Can Michael Mayer be the next Jason Witten if drafted by the Cowboys? | Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast

Yahoo Sports' Matt Harmon and Charles McDonald discuss the expectations for Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer in the NFL Draft, and debate if Jason Witten is a good comparison for Mayer as he is mocked to the Dallas Cowboys.

Video Transcript

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MATT HARMON: Who is your tight end one between Michael Mayer, 6' 4", 249 pounds out of Notre Dame, seems to be more of a two-way player, or Dalton Kincaid, who's 6' 4", 246 out of Utah, two different guys there at the tight end position, which player do you prefer?

CHARLES MCDONALD: I mean, I don't even have Dalton Kincaid as my tight end two, so it's going to be Michael Mayer from Notre Dame. I don't know. I-- to me, like, there are some of these guys in draft season that are just-- to me, are just really easy, clean evals, and Mayer is one of them to me. In terms of being a receiver, I know he's not the flashiest athlete out there, but he's as well-rounded as they come in terms of just like getting open, finding spots, making tough catches.

I think sometimes, being quarterback's best friend gets overused a little bit, but I do think that that's kind of the archetype that he can slide into pretty quick. He's young. Already has a lot of experience. I think when you look at him, he's a pretty clean prospect. He's not like the best blocker, but he'll go out there and try and sometimes he can be a positive for his offense. So I think that even that is a spot where he can grow a lot In the NFL, and that's kind of what puts me in the Mayer tight end one camp. I think it's the age. I think it's the athleticism, which has kind of become underrated for him, and, really, just how clean of a receiving prospect he is.

MATT HARMON: Yeah, I watched Michael Mayer and I feel like just a damn good player. Like you said, easy, safe projection, and I think that's kind of gotten overlooked as well, and, apparently, Dallas is like really interested in Michael Mayer, and they see him as like a Jason Witten type. And I know Jason Witten sort of became a meme towards the end of his career because he was a disaster in the Monday Tonight Football booth, and then went back to play for the Cowboys. And he was like so slow and doing the little twinkle toe stuff as a mover, but he was an awesome player at his peak.

Does that sort of make sense for Mayer?

CHARLES MCDONALD: Yeah, I think it makes sense. And it's honestly one that I kept coming back to, but I just hate comping guys to borderline Hall of Fame type players, and and also, I don't know. It just felt a little bit lazy. I'm like who is the tight end that is really super successful, but also kind of unspectacular at the same time? I guess Jason Witten is one that comes to mind. It makes a lot of sense.

And I think that what is good for Mayer already, he already has like a little bit of old man game to him now where he can just kind of box people out and play the muscle game. So that's going to help him as he ages, but he already has it now. So I think that a Jason Witten comparison makes some sense. It's not the biggest guy, the most explosive guy, but at the end of the day, he's just a really reliable football player that you don't have to question, like, what you're going to get in terms of production each week.