TE - Michael Mayer

[BFritz21]

He's skipping the bowl game and declaring for the draft:

Quote:Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer told ESPN that he's declaring for the NFL draft. Mayer is the top prospect at his position, No. 8 overall on Mel Kiper's Big Board, and leaves Notre Dame as the most productive tight end in school history.

Mayer, a true junior, told ESPN that he'll be skipping the Gator Bowl against South Carolina.

He said that his decision to head to the draft after his third season at Notre Dame comes down to him being ready to be a pro, something he said he realized could happen during his freshman year.

"I've really enjoyed my experience at Notre Dame," Mayer told ESPN. "The first reason I picked Notre Dame was the NFL, it was on my mind a very, very long time. I saw a lot of good tight ends in in the NFL from Notre Dame. That was one of the main reasons I went there."

This year, he broke his own single-season touchdown record for tight ends at Notre Dame with nine touchdown catches, besting his prior mark of seven. He finished the year with 67 catches and 809 yards despite being Notre Dame's most obvious receiving threat.

"I wanted to come and win games be a first-round draft pick at tight end," Mayer said. "I set my sights on it, and that's what I've been working toward the last three years."

Mayer is the consensus top tight end in this draft, according to the rankings of all of ESPN's draft experts. ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller said that Mayer and Texas running back Bijan Robinson project as the two "safest" picks in this draft, as their skills so obviously translate up to the NFL and they both have great character and football IQ.

"He's a do-it-all guy," Miller said of Mayer. "I would never want to compare someone to Travis Kelce, but he's similar in that he's a great blocker, athletic enough to play in space and a very consistent wide receiver. He's just all-around solid. He's a three-down true in-line tight end who should be a top-10 pick."

Mayer got the nickname Baby Gronk as a Notre Dame freshman. At 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, he cuts an imposing figure on the field. He said he studies Kelce more than Rob Gronkowski, as he said that he appreciates the nuance in Kelce's tactical route running.

"If I sit down and watch Travis Kelce tape, I learn 10 new things," he said. "There's a ton of things that he does in routes. I really pride myself on the route-running game."

Mayer entered Notre Dame as a top-100 recruit from Covington Catholic (Ky.) High School in 2020 and said he appreciated the older leaders on the team such as Ian Book for embracing him and teaching him how things worked at the school. He said he appreciated his high school coach, Eddie Eviston, and both of his Notre Dame position coaches, John McNulty and Gerad Parker, for helping him to reach his potential.

I only picked out parts of the article (not in order), but he's a great kid and an AMAZING TIGHT END!

We need to do what it takes to trade up to take him! Improve the line in free agency and trade draft picks if need-be because imagine teams trying to guard him, Chase, and Higgins! Burrow would put up historic numbers!