Eli Raridon aims to impress at the NFL Combine, leveraging his size and athleticism to overcome injury concerns and climb draft boards.
On Thursday, the 2026 NFL Combine is set to kick off and will feature six former Notre Dame players who are looking to take their game to the next level. Now, every player has a different set of things they'll have their eyes set to work on throughout the combine. It's likely all six for Fighting Irish players participate in the media day, but it's up for debate whether all will compete in drills for various reasons. Former Notre Dame tight end Eli Raridon has the opportunity to put on a show and raise his draft stock this weekend.
After an injury-riddled first few seasons in South Bend, Raridon strung together back to back healthy seasons which culminated into his 2025 performance when he stepped in the No. 1 tight end shoes. He finished the regular season with 32 receptions, 482 yards and averaged 15.1 yards per catch; all were career highs for the Des Moines, Iowa native.
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to find the end zone during his fourth and final year with the Irish, a conundrum which still leaves me scratching my head to this day. But it wasn't for a lack of trying. Through the first two games of the regular season. Raridon was the team's leading receiver after hauling in five catches for 97 yards against Miami and four catches for 85 yards in their home against Texas A&M.
Raridon would go on to have a seven-catch, 109-yard game at home against NC State, a three receptions, 59 yard game against Boston College on the road and a six-catch, 67 yard game against a ranked Pitt team on the road. The 6-7, 251-pound tight end was a vertical threat in the seams and was a big play waiting to happen in the Notre Dame offense.
The NFL Combine is a major opportunity for Raridon to raise his draft stock. Throughout his career with the Irish, no one questioned his athletic ability and his ability to make plays up to the catch point and after the catch. Health was the major concern, but he proved he can stay healthy in back to back seasons from 2024-2025. Unfortunately, his health issues prevented him from achieving top-end production throughout his career like we've seen from other Notre Dame tight ends.
Raridon is currently the No. 4 overall tight end prospect on Mel Kiper's big board behind Oregon's Kenyon Sadiq, Cincinnati's Joe Royer and Utah's Dallen Bentley. The former Notre Dame tight end will have to put on a show at the combine and showcase what made him such an explosive athlete in South Bend. Ideally he keeps his 40-yard dash time around 4.7 to 4.6. Currently NFL tight ends like Travis Kelce, Michael Mayer, Hunter Henry and Dalton Shultz were all in that range.
It's very unlikely the former Notre Dame tight end will crack the first two rounds of the upcoming NFL Draft, but it's not out of the realm of possibility he could sneak up to the third round. He will need an exceptionally strong combine performance including all of the field drills. Regardless, I fully believe Raridon will keep Notre Dame's streak alive of having former starting tight ends drafted in the following NFL Draft. Now it's a questions of where and when he'll be taken.
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