ATHENS, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 21: Cole Kmet #84 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates his second quarter touchdown with Tommy Tremble #24 while playing the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Cole Kmet’s departure leaves a sizable void in the Notre Dame offense, but help is on the way.

For the past couple of months, I hadn’t worried about Cole Kmet. He said he’d be back for Notre Dame, so it must be true. Besides, I had consistently heard that Kmet wanted to play baseball in the spring. Nothing could change that, until things did change.

Notre Dame parted ways with offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Chip Long. That was the right thing for the program. Reports swirled that Long didn’t get along with other coaches on the staff, and players like Ian Book didn’t respond well to him.

All in all, this probably pushed Kmet away from the program. Add in a strong pull from the NFL, and Kmet changed his mind. He’d enter the NFL draft. That’s his decision, and more power to him for making it. However, you can’t help but feel there’s now a gaping hole where Notre Dame’s offensive weapons were.

No more Chase Claypool, Chris Finke, Tony Jones Jr, and now Cole Kmet. That leaves Ian Book with under a third of his production in the passing game returning — and while Kmet wasn’t all of that — his loss of production is the most unexpected.

Kmet was extraordinarily important to Notre Dame’s identity. South Bend is a tight end factory. Kyle Rudolph, Tyler Eifert, Irv Smith, Leon Hart, Ken MacAfee — and the list goes on. Having a big, strong, presence in the middle of the field opens up the sidelines for receivers.

How can Notre Dame possibly replace a guy like Cole Kmet?

Let me introduce you to the No. 2 tight end recruit in the country, Michael Mayer. He’s a 6’4″, 232 pound tight end from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky. 247 Sports compared him to Zach Ertz — and that’s every bit a fair comparison.

He’s the perfect blend of size and speed for a tight end. Mayer is too quick for linebackers and too big for defensive backs. Teams will need to double team him.

Mayer is, of course, raw. He’ll only be a freshman next season. His upside is tremendous, though. Just watching him play, it’s clear that he will see time as a freshman.

He doesn’t have to be “the guy yet”, because Tommy Tremble is still in the program. Mayer will be able to learn from Tremble and see action to become acclimated to the college game.

Neither Tremble nor Mayer will be as good as Kmet next season. That’s just not realistic. What is reasonable is that Notre Dame’s next great tight end is an incoming freshman, and he has the potential to be better than Kmet by the time he leaves.