five years joining Alizé Mack (seventh round, 2019), Cole Kmet (second round, 2020) and Tommy Tremble (third round, 2021).
Mayer was the third tight end taken in the 2023 draft behind Utah’s Dalton Kincaid (round one, No. 25 overall to the Buffalo Bills) and Iowa’s Sam LaPorta (round two, No. 34 overall to the Detroit Lions). Per Spotrac, Mayer’s signing slot is worth $9,313,646 million in total value.
Mayer teamed up with Tremble as a true freshman in the 2020 season. He had 42 catches for 450 yards and 2 touchdowns to Tremble’s 10 catches for 218 yards and 0 touchdowns. It was evident then when Mayer outplayed a future third-round pick as a first-year player that he was going to have an excellent career.
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Excellent ended up being an understatement.
Mayer had 180 catches for 2,099 yards and 18 touchdowns in three years in South Bend, Ind. Those are all-time highs for a Notre Dame tight end in program history. Somehow, he left Notre Dame without winning the Mackey Award, which is given annually to the top tight end in college football. But per Pro Football Focus, Mayer was just that in 2023. Mayer’s overall PFF grade of 92.5 was the top mark in the country among all FBS tight ends.
Mayer was a one-man wrecking crew for Notre Dame last fall. He garnered 101 total targets from Irish quarterbacks. The No. 2 Notre Dame pass-catcher, wide receiver Lorenzo Styles, was targeted 47 times. Without Mayer, the Irish offense would have been lost. That goes for the running game, too. Mayer received a PFF run-blocking grade of 82.1, which was the fifth-best score among FBS tight ends.
At 6-4 1/2 and 249 pounds, Mayer is the total package at the tight end position. He received an NFL NextGen Stats score of 6.44 coming out of the combine. That was the third-best score among tight ends behind Oregon State’s Luke Musgrave (6.49) and Kincaid (6.48). A score of 6.44 projects Mayer to “become a good starter within two years.”
There isn’t anybody who’s watched Notre Dame football since Mayer showed up in 2020 who wouldn’t be surprised if it only takes one.
