Michael Mayer

OVERVIEW

Summary:  This is another story about a young basketball player who becomes a football star.  As a youth in Kentucky, Mayer's goal was to play basketball for the Wildcats until he was talked into playing football at Covington High, where he and his quarterback brother, A. J.,  led the team to a 15-0 record in 2017. Despite also winning state championship in basketball Mayer knew football was his game when he was named Kentucky's Mr. Football in 2019.

So instead of Kentucky, he went to Notre Dame were he won Freshman All-American and Third-Team All-ACC honors by tying for the Irish lead with 42 receptions (450 yards, 10.7 per, two TDs in 12 games, three starts). At 6-4 1/2 he showed ability as a strong in-line blocker and an outstanding receiver, where he now owns Notre Dame's career receiving records with 180 catches, for 2,099 yards and 18 touchdowns. Sure-handed, with only 12 career drops. His strength as a receiver is his strength, more than speed. He's smart and tough enough to start as a rookie in the NFL.

FRANKLY: Mayer has the size, strength, smarts and all-in attitude that will allow him to fit in immediately at the next level. He has the battle-ground attitude of George Kittle or Travis Kelce, but has been compared more often with Jason Witten. So what's not to like? Worth a selection in second half of first round.

STATS

YEAR (GP/GS)     REC     YDS        AVG       TD      DROP

2020: (12/4)          42        450        10.7       2          5

2021: (12/12)        71        840        11.8       7          3

2022: (12/12)        67        809        12.1       9          4

Total: (36/28)       180      2,099     11.7       18        12

HISTORY — From College Profile

2021

• Phil Steele All-American Fourth Team
• Phil Steele All-Independent First Team
• Associated Press Third Team All-American
• John Mackey Award Semifinalist
• John Mackey Tight End of the Week (Week 2)
• Biletnikoff Award Watch List
• John Mackey Award Watch List

2020

• The Athletic Freshman All-America First Team
• All-ACC Third Team
• All-ACC Academic Team
• Phil Steele All-ACC Fourth Team
• 247Sports True Freshman All-America Team
• Pro Football Focus Team of the Week at Pitt (10/24)
• FWAA Freshman All-American Watch List

JUNIOR SEASON (2021)

• OHIO STATE (9/3): Led the receiving corps with five catches for 32 yards. Made a key third down catch in the red zone on third and short that led to the first Notre Dame touchdown of the season. Worked as the lead blocker to kick out a linebacker in Tyler Buchner’s longest rush of the night (12 yards)
• MARSHALL (9/10): Finished with a team-best eight catches on 12 targets. Eight catches is tied for fourth-most in a game for a tight end in program history. Added 103 receiving yards and a touchdown. Game-high 30 yard reception on a route along the Notre Dame sideline in the third quarter
• CALIFORNIA (9/17): Finished with two catches for 10 yards and a score. His second reception tied him with Ken MacAfee (1974-77) for second place on the Notre Dame Career tight end receptions list with 128. Matches Tyler Eifert (2009-12) for second on the all-time tight end list with 11 career touchdowns
• NORTH CAROLINA (9/24). Took sole possession of second place for career receptions by a tight end (135) after making seven receptions. Caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Drew Pyne in the second quarter. Third-consecutive game with a touchdown reception, career-high streak. Caught his 12th career touchdown, moving into sole possession of second place for an Irish tight end. Caught seven passes for 88 yards and a score
• BYU (10/8): Set a new Notre Dame tight ends record for career receptions (146 at end of game) and tight end receptions in a game (11). Finished with 11 catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Caught a touchdown in four-consecutive games. Caught six of quarterback Drew Pyne’s seven first completions of the game. After catching his 13th and 14th career touchdown passes, now sits in second behind Ken MacAfee for the Notre Dame record (15). Twenty-nine consecutive games with at least one reception, one in every game played in his career. Fourth career 100-yard receiving game, two off of his career best (120 at Florida State in 2021)
• STANFORD (10/15): Finished with a team-best five catches for 60 yards.
• UNLV (10/22): Tied the Notre Dame record for career touchdown receptions by a tight end with a 20-yard score in the first quarter. Extended his Notre Dame record for 100-yard receiving games by a tight end in the first half, finishing with 115 yards. Moved to fifth all-time with 157 career receptions.
• SYRACUSE (10/29): Added to his consecutive games with at least one reception streak (32), finishing with three catches and 54 yards. With his yardage, surpassed Tyler Eifert (1.840) for the Notre Dame record for receiving yards for a tight end. His 160 career receptions place him fifth all-time in Irish history.
• CLEMSON (11/5): Led the team with four catches for 44 yards and a score. His 17-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter was his 16th of his career, setting a new Notre Dame record for career touchdown receptions by a tight end. Now owns all of Notre Dame’s major tight end career records (touchdowns, receptions, receiving yards)
• NAVY (11/12): Finished with three catches for 23 yards. Marks his 34th consecutive game with a reception
• BOSTON COLLEGE (11/19): Added to his season catch total with five catches for 64 yards. With his yardage, he became the 13th player in Notre Dame history to reach 2,000 career receiving yards.
• USC (11/26): Led the team with eight catches, good for 98 yards ands cored two touchdowns. Finishes the regular season with a reception in every game played in his career, 36-consecutive games. His two touchdown catches  set a new single-season tight end touchdown record (9), passing his own record set in 2021 (7). Extends his career tight end touchdown record to 18. Brought his career total to 180 receptions, surpassing Jeff Samardzija (179) for third on Notre Dame’s all-time receptions list.

