{"id":62157,"date":"2024-08-07T18:00:40","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T22:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=62157"},"modified":"2025-11-07T09:26:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T14:26:25","slug":"mitchell-evans-kris-mitchell-on-biletnikoff-award-watch-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/08\/07\/mitchell-evans-kris-mitchell-on-biletnikoff-award-watch-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitchell Evans, Kris Mitchell on Biletnikoff Award Watch List"},"content":{"rendered":"

Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans<\/a> and wide receiver Kris Mitchell<\/a> made the Biletnikoff Award Watch List, it was announced this week. The Biletnikoff Award recognizes college Football\u2019s outstanding FBD receiver (tight ends are included).<\/p>\n

Evans, a 6\u2019-5\u201d, 260-pound tight end, enjoyed a breakout season in 2023. He played in just eight games for the Irish as a junior last season, starting in seven of them. He missed the last four games due to injury. Evans suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in the Irish\u2019s 58-7 victory over Pittsburgh. The sure-handed tight end made the most of his time on the field. Evans ended the season as the team\u2019s top receiving target. He averaged 52.8 yards per game on 29 receptions for 422 yards. He scored one touchdown and averaged 14.6 yards per catch.<\/p>\n

Leadership Role for Mitchell Evans<\/h3>\n

A former high school quarterback, Evans is hopeful of returning to the form he displayed a year ago. With transfer quarterback Riley Leonard<\/a> under center, the Irish will need Mitchell to be a difference-maker again this season. If healthy, Evans will be among the nation\u2019s top tight ends, especially in an offense run by Mike Denbrock. Following the opening of fall camp last week, Evans spoke to the media to provide an update on his status.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel good. The knee is strong,\u201d Evans said from the podium during his press conference on Aug. 1. \u201cI\u2019m in the \u201cReturn to Play\u201d status we have here. I\u2019m just doing what that entails. I feel pretty good.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing for me in this off-season was trying to be more of a leader,\u201d Evans added. \u201cTrying to help the guys as much as I possibly can. And to be more mentally involved, mentally focused. Especially now during camp. I\u2019m getting back into things. I haven\u2019t played football for a little bit. But I\u2019m trying to be more mentally in tune to what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kris Mitchell A Dynamic Playmaker<\/h3>\n

The arrival of Kris Mitchell<\/a> from the transfer portal promises to bolster the Irish\u2019s perimeter. A standout at Florida International University (FIU) last season, Mitchell played in all 12 games for the Panthers. FIU\u2019s leading receiver in 2023, Mitchell caught 64 passes for 1,118 yards. He scored seven touchdowns a year ago. And he averaged 93.2 yards per game and recorded at least one reception in all 12 games.<\/p>\n

Mitchell enjoyed a career day in FIU\u2019s win against Maine in the second game of the season. He finished that contest with career bests in receptions (9), and receiving yards (201), and tied his single-game best of two receiving touchdowns. Mitchell provides the Irish\u2019s wide receiver room with much-needed explosiveness. He is a deep threat who can stretch the field. Denbrock\u2019s offensive schemes utilize dynamic playmakers.<\/p>\n

Size, Speed, and Experience<\/h3>\n

With Mitchell Evans and Kris Mitchell leading the charge, Notre Dame\u2019s offense is poised for a breakout season. The players on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List bring a blend of size, speed, and experience that could prove tough to cover for opposing defenses. If Evans and Mitchell stay healthy and develop the much-needed chemistry with Leonard, the weapons have the potential to help lead Notre Dame to the expanded 12-team playoff.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Biletnikoff
Photo courtesy: Biletnikoff Award Watch List<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans and wide receiver Kris Mitchell made the Biletnikoff Award Watch List, it was announced this week. The Biletnikoff Award recognizes college Football\u2019s outstanding FBD receiver (tight ends are included). Evans, a 6\u2019-5\u201d, 260-pound tight end, enjoyed a breakout season in 2023. He played in just eight games for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4854,"featured_media":62167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10906,8,11],"tags":[493,33903,1014,8759,6781,8891,259,32938],"class_list":["post-62157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-cfb","category-fbs","category-independents","tag-awards","tag-biletnikoff-award","tag-fiu-panthers","tag-florida-international-panthers","tag-mike-denbrock","tag-mitchell-evans","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-riley-leonard"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4854"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82246,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62157\/revisions\/82246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}