Notre Dame Will Need Multiple Answers Without Mitchell Evans

I remember when Notre Dame offered and eventually got a commitment from a kid from Ohio named Mitchell Evans. If I'm being honest, it wasn't a commitment that excited me. You could see some athleticism, but he was a quarterback and I wasn't sure if he was a guy that could come to Notre Dame and move the needle at tight end.

Now, a few years later, Evans had emerged as Notre Dame's best tight end, showing off legit NFL talent against the best competition on the schedule. I've gone from wondering why he was a guy Notre Dame was pushing for to wondering how will Notre Dame be able to replace what he brings to the table.

Being wrong in these instances is something I enjoy, but sentiment aside, replacing Evans won't be easy. The tight end depth chart is loaded, but this isn't just about plugging in a new talented player into the lineup. Evans was Notre Dame's top pass catcher for a reason, and one of them is his ability to get open and make tough grabs had earned the trust of quarterback Sam Hartman. It hasn't been easy for most of the Notre Dame pass catches to earn Hartman's trust, but Evans certainly did.

Notre Dame will need to find an answer at the tight end position, but replacing him is also about production and the impact Evans brought to the table. Ideally, replacing Evans goes beyond just plugging in another tight end.

TIGHT END REPLACEMENT

It's not hard to guess who will replace Evans in the starting lineup. That will be sophomore Holden Staes, who has caught 12 passes for 163 yards this season and leads the Notre Dame offense with four receiving touchdowns. Staes played a big role in Notre Dame's 45-24 road win over NC State, hauling in a career-high four passes for 115 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Staes had a chance to fill in for Evans the next week when the junior missed the Central Michigan game with an injury, and he didn't perform as well. Staes caught just one pass for four yards and also had a third-down drop in the game. He hasn't caught more than two passes in a game or racked up more than 16 yards in a game since the win over the Wolfpack.

With Evans out for the year, Staes will need to be more like the guy we saw against NC State. His game is a bit different from Evans, so Notre Dame will need to make sure it's building the tight end pass game around what he does well. That includes thinking hard about moving him into the boundary at times. For his part, Staes will need to be more consistent assertive as a route runner and more consistent as a blocker.

Staes moving into the starting lineup and taking the No. 1 snaps also creates a void in the role he occupied. While Evans led the position with 425 snaps (according to Pro Football Focus), Staes still played a bunch and had 281 snaps. He earned at least 22 snaps in each game this season, and someone will need to take over those snaps. 

The next highest snaps at tight end is the 76 by Davis Sherwood, who hasn't played on offense in the last two games. Sherwood is more of an H-Back type player, so there are some blocking things he can do that Staes did, so we could see him back in the rotation.

An interesting option for Notre Dame as well are sophomores Eli Raridon and Cooper Flanagan. If Staes doesn't improve his blocking the Irish might have to work in these two into the 11 personnel packages (1 back, 1 tight end, 3 receivers) to give a better blocking player in those looks. When Notre Dame goes 12 personnel (1 back, 2 tight ends, 2 receivers) they can actually keep Staes in the same role he's always had and insert Raridon or Flanagan into the attached tight end spot to provide better at-the-point-of-attack run game production.

Although he was an impact pass catcher in high school and was brought to Notre Dame with that being his best skill, Raridon quickly made his mark as a blocker. It wouldn't be a bad idea to use the fact he's never been targeted in the pass game to their advantage this weekend in hopes of getting him free for a big play. But Notre Dame also needs to be careful with Raridon, who has played just 32 snaps so far this season as he continues to come back from a second straight ACL injury.

That could open the door for Flanagan to be the guy who actually sees a bigger jump in snaps. Flanagan has been Notre Dame's best blocking tight end at times, possessing elite size (6-6, 262), impressive power for a rookie, and a willingness to mix it up.

Between Flanagan and Raridon the Irish have plenty of big time talent to use, but both are young and unproven in regard to being full-time players. One, or both, of those young tight ends will need to step up over the next three games.

