Welcome to the 28th daily installment of the NFL Draft 1-through-32 series on DK Pittsburgh Sports, intended to introduce you, a prospect at a time, to the top 32 players in the class on a consensus basis, leading right up to the main event.
That, of course, will be April 27-29, in Kansas City, Mo., though all 32 teams, including the Steelers on the South Side, will operate from their local headquarters.
NO. 28: MICHAEL MAYER
Notre Dame tight end
Mayer is the No. 28-rated player on Pro Football Focus' big board. While Dalton Kincaid might be the better pass catcher in comparison, Mayer makes for a more complete prospect at the position.
COLLEGE BACKGROUND
In three seasons at Notre Dame, Mayer racked up 2,099 receiving yards on 180 catches to go with 18 touchdowns. He built off of a strong 2020 after which he was named a Freshman All-American and bred consistency across the board in 2021 and 2022. He registered 71 catches for 840 yards and seven TDs in 2021, and followed it with 67 catches for 809 yards for a career-best nine TDs in 2022. He was named a first-team All-American and was a finalist for the John Mackey Award after the 2022 season. The award went to Georgia's Brock Bowers.
The Alexandria, Ky., native was a consensus five-star recruit and the No. 2 tight end in the class of 2020, per the 247Sports composite. He held 16 offers, including from Penn State. Measuring at 6-foot-4, 232 pounds, Mayer earned a prospect comparison out of high school to current Arizona Cardinals tight end Zach Ertz.
NFL COMBINE, PRO DAY
Mayer checked in at 6-foot-4, 249 pounds with a 31 5/8-inch arm length and a 9 1/2-inch hand width at the NFL Combine. His production score of 85 on the NFL Next Gen Stats scale ranked second among Combine tight ends, though he did not test out as well athletically in earning a score of 63.
His 4.70 40-yard dash time finished just inside of the top 10 among Combine tight ends. He jumped to a 32.5-inch vertical, which was 7.5 inches off of the pace of 40 inches, and his 9-foot-10 broad jump was well off of the pace of 10-foot-8.
Mayer more than makes up for his athletic deficiencies by utilizing his frame well as a run blocker, though scouting reports generally note that Mayer can be inconsistent with his blocking technique because of his hands placement.
At his pro day, Mayer ran a 6.97 three-cone and a 4.31 short shuttle. Those numbers would have tested third and sixth, respectively, among tight ends at the Combine.
Michael Mayer is TE1.
— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) March 25, 2023
Using reported pro day shuttles here, and these are MUCH better numbers than I think anybody expected.
Mayer will have a 1st round grade on our board and would be a nice pick if available at 28 for the #Bengals. pic.twitter.com/3qwEHX6btf
MOCK DRAFT
The USA Today mock draft consensus tracker has Mayer going at No. 28 overall to Cincinnati, with an average draft slotting at 27.33. Our Chris Halicke's latest mock draft has Mayer going to the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 21, while my own mock draft has Mayer going to Dallas at No. 26.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE STEELERS' STANDPOINT
As stated in my 1-for-32 capsule on Utah's Kincaid, the Steelers' tight ends room is already crowded with Pat Freiermuth, the recently re-signed Zach Gentry, and second-year pro Connor Heyward. It would be fun, though!
COREY'S TAKE
Depending on what those late-in-the-round teams are looking for from the tight end position will determine whether Mayer or Kincaid is the first off the board. If they want a polished pass catcher then Kincaid would likely be the pick, but Mayer feels like more of the total package at the position because of his ability to run block. That is exactly why I mocked him to Dallas.
THE REST
1. Alabama QB Bryce Young
2. Georgia DT Jalen Carter
3. Alabama DE Will Anderson Jr.
4. Kentucky QB Will Levis
5. Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud
6. Florida QB Anthony Richardson
7. Illinois CB Devon Witherspoon
8. Texas Tech DE Tyree Wilson
9. TCU WR Quentin Johnston
10. Oregon CB Christian Gonzalez
11. Northwestern OT Peter Skoronski
12. Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
13. Pitt DT Calijah Kancey
14. Iowa DE Lukas Van Ness
15. Utah TE Dalton Kincaid
16. Maryland CB Deonte Banks
17. Alabama S Brian Branch
18. Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr.
19. Ohio State OT Paris Johnson Jr.
20. Tennessee OT Darnell Wright
21. Clemson DT Bryan Bresee
22. Georgia DE Nolan Smith
23. Clemson DE Myles Murphy
24. Oklahoma OT Anton Harrison
25. Iowa State DE Will McDonald IV
26. Georgia OT Broderick Jones
27. Texas RB Bijan Robinson
