Holden Staes, a former tight end for Notre Dame, is scheduled to visit Tennessee this weekend, according to several reports. After playing two seasons at South Bend, Staes entered the transfer portal on December 1st and now has two years of eligibility left.
Given that McCallan Castles and Jacob Warren are both leaving the program, Tennessee has an obvious need at the position. With Ethan Davis, Emmanuel Okoye, and new athlete Jonathan Echols, there is essentially no experience remaining at the tight end position. It is imperative that we include at least one seasoned body here, and Staes would be a good fit.
The 6-4, 242-pound tight end is from the Atlanta region by birth. After high school, Staes was rated as a four-star prospect by 247Sports, placing him just inside the top 300 players nationally. He received offers from multiple universities just out of high school, including Georgia, Alabama, Texas, LSU, and Penn State.
In the 2023 season, Staes saw his first meaningful action, catching 15 receptions for 176 yards. As a sophomore, he found the endzone four times. Remarkably, Staes scored all of his touchdowns inside the first three weeks of the campaign. In September, he had a four-catch, 115-yard performance against NC State.
After visiting Tennessee, Staes is scheduled to visit UCLA, Oklahoma, and Washington, according to On3.
Earlier this week, Tennessee extended an offer to former UConn tight end Justin Joly. Joly said that his intentions had changed and he would not be traveling to Knoxville after initially setting up a visit. Not long after, Staes received the offer.
Over the next few days, expect activity on the portal to really pick up and some choices regarding the NFL to be made.
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