Big Board ranking: #17
Positional ranking: #2
Overview
Position: TE
College: Notre Dame
Class: Junior
Age: 21
Measurables
Height: 6’4 1/2”
Weight: 249 lbs.
Arm length: 31 5/8″
Hand size: 9 1/2″
Athletic testing
40-yard dash: 4.70 sec.
10-yard split: 1.66 sec.
Vertical jump: 32.5″
Broad jump: 118.0″
Bench press: N/A
3-cone drill: N/A
Short shuttle: N/A
Strengths
Powerful tight end with a muscular build. Extremely soft hands. Catches the ball very smoothly and looks it all the way in. Big catch radius and tremendous timing to extend for passes. A+ catch-in-traffic ability with high-level catch focus. Wins with size and body positioning on 50-50 balls. Impressive foot quickness for a big tight end. Clean overall route runner. Understands how to leverage defensive backs and doesn’t tip his hand on breaks. Sets up slants with hard outside fakes. Crisp on simple post and corner breaks. Has plus acceleration to separate on over routes. Very good build-up speed. Will use a slight forearm push off to create separation on breaks. Outstanding ability to high-point the ball while on the move. Can line up anywhere from in-line tight end to outside the numbers. Used on pop passes and quick screens on the perimeter. Physical and strong as a runner. Rumbles for yards in the open field. Sells fake blocks before running routes into the flat on RPO-type plays. Aggressive overall run blocker. Plenty of experience with traditional in-line blocking duties. Will thump opponents on cross-formation motion blocks. Very effective on second-level blocks.
Weaknesses
Has some tightness in his movements. More of a power athlete that lacks fluidity on complex breaks. Would like to see him keep his feet under him and be more consistently dominating as a blocker. Blocking technique can be cleaned up in general to be more of an engage-and-driver rather than a hitter.
NFL comparison
Cole Kmet
Conclusion
Overall, Mayer is an all-around tight end that profiles as a tremendous security blanket with the ability to play as an in-line option or split out wide. His natural hands, impressive strength, and effectiveness in traffic should make Mayer a long-time NFL starter.