GO TO GUY

Replacing Evans isn't just about filling the tight end spot, it's about replacing Hartman viewing him as the go-to pass catcher. When Hartman was in a pinch or needed a big play he often looked in the direction of his standout tight end. Hartman has been willing to throw tough balls into tight windows with Evans, something he hasn't been willing to do with the vast majority of the pass catchers outside of maybe Rico Flores Jr.

Hartman felt this way for good reason. According to PFF, Hartman targeted Evans 39 times this season, and they connected on 29 of those targets, which is good for a 74.4-percent completion rate. Twenty-four of those catches went for either a first down or a touchdown.

Hartman will need to find a new go-to player, and it doesn't have to be a tight end. If Staes fills that void, great, problem solved. But it could also be a wide receiver or even a running back in certain situations. Ideally, the loss of Evans forces multiple players to re-focus and step up their games in order to provide Hartman with greater confidence in them when they get into key moments.

If junior Jayden Thomas is back to full strength and full speed he could be that player. Hartman and Thomas developed a strong rapport in the spring and early in the season, but Thomas struggled against NC State and then went down with a hamstring injury against Ohio State. Heading into that game it was Thomas that led the Irish in catches, but he has just four catches for 56 yards in the four games since, and he missed the win over Duke.

Hartman also had a good spring and early season connection with Jaden Greathouse, but that was lost when he too began battling hamstring issues. After catching 12 passes for 166 yards for three touchdowns in the first five games, Greathouse has been held without a catch in the last three, and he also missed the Duke game. This lack of production also coincided with Greathouse moving outside, and with Hartman seeming unwilling to throw outside much in the last month, the end result is the Texas freshman not making an impact in October.

If Hartman can reconnect with Thomas and Greathouse it not only helps fill the void left by Evans, it goes beyond that and makes the pass game more dangerous, more efficient and sets up some other things outside.

SPREADING THE WEALTH

Regardless of someone stepping into the go-to player role, the hope is that Hartman gets back to spreading the ball around. He has a lot of weapons, and the skill players are as healthy now as they've been since the middle of September. Evans being out is not a positive, but him going out could be alleviated by Hartman being more willing to spread the wealth.

Hopefully Hartman connecting with Chris Tyree for big plays the last two games increases his confidence in the senior speedster. Yes, Tyree had a big drop against Louisville, but he's been dependable outside of that play, he gets open a lot, and few teams have the speed at slot, safety and linebacker to run with him. 

As reliable as Evans was for Hartman, Tyree has been even more so, he just doesn't get as many targets. Tyree has been targeted just 24 times in nine games, but he's caught 19 of those passes and he leads the team in receiving yards now that Evans is out. That's good for a 79.2-percent completion rate when Tyree is targeted. When you consider that 24-percent of his targets have been on throws 20 yards or more (he's. caught 4 of 6 targets in this zone), and he's caught 4 of 5 targets on throws from 10-19, it would make sense for the Irish coaches - and Hartman - to get him a bit more involved in the pass game.

Getting a breakout from Tobias Merriweather could also help the offense a great deal, but right now it doesn't look like Hartman wants to look in his direction very often. Hopefully the 42-yard connection they had in the win over Pittsburgh is a sign of things to come.

Flores has been a guy Hartman likes to target a lot as well, and Merriweather, Thomas and Greathouse becoming a bigger part of the pass game would reduce his targets, but that could be a good thing. Flores has been taken out of his comfort zone as well and is being forced into a key outside role, and his game isn't ready for that. Others stepping up outside could allow Notre Dame to move Flores around a bit more and get him into spots that he would be more comfortable with, like we saw on the drag route last week against Pitt.

The reality is there are a lot of options, and I didn't even get into the possibility of triggering the backs more in the pass game. The key is the skill players all need to step up their game with Evans out, Hartman needs to be more willing to look around, and the coaches need to tailor things to the skillsets of the of players in the lineup now.

We'll get our first glimpse of what this will look like on Saturday against Clemson. If you want the ideal answer, it's not just one player that steps up, it's multiple. If that happens the Irish are going to be very dangerous on offense down the stretch and heading into the postseason.