NFL Draft: It was a big day for Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer and Isaiah Foskey

From a Notre Dame press release:

The University of Notre Dame football team saw two of its record-setting student-athletes selected as two of the top 40 picks of the 2023 NFL Draft on Friday, April 28.

Michael Mayer was selected early in the second round as the 35th pick of the draft by the Las Vegas Raiders. He was followed quickly by former teammate Isaiah Foskey who was selected in the same round as the 40th pick by the New Orleans Saints.

Michael Mayer

Mayer led all FBS tight ends in touchdown receptions in 2022 while posting a team-high 67 receptions for 809 yards in 2022. The Independence, Kentucky, native finished his career at Notre Dame as the greatest statistical tight end in school history, setting program tight end marks for receptions (180), yards (2,099) and touchdown receptions (18) while also owning the single-season tight end records for receptions (71 in 2021), yards (840 in 2021) and touchdowns (9 in 2022).

Among Mayer’s noteworthy games in 2022 was an 11-catch, 118-yard, two-touchdown performance against No. 16/16 BYU in Las Vegas, a game in which he established a tight end record for receptions in a game. He piled up six catches for 115 yards and a touchdown against UNLV, seven catches for 88 yards and a score at North Carolina, four catches for 44 yards and a touchdown against No. 5/5 Clemson and eight catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns at No. 5/5 Southern Cal.

Mayer led all active FBS tight ends in receptions (180) and yards (2,099). He also finished his career third on Notre Dame’s all-time receptions list while becoming the 13th Irish player to amass 2,000 receiving yards in a career. Mayer capped his time at Notre Dame on a 36-game streak of games with at least one reception which represented every contest he suited up in the blue and gold.

Mayer becomes the eighth Notre Dame tight end selected in the draft over the past 10 years and is the fifth Irish TE to be selected in the first three rounds in that same time frame. He is the first Notre Dame tight end selected by the Raiders since NFL and College Football Hall of Famer Dave Casper in 1974.

Isaiah Foskey

Isaiah Foskey posted 11 sacks in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons and finished his career with 26.5 sacks, breaking Justin Tuck’s school record which had stood since 2004. The 11 sacks in ‘22 were tied for fourth in the FBS and he also led Notre Dame with 14 tackles for loss and six quarterback hurries.

One of the most consistent defenders on the team, Foskey logged at least three tackles in 10 of Notre Dame’s 12 games in 2022 including five at North Carolina (with 1.5 sacks and two hurries) and another five at No. 5/5 Southern Cal with 1.5 sacks.

Foskey becomes the fourth defensive end from Notre Dame selected in the NFL Draft over the past four seasons. He is the second Irish DE picked by the Saints, as Kevin Hardy was a first-round selection (seventh overall) for the Saints in 1968.