Draft-Week Buzz
No verified pre-draft news items in the past 30 days for this prospect. See Day 2/3 Team Fits below for projected landing spots and /news.html for the cross-prospect timeline.
Scouting Nugget: Red-zone target
Expanded bio coming soon. This prospect is Tight End #8 in the 2026 class.
Background
Notre Dame TE from West Des Moines, IA; ACL-recovery path through early career.
College Production
2024-25 ND: 60+ career rec, 700+ yds as red-zone target.
Scouting Take
Tall (6-7) seam stretcher; red-zone mismatch. Below-average blocker; injury history.
Draft Projection
Round 4. Red-zone / 12-personnel TE option.
Mock-Draft Consensus
| ESPN (Jordan Reid) | PFF Big Board | Jeremiah Top 50 | Consensus Avg | Realistic Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #124 | #161 | — | #142.5 | Picks 90-175 |
30-day trend: Stable
Ranks cross-referenced from ESPN's Jordan Reid top-500, PFF's 2026 Big Board top-200, and Daniel Jeremiah's top-50 (NFL.com). Realistic draft-night range reflects projected team fit and trade scenarios, not just big-board placement.
Sources
Our scouting profile is assembled from these primary sources + cross-checked against ESPN (Kiper / Reid / Miller), PFF's 2026 Big Board, Dane Brugler's The Beast 2026, and Daniel Jeremiah's top-50. See our full methodology and citations.
Day 2 / Day 3 Team Fits
NFL teams that lost a same-position veteran this offseason — and could target Eli Raridon as a Day 2/3 replacement option.
- REPORTED Pittsburgh Steelers: moved on from Jonnu Smith (two-way-TE).
Picks held: R1 #21; R2 #53 - REPORTED Seattle Seahawks: moved on from Will Dissly (blocking-TE).
Picks held: R1 #32; R2 #64
Confidence: "VERIFIED" departures cite a publication URL (Spotrac, OverTheCap, ESPN, NFL.com, team transactions page) confirming the move and date. "REPORTED" entries come from public free-agency trackers without a single canonical source we could attach. Fits are archetype-and-position based; we are not claiming the team has expressed interest in the prospect.
NFL Scheme Fit
NFL Scheme Fit
- 12/13-personnel inline + 6th-OL packages
Baltimore Ravens · Pittsburgh Steelers · San Francisco 49ers · Philadelphia Eagles - Red-zone seam / play-action vertical TE
Detroit Lions · Las Vegas Raiders · Cincinnati Bengals
Scheme matches are bucketed from the prospect's height, weight, and (for WRs) archetype tag against a static lookup of which NFL teams currently run each scheme family.
Rookie Contract & Landing-Spot Outlook
Projected Rookie Contract Value
~$4.7M – $5.5M (4-year deal) · Pick range: #97-128 · ~20% guaranteed
Signing bonus only is fully guaranteed
Best-Case / Worst-Case Landing Spot
Why: TE listed in their top-5 positional needs; runs a scheme that maximizes his profile.
Year-1 arc: Day-1 starter window with cap-controlled rookie-contract production.
Why: TE not in their stated top-5 needs; runs a scheme that doesn't naturally amplify his profile.
Year-1 arc: Depth-chart competition + special-teams reps as Year-1 baseline.
Contract band uses the 2026 NFL CBA rookie wage scale projected from the prospect's expected pick range; guarantee % is the slot-default at that pick. Landing-spot best/worst case is derived from TEAMS data (positional needs + scheme overlap minus same-position R1 conflicts) — not a claim that either team has expressed interest.
Versatility, Limits & Roster Pathway
Position Versatility & Alternative Roles
- OT-convert (long shot) — Elite size combo (6-6+/250+) has historically led to OT conversions late in careers if TE depth chart blocks playing time.
Day-3 NFL Roster Pathway
Day 3 projection means a 53-man roster spot is not guaranteed — special-teams contribution (kick/punt coverage, gunner, return-game blocking) is the typical first-year survival path.
Derived from height/weight against the 2026 position cohort and the prospect's projected round. Versatility callouts identify alternate alignments NFL teams have historically used for similar size profiles. Limiting-trait notes flag the single most-cited measurable concern; severity reflects how often that flag ends a Day 1 starter projection. Roster-pathway notes describe the realistic Year 1 NFL role for Day 3 picks.
By the Numbers — 2026 Class Context
- Frame: Among 2026 TE prospects, his 6-7 / 255 lbs frame sits at the 100th percentile in height and 100th percentile in weight.
- Position class: Eli Raridon is TE #8 of 23 ranked TEs in the 2026 class. Of those, 3 are projected in the R4 range.
- School pipeline: One of 6 Notre Dame prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft — but the only TE.
Computed factually from the 2026 prospect class roster — height/weight percentiles benchmark this player against every other ranked prospect at the same position. Recruiting arc compares his high-school 247Sports/Rivals composite to his current projected round.
Eli Raridon’s NFL Archetype: Sam LaPorta
Sam LaPorta (Detroit Lions)
Closest TE physical profile in the modern NFL: 6-7/255 lbs. Same frame, same role bucket — NOT a talent or career-arc projection.
Note: this is a physical-profile match — frame, position, role bucket. Not a talent or career-arc projection.
Similar Tight End Prospects
Closest matches to Eli Raridon (6-7 / 255 lbs, #8 TE) by ranking proximity and physical profile. SIZE MATCH = within 1″ height and 10 lbs; TIER MATCH = within 2 ranking spots.
- Marlin KleinSIZE MATCH Michigan · 6-6/250 lbs · #10 TE · R5
- Jack EndriesTIER MATCH Texas · 6-4/245 lbs · #9 TE · R4-R5
- Justin JolyTIER MATCH NC State · 6-4/250 lbs · #6 TE · R3-R4
- Sam Roush Stanford · 6-5/250 lbs · #4 TE · R3
- Oscar Delp Georgia · 6-5/240 lbs · #5 TE · R3
Notre Dame & The 2026 Class
More from Notre Dame
- Devonta Smith · CB #24 · R7
- Billy Schrauth · IOL #9 · R4
- Jeremiyah Love · RB #1 · R1 top 5
- Jadarian Price · RB #2 · R2
- Malachi Fields · WR #9 · R2-R3
Other R4 prospects in the 2026 class
Different positions, same projected draft tier as Eli Raridon.
- Avery Johnson · QB · Kansas State
- Nicholas Singleton · RB · Penn State
- Kaytron Allen · RB · Penn State
- Ted Hurst · WR · Georgia State
- Zachariah Branch · WR · Georgia
- Deion Burks · WR · Oklahoma