SOPHOMORE SEASON (2021)

• Played and started in 12 games for the Irish this season; Led Irish receivers with 71 catches and finished tied for first on the team with 7 TDs; Averaged a team-high 70.0 receiving yards per game for a total of 840 (second on team); His 840 receiving yards was the fourth highest total among tight ends in the FBS, and his 70.0 yards per game placed him third in the nation among tight ends; Tied for the eighth most receiving TDs (7) among tight ends in the country; Averaged 5.9 catches per game, good for second in the country for tight ends and T-35th among all receivers; Tied the Notre Dame record for most receptions in a game by a tight end (nine receptions at Florida State); Finished with the seventh most receptions (71) by a Notre Dame receiver and the most by a tight end for a single season in team history; Ended season ranked third all-time for receptions in a career (113) by an Irish tight end; Set the single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end at Notre Dame (840), and reached third place for most receiving yards in a career (1290); Set a new school record for TD receptions by a tight end in a single season (7)
• FLORIDA STATE (9/5): Finished the season-opener against the Seminoles with career-best marks in receptions (nine) and yards (120); With nine catches, he tied the Notre Dame record for most catches by an Irish tight end in a single game, and his 120 yards receiving was the most by an Irish tight end since Sept. 11, 2010 when Kyle Rudolph hauled in 164 yards against Michigan; Reached 100 receiving yards for the first time in his career; Ranked fifth all-time in Notre Dame history for most receiving yards in a single game by a tight end and tied for the NCAA lead for receiving yards among tight ends in Week 1
• TOLEDO (9/11): Caught seven passes for 81 receiving yards with two touchdowns against the Rockets, marking his first career multi-touchdown game
• WISCONSIN (9/25): Led the team with seven receptions in the win over the Badgers in the Shamrock series; Marked the third game with seven or more receptions
• CINCINNATI (10/2): Hauled in a team-high eight receptions for 93 yards against Cincinnati; Became the fourth time this season he has led the Irish in receptions
• SOUTHERN CAL (10/23): Finished with five receptions for 54 yards in the win over the Trojans, good for second on the team in catches and receiving yards
• NORTH CAROLINA (10/30): Tallied four receptions for 51 yards in the win; Hauled in 50 receiving yards or more in six of his nine games this season
• VIRGINIA (11/13): Led the team with seven receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown;  Moved into fifth all-time in Notre Dame history for most receiving touchdowns by a tight end in a single season; Marked the fifth time this season he has hauled in seven or more receptions and the fifth game he has led the Irish in receptions.
• GEORGIA TECH (11/20): Mayer hauled in his fifth touchdown of the season on a career-long 52-yard pass against Georgia Tech. He moved into a tie for second all-time for most receiving touchdowns by a tight end in a single season.
• STANFORD (11/27): Set the Notre Dame record for most receptions by a tight end in a single season (64) after hauling in nine for 105 yards in the win over Stanford. Mayer also tied the school record for most receptions by a tight end in a single game in the win. It was his second-career 100-yard receiving game and the eighth game he has had seven or more catches.
• OKLAHOMA STATE – Fiesta Bowl (1/1): Hauled in seven catches for the seventh time this season while gaining 72 yards and adding two scores; Set the school record for TD receptions by a tight end in a single season (7) and passed Tyler Eifert (803 in 2011) to earn the record for most receiving yards by a tight end in a single season (840)

