Mike Ragone Out for Season With Notre Dame Two Weeks from Opener

What to do now? Mike Ragone, Notre Dame's projected starting tight end, is done for the year after deciding to go forward with surgery on his left knee this afternoon. Ragone tried to practice on the knee for a few days before opting for the surgery, but will now be shelved for the 2008 season.

To Ragone's credit, he did not immediately opt for surgery and practiced on the knee for a couple days before he felt he was not making any progress. With Ragone gone, the Irish move from little experience at tight end to virtually no experience there.

The starter's role will now be a toss-up between Will Yeatman and freshman five-star recruit Kyle Rudolph. Yeatman, a junior, enters with more game experience than Rudolph, but appears to have a lower ceiling of capability.

Charlie Weis and company will likely use this as a way to break Kyle Rudolph into the mix a bit quicker than they had planned. Maybe he won't be starting when San Diego State comes a-callin' in two weeks, but there is no doubt that he is going to see valuable playing time on Saturdays this fall.

Tight end will be another position where the Irish will have gained experience in the coming years. Although Weis and Co. have recruited the position very well, there are still big shoes that have to be filled with the departure of John Carlson.

Carlson, now of the Seattle Seahawks, filled the position each of the past two seasons for Notre Dame, and parlayed excellent junior and senior seasons into a first-day pick in the NFL Draft. Irish coaches hope any of the potential star tight ends on the roster hit their stride quickly.

With Notre Dame still at least a year away from seriously contending for a BCS bid, this injury does not hurt as much as it could if it were to happen to a slightly more experienced team. As much as it does hurt to have the starting tight end out for the season, there are positives that come along with it.

Yeatman was likely to see the field this year in a backup and fill-in role, while Rudolph was likely going to roam the sideline like we have seen most freshman tight ends do since Weis took over as head coach. With the injury to Ragone, we will now see both on the field a bit more, which could pave the way to more success at the position in the coming years.

Instead of having Ragone gain experience this year and potentially turn into a budding star next fall, the Irish will have a deeper tight end rotation in the years to come, therefore not losing as much when Ragone comes out of a game.

Not only will the competition for playing time be great, but the potential is also there to run an offense out of more two tight-end sets if both succeed the way Irish fans hope they do.

It may be a tough concept to grasp, but this injury to the Irish is not as big of a deal as some have made it out to be. It's expected that Ragone will be back and ready to play by spring practice and, with Notre Dame rules, will gain an extra year or eligibility in all likelihood.

Obviously, Ragone is not going to want to stay out of the lineup next fall, as nobody would like to lose their job to an underclassman. I assume this will make him work that much harder to get back in even better game shape than before.

This sets up a true competition at tight end next year, which will only benefit the team. The worst case scenario now comes out to be perhaps the offense loses some luster this fall, but next season there will be at least two tight ends on the roster deserving of quality playing time.