Notre Dame football tight end Eli Raridon was born to play for the Irish

SOUTH BEND — Thinking back to last summer and his on-field indoctrination to Notre Dame football, Eli Raridon can’t help but laugh.
“It was definitely an awakening from high school,” the sophomore tight end said during the offseason. “I remember my first fall camp, we were in helmets and spiders as opposed to full pads. I remember doing my first play, thinking it would be 50% and they were going 100%.”
When the four-star signee from Des Moines, Iowa arrived, he spread just 240 pounds across his 6-foot-7 frame and was best known for his pass-catching exploits. That didn’t stop him from carving out a niche as one of the best run blockers in the nation.
Notre Dame's Eli Raridon prior to Notre Dame Fall Practice on Friday, August 05, 2022, at Irish Athletics Center in South Bend, Indiana.
According to Pro Football Focus, Raridon graded out No. 15 in run blocking among all tight ends with at least 50 such snaps in 2022. All-American Michael Mayer ranked sixth.
Fifty-one of Raridon’s run-blocking snaps came in wins over North Carolina and BYU. Both were sandwiched around the bye week as Raridon became a key part of Notre Dame’s 12- and 13-personnel sets, especially in goal-line situations.
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“It was definitely an amazing feeling that they put me up there for that,” Raridon said. “You know you need to have a really tough mindset to be up there knowing that your block’s depending on if you score or not. I was really honored to be in that situation.”
After suffering a non-contact injury in practice the week after the Stanford game, Raridon spent a second straight offseason rehabbing a torn ACL in his right knee. By the spring he had bulked up to 250 pounds, and the goal was to take the field at 260 by the fall.
That should only make Raridon even more effective as a blocking weapon this season.
“When I came in here, I felt like I was definitely one of the strongest tight ends,” he said. “The only thing that was keeping me from blocking was my weight. Adding that extra weight and putting on strength with that will make me a really good blocking tight end.”
The son of a former Notre Dame long snapper and backup offensive lineman (Scott Raridon Jr.) and the grandson of a Lou Holtz-era Notre Dame strength coach (Scott Raridon Sr.), the latest Raridon to suit up for the Irish is poised to make a push this fall.