... was informed that he has been named as one of the 30 players on the John Mackey award preseason watch list. He is the only sophomore on the list this year.

The highly touted tight end came into Notre Dame with expectations piling up. The expectations increased when we learned that Rudolph would start as a freshman after Mike Ragone tore an ACL last preseason.

However, Rudolph, with his excellent size, proved that he could play straight out of the gates. Thanks to improvement in Jimmy Clausen's protection, he was laid at the feet of the offensive line last season, which was well deserved. However, having a player like Rudolph blocking was sure to help, and he probably deserves more credit than he gets for his blocking skills.

Rud...

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