FRESHMAN SEASON (2020)

• Played in all 12 games for the Irish during his rookie season, making starts against South Florida, Syracuse and Alabama; Finished tied for first on the team with 42 catches and second in yards with 450 (10.7 avg) to go with two scores;
• DUKE (9/12): Made a difference off the bench, posting three receptions for 38 yards, including a 17-yard long, in the season-opening win vs. Duke.
• SOUTH FLORIDA (9/19): Earned his first-career start, catching one pass for five yards, in the 52-0 win
• FLORIDA STATE (10/10): Caught two passes for 25 yards and scored his first career touchdown in the 42-26 win
• LOUISVILLE (10/17): Posted one reception for 12 yards, hurdling a defender, in the 12-7 win
• PITT (10/24): Tallied five receptions for 73 yards and a TD (23-yard long) in the 45-2 win at Pitt; All five of his receptions resulted in first downs, and all were for a gain of 10 yards or longer
• GEORGIA TECH (10/31): Caught three passes for 15 yards in the 31-13 win over teh Yellow Jackets
• CLEMSON (11/7): Caught five passes for 67 yards in the 47-40 2OT win over the then-No. 1 Tigers
• BOSTON COLLEGE (11/14): Posted one reception for 12 yards in the 45-31 win
• NORTH CAROLINA (11/27): Recorded four receptions for 54 yards in the 31-17 win over the No. 19 Tar Heels
• SYRACUSE (12/5): Started and posted five receptions for 36 yards in the 41-25 regular season finale win over the Orange
• CLEMSON – ACC Championship (12/19): Led the Irish with five receptions for 51 yards in the ACC title game
• ALABAMA – Rose Bowl (1/1): Started and led the Irish in receiving yards with 62 on seven receptions in the CFP Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game; The seven receptions marked a new single-game career high

PREP

• A four-star recruit by 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN.com
• No. 48 overall player nationally, No. 2 tight end nationally and No. 1 player from Kentucky by 247Sports.com
• No. 37 overall player nationally, No. 3 tight end nationally and No. 1 player from Kentucky by Rivals (6.0 Rivals rank)
• No. 81 player nationally, No. 33 regionally, No. 3 tight end nationally and No. 1 player from Kentucky by ESPN.com (84 Scout Grade)
• Named the 2019 Gatorade Kentucky Football Player of the Year
• In 2019, posted 49 receptions for 970 yards and 15 touchdowns, adding two rushing touchdowns
• On defense, tallied 102.5 tackles, 1.5 sacks and four interceptions (returning one for a touchdown)
• Helped Covington Catholic to a Kentucky 5A State Championship in 2019, and was named the MVP of the title game
• Named 2019 Kentucky Football Coaches Association Mr. Football and 5A District 5 Player of the Year
• Selected to the 2020 U.S. Army All-American Bowl
• Played for coach Eddie Eviston at Covington Catholic

2022

receiving
REC	YPR	TD	LONG	YDS
67.0	12.1	9.0	37.0	809.0

fumbles
REC	LOST	FUM
0.0	0.0	1.0

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0

2021

receiving
REC	YPR	TD	LONG	YDS
71.0	11.8	7.0	52.0	840.0

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
0.0	0.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0

2020

receiving
REC	YPR	TD	LONG	YDS
42.0	10.7	2.0	29.0	450.0

fumbles
REC	LOST	FUM
0.0	0.0	1.0

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0