Kyle Rudolph Named Tight End of the Week
Notre Dame’s sophomore tight end Kyle Rudolph was named the John Mackey Tight End of the Week.
Rudolph is coming of a career high 95 yards on 6 catches in Notre Dame’s 33-30 win over Michigan State this past weekend. Rudolph’s big game was highlighted with a 52 catch and run from Jimmy Clausen in the first quarter. The 52 yarder was a career long. Rudolph had a 72 yard catch and run called back two weeks ago against Michigan as well.
So far this season Rudolph has caught 13 passes for 162 and a touchdown – the first Irish touchdown of the season. Rudolph’s role in the Notre Dame offense figures to expand for the rest of the season with the loss of Michael Floyd.
Rudolph has also seen an improvement in his blocking in the early part of the season. Charlie Weis said on Tuesday that tight ends coach Bernie Parmalee was riding Rudolph pretty hard in practice after the season open er against Nevada for his blocking in the run game. Since then Rudolph’s blocking has steadily improved and will need to continue to improve in order for Notre Dame to continue running the ball well as defenses key on the run more in the absence of Floyd.
Rudolph was named to the Mackey Award Watch List in the pre-season. He was the only sophomore on the list.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
people say he is improved because he is still a young player. He will continue improving as well. Its not saying he was terrible before, but he has gotten much better with experience.
The number of times people have mentioned “they are an improved blocker” just makes me scratch my head and wonder why they weren’t blocking before.