Patriots Draft Profile: Notre Dame TE Mitchell Evans

With the top two tights ends on the roster being 30-years old, including Austin Hooper who signed just a one-year deal this off-season, it makes sense the New England Patriots are eyeing the position in the 2025 NFL Draft.

As we know, the offensive tackle, receiver, and edge positions are widely considered a priority for Mike Vrabel & Co., there's a tight end class deep with quality talent, presenting an opportunity to land a player capable of competing right away well into Day Three.

Last week, Ryan McGlaughlin of Musket Fire identified Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans as a quality option for the Patriots.

"Evans' stats last year — 43 catches, 421 yards, three touchdowns — aren't overly flashy, but he excelled in a Notre Dame offense that was primarily run-first," McLaughlin wrote. "That program has produced fine tight ends over the last several years, and at 6'5'', Evans represents a big target who would be a vital asset in the red zone."

It's important to note that Evans wasn't 100 percent healthy in 2024 following an ACL tear that occurred fairly late in Notre Dame's 2023-24 season, during a late-October matchup with the Pitt Panthers.

Before then, the product of Wadsworth, Ohio, was putting together a breakout season.

The 6-foot-5, 260-pound tight end played in all 13 games as a true freshman in 2021, which is uncommon for a Notre Dame program that has churned out NFL tight ends Michael Mayer (Las Vegas Raiders), Tommy Tremble (Carolina Panthers), Cole Kmet and Durham Smythe (Chicago Bears), and Brock Wright (Detroit Lions), only naming the current pros at the position.

However, Evans caught just five passes for 60 yards and one touchdown across his underclassmen years, primarily an inline blocker through 2021 and 2022. Evans leaped into a much more prominent role as a junior in 2023, making a big splash early in the year in a nationally-televised battle between the Irish and the Buckeyes in primetime with seven catches for 75 yards, including the one-handed snag shown below.