Michael Mayer, Notre Dame (6’4”, 265)
What Scouts Say:
3 years of strong production at Notre Dame. He has size, and ball skills, and can line up at any position and be effective. He’s a good blocker but lacks top-end speed and a strongly developed route tree. He will not test super well at the combine and does not have the elite athletic ability that makes him appealing to some dynasty players.
What We Saw:
Tony:
Michael Mayer is a tight end that absolutely jumps off the screen as a dude that can do it all. He’s a possession TE that may not wow scouts with his combine numbers, but possesses a monster catch radius, can bring down inaccurate balls, and is a Mack truck with the ball and momentum. He is a strong run blocker who can also line up all over the field and win against linebackers, CBs, and Safeties. His drawbacks are his lack of elite speed, but that’s about all I can see. He’s a great real-life tight end that I believe has a lot of potential to be a set-and-forget mid-level TE1 on a weekly basis in fantasy if given the opportunity. He’s not going to blow the top off of the defense, but he will be a monster on third downs, in the red zone, and over the middle of the field.
Shane:
First off, no one this handsome should be able to be this size and this good at another thing. Mayer is built like a fridge and moves like it. I get it, he’s not the fastest guy out there, but is he the guy? He doesn’t have long speed and lumbers to get to his acceleration after a point but he does have a burst right off the line on every snap. Definition of a DAWG in the blocking game. Mayer isn’t out here pancaking guys but he’s doing just enough to throw them off balance or trajectory before he’s onto the next assignment. No wasted movement is one of the biggest things for Mayer that I saw. Sure he’s not running go routes or more than 15 yards, but he does line up all over the field when required. Very heavily reliant on the post catch, but that’s okay because he’s built to take a DB to the chest and keep trucking. Very good hands and concentration where he can track a ball and utilize his frame to snag it and get you 4-5 more yards. It will take a good scheme to exploit his skill set so you better enjoy him on the Pats. 1.09 is a hard spot on tiers and I’ll take Mayer there every time right now as of mid-Feb.
Player Comparison:
TJ Hockenson/Hunter Henry
