We rapidly close in on #1 on our most important players for Notre Dame in 2012. Today we look at #3, senior tight end Tyler Eifert. It's not too often that an NFL-caliber and NFL-ready tight end decides to return to college, but Notre Dame is glad Eifert became an exception as he will most likely be the key to a successful Irish offense this year.
Eifert has come a long way over his Notre Dame career. A back injury nearly forced Eifert to end his football career before it really started with the Irish. Fortunately, he was able to recover and return to the team, and has that ever been good news. Many thought the Fighting Irish would lose a step when Kyle Rudolph left for the NFL draft, but not so. Eifert stepped in at the end of the 2010 season and finished on a tear making some amazing catches. He then started all last season and quickly became another in the long line of great Irish tight ends. This year, Eifert may not just solidify his place in ND lore, he may be in line for the greatest season ever by a Notre Dame tight end.
Eifert enters the season with 90 career catches for 1,155 yards and seven touchdowns. That's already fourth most for career catches for a tight end in school history and just 39 more catches away from the all-time record. His 63 catches last season set an single-season record as did his 803 yards receiving. With 604 more yards this season he will surpass the great Ken McAfee for most receiving yards in a career by a tight end. Those numbers should be easily attained if he can stay healthy. The amazing thing about all that is the fact that Eifert even has another year of eligibility in 2013 if he so chooses. That's a long way off, but it goes to show how important Eifert has been so far and how important he will be this season.
Eifert stands out not only because of his numbers, but the fact he is one of the most experienced and easily the most productive receiver the Irish have in 2012. Only TJ Jones can rival Eifert for playing time. With the ND receiving corps so young and inexperienced, expect Eifert to become the favorite target for Irish quarterbacks. That's how the Irish will get around the lack of experience at receiver; by splitting the tight end wide and using him as a receiver. Ironically, it will probably be odd to see Eifert line up in the traditional tight end spot along the offensive line. That almost takes away from his game.
No one knows how good this offense will be this season simply because of all the unanswered questions, but the one thing we do know is that Tyler Eifert will be a huge part of the attack and any success they may have on offense will be because Eifert is out there.
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