Editor’s Note: Below the usual 99-to-2 post regarding No. 82 Nic Weishar, you can find a quick Notre Dame story once spun by the great sportswriter Frank Deford. Deford died Sunday at the age of 78.
Listed Measurements: 6-foot-4 ½, 242 pounds
2017-18 year, eligibility: Senior with two seasons of eligibility remaining including the 2017 season
Depth chart: Weishar currently sits third among the tight ends, behind fifth-year senior Durham Smythe and junior Alizé Mack, though early enrolled-freshman Brock Wright may pass Weishar soon, if he didn’t in spring practice, among the receiving options at the position.
Recruiting: A consensus four-star recruit and U.S. Army All-American, rivals.com rated Weishar as the No. 7 tight end in his class. He chose Notre Dame over offers from Michigan, Ohio State and Oklahoma, among others.
CAREER TO DATE
Wieshar has made three catches in each of the last two seasons and after spending 2014 on the sidelines preserving a year of eligibility. As frustrating as last year’s passing game de-emphasis on the tight ends was for Irish fans and Smythe, in particular, it also deprived Weishar of a prime chance to establish himself as a viable option while Mack sat out the season due to academic issues.
2015: 12 games, three receptions, 19 yards
2016: 12 games, three receptions, 47 yards
QUOTE(S)
If you go back a few years, there are a bounty of quotes raving about Weishar, including Irish coach Brian Kelly calling him “the finest pass catching tight end we saw” on 2014’s National Signing Day. In the last number of months — if granting the premise more recent quotes are also more pertinent — mention of Weishar has often included mention of Wright in the same breath, hence the presumption Wright may be moving up the depth chart quicker than expected, to Weishar’s detriment.
“We can play four of those tight ends as receivers,” Kelly said in March. “We think there’s great versatility. You know Durham Smythe has really made great strides. He’s been very impressive. I think Alizé and Nic Weishar and Brock Wright and all of those guys can be on the field. You can detach them and you can’t say I’m not going to cover them. They have the ability to impact what we’re doing.”
It should be noted somewhere, and here seems as good a place as any, Weishar finished the Blue-Gold Game with two catches for 25 yards with two other targets. Meanwhile, Wright received no targets.
WHAT KEITH ARNOLD PROJECTED A YEAR AGO
“I’m setting the ceiling at 10 catches this season, though I’d be happy to be wrong. While Weishar is again the No. 2 tight end, and there’s a better argument to be made for sharing the ball with tight ends this season than last, it’s still an offense with a handful of playmakers to incorporate before working our way down to TE2.
“I could be underrating Weishar, who has earned more than his share of raves for his hands and reliability as a red zone target. But if you’re picking favorites behind Hunter and trying to find a place in the pecking order for Weishar, I have him below guys like [now-junior receiver] Equanimeous St. Brown and even [now-junior receiver] Miles Boykin before figuring out what Durham Smythe’s production will be.
“The staff will find a way to use Weishar to best accentuate his skills. As of right now, I just think that’s going to be as a guy who gets one or two targets a game, though some of those should come in the red zone.”
2017 OUTLOOK
Keith’s point from a year ago regarding “a handful of playmakers to incorporate before working our way down to TE2” rings even truer when that final position is the No. 3 or possibly even No. 4 tight end. Weishar may have the talent to contribute at Notre Dame, but the chances of learning that become less and less likely with the continued emergence of other options.
St. Brown’s breakout campaign last year, Boykin’s strong spring showing, sophomore receiver Chase Claypool’s intriguing potential and Mack’s return all diminish Weishar’s role in the Irish offense.
If Mack were to flash the inconsistency or immaturity that cost him the 2016 season, suddenly Weishar would be back in the conversation. Offensive coordinator Chip Long has a history of using two tight ends. That makes the third spot on the tight end depth chart less the figurative imprisonment sentence it usually would be. Provided Smythe and Mack both stay healthy and in good graces, though, Weishar’s path to significant playing time in 2017 may have closed.
DOWN THE ROAD
Weishar will have another year of college eligibility after this season. If Mack were to excel in 2017 and then declare for the NFL, there would be reason to offer Weishar a fifth year at Notre Dame. If Mack returns, along with Wright and incoming freshman Cole Kmet, such an offer would seem very unlikely, especially in light of the coming scholarship crunch.
Given Weishar’s oft-praised natural talents, a graduate transfer elsewhere makes the most sense, perhaps to a mid-major in search of a tight end who can contribute in the passing game. Maybe a MAC school will be looking for a tight end after its current senior with 10 career scores to date graduates following the 2017 season. Conceivably, that team could even be coached by someone familiar with Weishar and what he could offer.
Just a thought, nothing more.
ON FRANK DEFORD
In the spring of 2010, toward the end of this scribe’s sophomore year at Notre Dame, Frank Deford delivered the Red Smith Lecture in Journalism. Even an ignorant 20-year-old knew not to miss a chance to hear from a man often referred to as “the world’s greatest sportswriter.” Deford’s lecture bore the title, “Sportswriter is One Word.”
Thanks to the wonders of technology and external hard drives, a seven-year-old transcript was found quickly upon learning of Deford’s death Sunday. Since he was delivering a speech at Notre Dame, he dutifully wove in an Irish story, quoted in full below. The quick, nearly off-handed, tale showcased what set Deford apart. In 1962 he went to South Bend to do a story on the basketball team. He left with a quintessentially-Notre Dame quip about a priest. In the telling of the interim, Deford described the head coach, made a reader/listener laugh and did so without wasting time.
Johnny Dee was the coach, a wonderful guy. I walked into Johnny’s house and, without asking, he immediately mixed up a batch of martinis. He called them martoonis. He insisted on calling me Francis, which I’m not, but after a couple of martoonis, I let it go.
I traveled with the team to Evansville. Also along was the team chaplain, Fr. Tom Brennan, who according to campus legend, rivaled St. Thomas Aquinas in the marks he received for graduate study in Rome. Fr. Brennan described to me fascinating conversations that he reported he had with the devil.
Then, when the game began, almost immediately he started getting onto the officials. Understand, it’s a good cop-bad cop arrangement with Johnny Dee, and the priest is the bad cop.
Finally, the lead ref came over to the bench and threatened to give a technical to the priest. “Father,” he said, wagging a finger at him. “I call the game. You call the Mass.”
I always had a fond spot in my heart for Notre Dame after that.
2017’s Notre Dame 99-to-2
Friday at 4: Goodbye A-to-Z, hello 99-to-2 (May 12)
No. 99: Jerry Tillery, defensive tackle
No. 98: Andrew Trumbetti, defensive end
No. 97: Micah Dew-Treadway, defensive tackle
No. 96: Pete Mokwuah, defensive tackle
No. 95 (theoretically): Darnell Ewell, defensive tackle
No. 94 (theoretically): Kurt Hinish, defensive tackle
No. 93: Jay Hayes, defensive end
No. 92 (theoretically): Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, defensive tackle
No. 91: Ade Ogundeji, defensive end
No. 90 (theoretically): Cole Kmet, tight end
No. 89: Brock Wright, tight end
No. 88: Javon McKinley, receiver
No. 87 (theoretically): Jafar Armstrong, receiver
No. 86: Alizé Mack, tight end
No. 85: Tyler Newsome, punter
No. 84 (theoretically): Michael Young, receiver
No. 83: Chase Claypool, receiver