5 things to know about Patriots third-round pick Eli Raridon
New England Patriots
Raridon, a 6-foot-6 tight end, also had a standout basketball career in high school before knee injuries sprouted up.
The New England Patriots addressed another area of need in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft, selecting Notre Dame tight end Eli Raridon with the 95th pick on Friday night.
A one-year starter with the Fighting Irish, Raridon reeled in 32 catches for 482 yards in 2025 at Notre Dame, finishing third on the team in both receptions and receiving yards.
Raridon offers some upside to a Patriots tight end room in need of new blood — especially with veteran Hunter Henry entering the final year of his contract.
Here are five things to know about New England’s new tight end:
Raridon’s baseline stats at Notre Dame don’t exactly leap off the page — with the imposing tight end closing out his collegiate career in South Bend with 623 receiving yards and just three total touchdowns in 40 games.
But with a prospect like Raridon, the Patriots are banking on upside and athleticism with a tight end who could develop into an explosive pass-catcher and physical blocker.
The 6-foot-6, 245-pound Raridon tested very well in the lead-up to the 2026 NFL Draft — ranking in the 81st percentile in the 40-yard dash (4.62 seconds), 81st percentile in the vertical jump (36 inches), 88th percentile in the broad jump (10 feet, 3 inches), and 95th percentile with 10.75-inch hands, per NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry.
Raridon’s speed and size could make him an intriguing deep threat for Drake Maye in due time, with the Notre Dame tight end averaging 15.1 yards per catch during his senior season — ranking fourth among Power Five tight ends in yards per reception in 2025, per East-West Shrine Bowl director of football operations Eric Galko.
“[He’s] a really, really good worker, has a lot of talent. 6-6, 245,” Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said of Raridon late Friday night. “Tested incredibly well and again, just some untapped potential there with only the one year of real playing [time].”
He’s had injury woes in the past.
One of the reasons why Raridon’s development at Notre Dame stalled for his first few seasons was rooted in some bad luck on the injury front.
In the span of less than a year, he tore the ACL in his right knee twice — while playing two different sports.
In December 2021, Raridon tore his ACL while playing basketball in his senior year at Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa. Just four months after such a severe injury, he was already back to running routes on the gridiron, with the talented football prospect crediting his quick recovery to a hamstring-grafting procedure.
But Raridon’s freshman season with the Fighting Irish was cut short due to a similar injury, as he re-tore his ACL in the same knee during a practice, having played in just five games at the start of his collegiate career.
Raridon eventually returned midway through his sophomore season — catching five passes for 51 yards and a touchdown during the 2023 campaign.
Despite the run of misfortune, Wolf stressed on Friday night that New England had “no real concerns” over the state of Raridon’s knee moving forward.
Raridon is a second-generation football player at Notre Dame, as his father, Scott Jr., played both offensive line and long snapper for the Fighting Irish from 2002-05. During his tenure in South Bend, Scott Jr. played for both Tyrone Willingham and former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis — and blocked for Notre Dame standout QB Brady Quinn.
Eli Raridon was born in the spring of his father’s sophomore season at Notre Dame.
Eli’s grandfather, Scott Sr., played college football at Nebraska from 1981-83 before taking on a job as a strength and conditioning coach at Notre Dame in the late ‘80s — serving on Lou Holtz’s staff during the Fighting Irish’s national-championship season in 1988.
He was a talented high school basketball player.
Much like Drake Maye, Raridon was also a standout basketball player during his high school days.
“I always loved playing hoops. Played AAU since [I was] 11 or 12 years old,” Raridon told NFL reporter Jordan Schultz. “Didn’t have the best three-point shot, but I was really good at taking it to the hoop, and as my body started to develop, I could start dunking on people.
“I really didn’t become the basketball player I was until junior, senior year — my skills were at an all-time high. Could handle the ball, I could shoot the rock a little bit. I feel like I could have played Division I somewhere.
“But realistically looking at it, I wasn’t a 50-percent three-point shooter. Six-foot-six, kind of short. Got to be a shooting guard. Football was the path for me, and that was the best future.”
According to Dane Brugler of The Athletic, Raridon earned second-team all-state honors as a junior power forward, averaging 17.5 points per game.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Raridon said that his basketball background has helped him on the football field.
“Basketball was always part of my life growing up,” Raridon said. “I feel like it really helped me be in better control of my body, going up and high-pointing the ball, things like that.”
He models his game after a Pro Bowl tight end.
While talking to reporters on Friday night, Raridon said that he models his game after San Francisco 49ers All-Pro tight end George Kittle.
“I’ve looked at George Kittle a lot,” Raridon said. “Just love how he can do both things extremely well. Love the way he blocks. Love his mentality while playing the game, and obviously, he makes great plays in the passing game as well. And that’s someone who I try to embody my game after.”
Kittle’s body of work speaks for itself during his career in the Bay Area. But Kittle wasn’t exactly a productive tight end during his collegiate career — catching 48 passes for 737 yards over his four seasons at Iowa before San Francisco selected him in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
The Patriots are hoping that Raridon follows a similar trajectory as a talented tight end whose production blossomed after making the jump to the NFL ranks.
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