Michael Meyer NFL Draft Profile and Scouting Report
Michael Mayer Scouting Report: Notre Dame TE
2023 NFL Draft Measurements
Michael Mayer 40 time: 4.6 (estimate)
6‘4“ / 265 lbs.
Michael Mayer Draft Profile
Coming out of Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, Mayer was a highly touted prospect. Playing on both offence and defense, Michael helped Covington Catholic to the 5A State Championship while also being named the MVP of the title game. That season, he finished with 49 receptions for 970 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also had two rushing touchdowns on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, he racked up 102.5 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and four interceptions, one of which was a pick six. After the season, he was tabbed Gatorade Kentucky Football Player of the Year. Mayer was also Kentucky Football Coaches Association Mr. Football, and finally 5A District 5 Player of the Year.
I’m sure, based on all that information, it wouldn’t surprise you if I told you that he was graded highly by the all of the recruiting sites. All who had Mayer as a 4 or 5 star recruit. All three sites had Mayer as the #1 player in Kentucky, top 3 tight end nationally, and top 100 overall nationally. Michael would commit to Notre Dame over the likes of Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, and Alabama; who all had offered Mayer a scholarship.
Since arriving at Notre Dame, Mayer has continued to put up impressive stats. In 2020, he finished his freshman campaign with 450 yards and two touchdowns on 42 catches, while earning the nickname “Baby Gronk”. Afterwards, he was named to the Freshman All-American team (247Sports and The Athletic), as well as the All-ACC Third-Team. In both 2021 and 2022, Mayer would finish with over 800 yards receiving and seven and nine touchdowns, respectively. His 71 catches and 840 yards in 2021 are both single-season records for a Notre Dame tight end. The nine touchdowns during the 2022 season is also a Notre Dame single-season record for a tight end.
Strengths
Hands
I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise. In today’s football, where teams are throwing the ball all over the field, you would expect wide receivers and tight ends to be able to catch the ball. Still, I was impressed with just how sure handed Mayer is. In the games that I watched, I didn’t see a dropped pass. Not only did he make all the routine catches, but he was able to fight through contact to bring the ball in as well.
Blocking
Again, you would expect this from a tight end. However, I feel that in today’s game you’re either going to get a tight end that can catch, or one that can block. Whoever is lucky enough to draft Mayer is going to get someone that can do both. I really enjoyed watching him work to set edges and open up holes for his running backs. You can tell that it’s a part of his game that he’s been working on and is completely comfortable with.
Expansive Route Tree
Michael doesn’t have top end speed to burn people deep. It would be understandable for you to expect him to be a guy that sticks with shorter routes. But once again, Mayer shows that he doesn’t conform to the “normal” rules. He has the ability to run any route, and is actually a decent deep threat if he gets the right matchup. He also shown a good ability to find the holes in zone coverages.
Weaknesses
Not a Combine Warrior
What I mean by this is that he isn’t going to be the guy at the combine putting up these ridiculous numbers during drills. No disrespect to Mayer, but he isn’t going to be the guy everyone labels a “freak” because of his athletic ability. He’s still enough of an athlete to do what is needed of him on the football field. And what he lacks is speed/quickness he makes up for by being extremely difficult to bring down thanks to his size and strength.
Michael Mayer Draft Stock
It didn’t take long for me to see why everyone had Mayer tabbed as a first round pick. NFL Mock Draft Database currently has him listed as their 17th best overall player. ESPN’s Mel Kiper has him as his #1 tight end and 20th overall draft prospect.
Final Thoughts on Michael Mayer Scouting Report
So far this draft season I’ve been able to scout players like Andre Carter II and John Michael Schmitz. These were players that were sitting right on the fringe of being a potential first round pick. I can say without a doubt that Mayer is the first player I’ve scouted this draft season that I would give a solid “1st Round” label to (and I also wrote up a report on Will Levis). Again, Mayer isn’t going to blow you away athletically, but he’s more than good enough with his skills to come in a be a difference maker day 1 for any NFL team.
Michael Mayer Player Comparison
Rob Gronkowski – Surprise, surprise. A player with the nickname “Baby Gronk” is compared to Gronk. However, I did think about going with Jason Witten here. However, Mayer is a better blocker than Witten was in college. That’s something that was an undervalued part of Gronk’s game during his time at Arizona.
Michael Mayer Scouting Report Analyst – Brandon Claburn
