Two of this year’s college football recruiting class’ top tight ends landed at prestigious programs in the NCAA. Cooper Flanagan enrolled at Notre Dame while Walker Lyons ended up choosing USC after originally being committed to Stanford.
Both are top 12 talents in this year’s freshman tight end class, who land at great football programs with offenses that both feature a lot of love for the tight end position. So let’s take a look at their college football fantasy value over the next few years, their chances of game time this season and the long term prospect of making it to the NFL.
Cooper Flanagan – Tight End, Notre Dame
Cooper Flanagan was a consensus four star recruit out of Concord, California who played his high school football at De La Salle. He caught 26 passes for 490 yards and three touchdowns as a senior, but he’s not just a receiving tight end.
When Tommy Rees was still around at Notre Dame, he proclaimed that Flanagan was the best player in the Bay area. He’s an old school hand in the dirt tight end who can block defensive ends and do the dirty work in the blocking game, which will transition perfectly at Notre Dame.
Flanagan had offers from Alabama, Michigan, LSU, Miami but chose Notre Dame back in December. The Irish are known for building a lot of depth at the tight end position, so there’s very little chance he plays this year barring injury, but he will be one to watch for the future.
Walker Lyons – Tight End, USC
USC landed two of the top 10 tight ends in the country this year, including the number one prospect Duce Robinson, who is a five star recruit out of Phoenix, Arizona. They then dipped back into the class for Walker Lyons, who was originally committed to Stanford before decommitting from the program in November.
College football fans were shocked when he then flipped his commitment to the Trojans after reopening his recruitment and seemingly being set on either Utah or the Georgia Bulldogs.
Lyons mentioned that Lincoln Riley recruited him harder than any other coach, and eventually convinced the talented tight end that in time he would become a pivotal part of the Trojans explosive offense.
This year however, the USC Trojans tight end will be in Norway, preaching the gospel at the Latter Day Saints program. So he won’t play this year, which is worth keeping in mind for your college fantasy football teams.
2023-2024 CFB Season Opportunity
Cooper Flanagan
Cooper Flanagan won’t see the field much this year for Notre Dame unless they have multiple injuries at the tight end position. Michael Mayer might have moved on to the NFL, but the Irish have junior Mitchell Evans taking his spot in the starting rotation and Holden Staes behind him.
Flanagan will have to wait in the wings and practice his craft this year, and his opportunity will come next year at the earliest if we’re talking about pass catching opportunities. He could play as a freshman as a run blocker, but in terms of fantasy football tight end production, that could take some time.
Walker Lyons
Walker Lyons on the other hand won’t even be with the team this season, as he’ll be in Norway. USC has a tonne of depth on their roster anyway so his playing time would likely be net zero regardless, but the young tight end will be taking a personal journey this year rather than one involving his football career.
Pro’s and con’s for playing time
Cooper Flanagan
Long term, Flanagan will be a key feature for the Fighting Irish, even if not this season. He’s got all the tools to be on the field as an every down starter in Notre Dame’s offense.
While Flanagan might not have the projection of Michael Mayer, and I think that would be a fair assessment at this point considering the heights Mayer hit, but he is a traditional tight end who will get a lot of usage in his college career.
If he develops correctly, the upside for him is a do it all tight end who can run block, catch passes and offer a seam threat. In today’s NFL, those guys are a dime a dozen, and they’re valuable at the position.
His ceiling is excellent, and he’s a different type of tight end to the likes of Michael Mayer or current Notre Dame sophomore Eli Raridon. That’s what gets him on the field over time. The ability to be physical as a run blocker and use his experience in that role to propel his college career.
Walker Lyons
This is a build for the future recruit for USC. As we know, Lyons won’t be around this season, but he will be a future option who will grow into a starting role with the likes of USC freshman quarterback Malachi Nelson and running back Quinten Joyner.
Lyons is an athletic tight end who comes across as a natural pass catcher, and his skill set is exciting coming into college. He makes plays in traffic, has good strong hands and uses his size and frame to his advantage in tight coverage.
USC can afford to be patient with him, and the fact that he will be away from the team while in Norway could play against him in how quickly he earns playing time when he returns, but once he starts to get on the field and forms a deadly tight end room with Duce Robinson, he has a tonne of potential in a Lincoln Riley offense.
The other pro to consider here is finding out just how heavily recruited Lyons was by Riley. He clearly saw something in him that he likes for the future of the USC Trojans program, and watching that develop could be a lot of fun.
Why draft him in CFB fantasy leagues?
Cooper Flanagan
The prestige and consistency of high production tight ends at Notre Dame is a solid reason to add this young man to your roster. If you’re building out your college fantasy football team and thinking for the future, grabbing a Notre Dame tight end never feels like a bad idea.
There’s a reason they consider themselves ‘Tight End U’, although Iowa might have something to say about that. The fact does however remain that Notre Dame produces at the position and always offers a dangerous threat to opposing teams with their tight end talent.
Walker Lyons
Why not grab a slice of that incredible looking USC Trojans future with the latest highly coveted recruiting class. Let’s say you miss out on Duce Robinson because he flew off the board before you could gather your thoughts, but you still want in on the Trojans young talent, Walker Lyons will be a cheaper option who could be just as important for the future offense as Robinson is.
The caveat to that would be that Robinson has the higher ceiling as a pass catcher, but Lyons has the size, frame, hands and upside to also be a strong contributor.
Stock radar as an NFL prospect
Cooper Flanagan 4%
Like I mentioned earlier, he’s not quite got the Michael Mayer upside. At least not yet. Mayer is immensely athletic and a total monster in the pass catching game, while Flanagan is more of a traditional do it all tight end who’s pass catching serves him as a strong bonus.
That said, he ticks a lot of boxes with the experience he already has before playing a down of college football, and that’s always a good sign.
Walker Lyons 5%
Lyons just edges this one by 1%, and it’s the potential for the USC Trojans to build something special with the young core Lincoln Riley is putting together. Walker Lyons will no doubt be a part of that, and if he starts to produce a highlight reel as he did at the high school level, NFL teams will be asking for copies of the tape.