Notre Dame 99-to-0: No. 85 Holden Staes, sophomore tight end, up 20 pounds in a year

Listed measurements: 6-foot-4 ¼, 242 pounds. 2023-24 year, eligibility: A sophomore, Staes has three seasons of eligibility remaining. Depth Chart: Staes was one of just two tight ends healthy this spring, along with junior starter Mitchell Evans. Staes may be jumped by classmate Eli Raridon once the latter is fully recovered from an October ACL tear, but it is more likely Staes’ health keeps him as Notre Dame’s No. 2 tight end in 2023. Recruiting: The recruiting rankings industry can be hard to understand. Staes signed with the Irish in December of 2021 as the No. 23 tight end in the class, turning down offers from Alabama, his homestate power Georgia and Texas. He had previously broken a six-month commitment to Penn State, one made in the midst of the recruiting dead period in the pandemic.

But when the recruiting cycle completely concluded two months after Staes signed with Notre Dame, he had risen to be the No. 8 tight end in the class, per rivals.com. A slight move in one direction or another could make some sense in the final rankings update, but jumping 15 spots in his positional rankings is an example of the recruiting rankings industry being an enigma.

CAREER TO DATE As the Irish tight ends fell to injury last season, combined with Notre Dame having nearly as few healthy receivers, Staes was pushed into more playing time despite arriving on campus just in the summer. After playing minimally in the first three weeks, he appeared in the final 10 games of the season. His sole catch came against BYU, an 11-yard first down.

NAME, IMAGE, LIKENESS The vintage-designed Notre Dame crewneck worn by Staes in the second photo here, is that widely available for purchase?

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