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SOUTH BEND ― Tyler Warren and Mitchell Evans were on similar journeys in their respective football careers.
Warren, now at Penn State, was the 21st-ranked tight end prospect in the Class of 2020 by 247Sports. Meanwhile, Evans, now at Notre Dame, was the 22nd-ranked tight end prospect in the Class of 2021.
Both saw a handful of snaps here and there in their first couple of college seasons before seeing an increased workload last year. While Warren was splitting reps with Theo Johnson at Penn State, Evans started to breakout as the next great tight end at Notre Dame.
More: Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman knows Penn State is loaded
In the eighth game of the season, though, Evans tore his ACL. While the now-senior has still been a key part of the Fighting Irish offense, he hasn’t reached the same level he was at in Oct. 2023.
Meanwhile, Warren has ascended into the top tight end in the country, winning the John Mackey Award and finishing seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting as the nation’s top overall player.
Although they don’t play against each other on the field, it’ll certainly be a dynamic battle to follow between Evans and Warren on Thursday in a College Football Playoff semifinal game at the Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Florida (7:30 p.m., ESPN).
More: Quick turnaround for Notre Dame football puts a premium on time management before Orange Bowl
“With (Warren) getting all the recognition, it’s obviously a motivating factor to be like, ‘People are forgetting, I can do all of that, too,’” Evans said. “But football doesn’t work like that sometimes. It’s about how the ball rolls and who gets the ball. It’s not up to me.”
At the time of his injury last year, Evans had 29 receptions, 422 yards and one touchdown. Despite missing the last five games of the season, he still finished second…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mitchell-evans-stats-decreased-2024-151637951.html
Author : South Bend Tribune
Publish date : 2025-01-05 15:16:00
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