Notre Dame's Cole Kmet, John Shannon Rank Among The Best
Two members of the 2019 Notre Dame roster have been recognized relatively quietly as the best at what they do on the field of play.
Junior tight end Cole Kmet was ranked the No. 1 tight end for the 2020 NFL Draft by well-respected draft analyst Dane Brugler of The Athletic — even though Kmet himself has not declared to turn pro.
Meanwhile, senior long snapper John Shannon this weekend was the inaugural recipient of the Patrick Mannelly Award as the nation's best in his specialty field.
Back in November, Kmet indicated that his plan is to return for his senior season and also continue pitching for the Irish baseball team, where younger brother Casey Kmet is now a freshman catcher and infielder under first-year head coach Link Jarrett.
Despite missing the first two games this season while recovering from a broken collarbone incurred during an Aug. 8, practice, Kmet is the second-leading receiver for the Fighting Irish with 41 catches for 482 yards (11.8 yards per catch) and six touchdowns — the latter tying 1977 Walter Camp Player of the Year Ken MacAfee for most in a season by a Notre Dame tight end.
While tight ends often are categorized as “pass catchers” who can split out like current Irish sophomore Tommy Tremble (15 catches, 174 yards and five touchdowns) or “blockers” such as junior Brock Wright, Kmet combines the best of both worlds with his 6-5 ½, 250-pound frame, where he is both an improved and productive in-line blocker or also can be a detached “flex” figure who presents a matchup problem for the defense.
Since 1974, Notre Dame has produced 10 first- or second-round draft picks at tight end — not even including future Pro Bowl performer Mark Bavaro — and Kmet would appear destined for a similar path.
Shannon, made some history of his own this past Saturday as the first recipient of the Mannelly Award, presented to the best long snapper in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Duke graduate Mannelly was the Chicago Bears’ long snapper in his 16 NFL seasons from 1998-2013.
The grandson of former Notre Dame All-American/captain Dan Shannon (1952-54) was the starting long-snapper the past three seasons at Notre Dame and capped this regular season with 14 snaps and a fumble recovery in the 45-24 victory at Stanford that earned him the game ball.
He joined Iowa State’s Steven Wirtel and Ohio State’s Liam McCullough as the three finalists for the award. Shannon and the Irish will cap their 2019 campaign against Wirtel’s Cyclones in the Camping World Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28 (noon ET on ABC).
During his Notre Dame career, Shannon recorded 395 snaps — 132 this season — and had just one errant snap per Pro Football Focus.
He had one more season of eligibility remaining in 2020 but, per head coach Brian Kelly, has opted to begin a law enforcement career in Evanston, Ill., after the bowl game.
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