#87

Michael Mayer

Former tight end at Notre Dame. 2022: 67 catches, 809 receiving yards, 9 TD.

TE · Notre Dame · Jr. · #87

6′4″ · 265 lb · Independence, KY

CFB Index 90 · #4 of 132 TEsMedium-low confidenceConsensus AALas Vegas — drafted 2023, Rd 2, Pick 4, #35 overall

Recruiting

5★

TE recruit

No. 32 nationally · Signed with Notre Dame

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former tight end at Notre Dame. 2022: 67 catches, 809 receiving yards, 9 TD.

Signed as a 5-star recruit to Notre Dame in 2020.
Drafted round 2 by the Las Vegas in 2023.
Named All-America (AP) in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Notre Dame, 2,099 receiving yards, an All-American season (2022) — drafted at #35 overall by Las Vegas.

His career

He was winning awards before he was old enough to be a story.

The week the volume broke through — put up 120 yds at Florida State.Florida State · W 41-382021

202011 games

Signed with Notre Dame5-star out of Covington Catholic
All-ACCthird

202212 games

All-Americafirst · 7 selectors

2023

Drafted by Las Vegasround 2, pick 35

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★★

#32 national

CFB

College

Notre Dame

2020–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

R2 · #35

Las Vegas · 2023

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

7 honors · 2 categories

🏆

ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS

Consensus AA (2022)

5 first-team selectors

🎖

ALL-ACC

All-ACC mention (2020)

Coaching lineage · 2020–2022

2 coaches

2020–2021

Brian Kelly

Notre Dame

2022

Marcus Freeman

Notre Dame

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Brian Kelly → Marcus Freeman. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

Las VegasEntering 4th NFL season

#35Rd 2 · Pick 4

Las VegasEntering 4th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Notre Dame10-2HC: Brian Kelly · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2021Notre Dame11-2HC: Brian Kelly · Balanced

2022Notre Dame9-4HC: Marcus Freeman · Run-heavy

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

90All-America level #4 of 132?

Medium-low confidence11 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rec tds (100th percentile). Strength: receptions (99th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#199 / 636 · 69th pct

8.8%

Explosive rate#218 / 636 · 66th pct

16.2%

EPA / target#239 / 636 · 62nd pct

0.79

Catch rate#292 / 636 · 53rd pct

80.0%

Yards / catch#355 / 636 · 44th pct

11.8

Box-score rates (6)

Rec TDs#1 / 158 · 100th pct

Receptions#2 / 158 · 99th pct

Rec yards#4 / 158 · 98th pct

809

Fumbles lost#1 / 35 · 84th pct

Yards / catch#57 / 158 · 64th pct

12.1

Long catch#68 / 158 · 56th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

48th → 62nd percentile

Explosive rate

53rd → 66th percentile

Catch rate

50th → 53rd percentile

TD rate

62nd → 69th percentile

Yards / catch

42nd → 44th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2022 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	5.9	73.4	11.9	0.9
Road5g	5.2	59.0	11.4	0.6

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	6.3	68.5	9.9	0.8
Weeks 8+6g	4.8	66.3	13.5	0.7

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Marcus Freeman

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2022

Consensus All-American

First team on a majority of the recognized selector lists.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

90 · #4 of 132 TEs

Former five-star. Now #4 at the position.

Selector Grid · 2022

AP—

FWAA—

AFCA—

WCFF1st

SN1st

SI—

Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Notre Dame	67	809	12.1	9	--
2021	Notre Dame	71	840	11.8	7	--
2020	Notre Dame	42	450	10.7	2	--
Career		180	2,099	11.7	18	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2022

W 35–14

vs Clemson

4 rec · 44 yds · 1 TD

Dominant 21-point win at home against Clemson.

With J. Sot — 38 AVG · 3 IN 20 · 49 LONG · D. Pyne — 85 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 53.9 · 21 rush yds (4 car) · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 6 · BYU · 3&13 · Q3 · EPA +3.33Drew Pyne pass complete to Michael Mayer for 15 yds to the BYU 36 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · BYU · 3&6 · Q3 · EPA +3.14Michael Mayer 19 Yd pass from Drew Pyne (Blake Grupe Kick)
Week 8 · UNLV · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.99Drew Pyne pass complete to Michael Mayer for 20 yds for a TD, (Blake Grupe KICK)
Week 12 · Boston College · 3&5 · Q1 · EPA +2.90Drew Pyne pass complete to Michael Mayer for 23 yds to the NDame 48 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Marshall · 4&1 · Q4 · EPA +2.85Drew Pyne pass complete to Michael Mayer for 5 yds for a TD, (Two-Point Conversion failed )
Week 6 · BYU · 3&9 · Q1 · EPA +2.78Drew Pyne pass complete to Michael Mayer for 11 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Week 6 · BYU · 2&5 · Q2 · EPA +2.71Drew Pyne pass complete to Michael Mayer for 24 yds for a TD, (Blake Grupe KICK)
Week 13 · USC · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.68Michael Mayer 24 Yd pass from Drew Pyne (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)
Week 13 · USC · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.65Michael Mayer 22 Yd pass from Drew Pyne (Blake Grupe Kick)
Week 8 · UNLV · 2&7 · Q1 · EPA +2.61Drew Pyne pass complete to Michael Mayer for 23 yds to the UNLV 49 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 10-21@ Ohio State	5	32	6.4	0	17
Wk 2	L 21-26vs Marshall	8	103	12.9	1	30
Wk 3	W 24-17vs California	2	10	5.0	1	6
Wk 4	W 45-32@ North Carolina	7	88	12.6	1	20
Wk 6	W 28-20vs BYU	11	118	10.7	2	24	Season-high 118 yds
Wk 7	L 14-16vs Stanford	5	60	12.0	0	21
Wk 8	W 44-21vs UNLV	6	115	19.2	1	34
Wk 9	W 41-24@ Syracuse	3	54	18.0	0	37
Wk 10	W 35-14vs Clemson	4	44	11.0	1	17
Wk 11	W 35-32@ Navy	3	23	7.7	0	14
Wk 12	W 44-0vs Boston College	5	64	12.8	0	23
Wk 13	L 27-38@ USC	8	98	12.3	2	24	2 TD catches
Total		67	809	11.7	9	37

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Michael Mayer

202011 games

202212 games

2023

2022 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Consensus All-American

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Complete TE

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