Casey Kelly was one of 15 transfers that Oregon brought in this past offseason, and so far things seem to be working out. Recently, tight-end coach Drew Mehringer spoke with the media and had plenty of good things to say about the newest member of Oregon’s TE group.
For the first three seasons of his college career, Kelly was a player for the Ole Miss Rebels. In 2022, Kelly played in the most games of his career but had the lowest production, due to Michael Trigg becoming the primary TE, which likely contributed to his decision to leave. When speaking about Kelly, Mehringer highlighted that it was former Ole Miss Rebels who turned him on to Kelly.
“He was a guy that was out there. I knew that he was out there, but in this day and age in the portal, you’ve got to do a lot of research on the players,” Mehringer said. “Thankfully, Wilson Love, our strength coach, had been there and knew him personally. Then I asked Tysheem [Johnson] ‘Tell me about this guy’. Both of those guys had great things to say. Everything I was told is everything this guy has been. He’s been awesome. We’re super glad to have him.”
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When Kelly joined the Ducks, there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the TE position for 2023, due to a spring injury to Terrance Ferguson, the team’s No. 1 TE in 2022. It seems now that Ferguson will be ready for 2023 week one, but with how much Oregon used multiple-TE sets last season, depth at the position will be key. The Ducks also added freshman Kenyon Sadiq for 2023 who has shown promise early.
Even though he’s only been with the team for a short time, Mehringer had high praise for the quickness with which Kelly has fit into place.
“Casey is a super tough kid. He’s a physical player and a smart football player,” Mehringer said. “He’s obviously played a lot of football. He’s played in some big games and stuff like that. He’s a guy who comes in with experience, so the learning curve with that is much smaller. The terminology might be a little different, right? But he’s a guy who can integrate himself in there pretty quickly. Like I said he’s played a lot of good football. He’s got a really good skillset, but he brings a lot of energy into that room. Last year we played with some guys who had played a bunch, so to have another one in the room right there that competes and levels up our depth and potentially be a starter is fantastic.”
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It will be interesting to see what the Ducks’ depth chart at TE looks like come week one. I’d be surprised if Ferguson wasn’t the defacto starter, but after that, things are up in the air. Coaches have had high praise for both Sadiq and Kelly, and there is also Patrick Herbert to consider. Regardless of who sees the most snaps, Bo Nix should have plenty of good TE options to target all season, both in the flats as well as up the seams.
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