During the spring football season in Eugene, an injury to starting tight end Terrance Ferguson caused a little bit of unease for the Oregon Ducks. With Ferguson out, the depth at the position was waning. Patrick Herbert and true freshman Kenyon Sadiq were the only scholarship players suited up in that spot during the spring game.
Fortunately, the Ducks had true freshman EDGE Matayo Uiaglelei that they could lean on as well. At 6-foot-5, 265 pounds, Uiagalelei excelled as a pass-catcher in high school. Though he came to Oregon as an elite pass-rusher, but his versatility allowed the Ducks to plug him into the offense for a few plays during the annual scrimmage.
Since then, Ferguson has come back healthy, and Oregon has added a handful of depth pieces at TE, including Ole Miss transfer Casey Kelly. So does that mean that Uiagalelei will no longer see both sides of the ball?
TE coach Drew Mehringer was asked that question on Wednesday after practice. He said that unfortunately may be the case right now, but not by his own desire.
“He’s an impressive individual. I think if you wanted him to play quarterback, he could probably figure out a way to do it,” Mehringer said. “He’s super smart and super tough. If I had the option to keep him out there a little bit more, I probably would.”
It’s not strange to see a handful of players excel at multiple positions. A couple of years ago, we saw DJ Johnson play both DE and TE for the Ducks, and the previous decade saw Charles Nelson play both DB and WR as well.
However, when you get a true freshman that comes in and is trying to learn the playbook, it can be a bit of an overload to have him try and double his knowledge intake. Because of that, it would be a surprise to see Uiagalelei on the offensive side of the ball any time soon.
“He’s digesting the entirety of a pretty complex defense,” Mehringer said. “You can’t stunt him on one side or slow him down, just to say we’re going to do something else with him. I’m sure we’ll find something to do with him, but we feel pretty good with where we’re at tight end depth-wise as well.”
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