Tag: Casey Kelly

Former Oregon TE Casey Kelly transfers to East Carolina

Casey Kelly, the one-time Oregon Ducks TE, has transferred to East Carolina.

Casey Kelly, the former Oregon Ducks tight end who entered the transfer portal in December, has finalized his transfer to East Carolina University. 2023 was Kelly’s first and only season with the Ducks, and he finished the year with 5 catches, 43 yards, and 2 TDs.

2024 will be Kelly’s final year of eligibility, so a desire for a bigger role probably drove his decision to transfer. If he stuck with Oregon for his final season, he would’ve had to sit behind Terrance Ferguson, Patrick Herbert, and Kenyon Sadiq.

One of the likely reasons Kelly chose East Carolina is his relationship with their offensive coordinator. John David Baker, the Pirates’ OC, was Kelly’s TE coach at Ole Miss, where Kelly played for three years before his time at Oregon.

The East Carolina Pirates went 2-10 in 2023, so adding transfers like Kelly could make a big impact for them in 2024. ECU’s 2024 recruiting class doesn’t have any blue-chip recruits, but they have plenty of 3-star high school recruits and transfers that could round out their roster.

Oregon TE Casey Kelly enters the transfer portal

Casey Kelly, a former Ole Miss TE who transferred to Oregon, entered the transfer portal again on Thursday.

Following the Oregon Ducks Fiesta Bowl win, the group of Ducks in the transfer portal has grown, and on Thursday, Oregon’s tight end room got a little smaller.

Ducks TE Casey Kelly entered the transfer portal on Thursday, after spending one season at Oregon. Kelly played his first three seasons at Ole Miss, the alma mater of his brother Chad Kelly and uncle Jim Kelly — a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Casey Kelly will have one year of eligibility remaining.

Despite appearing in 13 of 14 games for the Ducks in 2023, Kelly didn’t have much of a role in the Oregon offense. Kelly finished the season with 5 catches for 43 yards and 2 TDs. His size and strength made him a valuable goalline target for the Ducks, but it’s likely he wants a bigger role in his final season of eligibility.

For 2024, it seems likely the Ducks will return starting TE Terrance Ferguson for his final year as a Duck. Oregon will also bring back senior TE Patrick and standout freshman Kenyon Sadiq for his second season.

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Transfer TE Casey Kelly is integrating into the Ducks’ offense quickly

“Casey is a super tough kid. He’s a guy who comes in with experience, so the learning curve with that is much smaller.”

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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Drew Mehringer discusses Matayo Uiagalelei, Ducks’ TE room depth

Drew Mehringer discusses Matayo Uiagalelei, Ducks’ TE room depth

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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Meet the new Ducks: What UO transfers want Oregon fans to know about them

“Hard-working, dedicated, unselfish.” We asked Oregon’s incoming transfers what they want Duck fans to know about them. The answers didn’t disappoint.

The 2023 college football season unofficially kicked off on Monday afternoon for the Oregon Ducks with the annual media day taking place inside the club level at Autzen Stadium.

There, media members had a chance to sit down and talk to more than 40 of the players on the team and get their perspectives going into the new season. It offered an opportunity to talk to a handful of new players on the team for the first time.

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That’s what I was focused on. With more than 50 players on the roster wearing the green and yellow for the first time, I wanted to find out what Oregon fans who knew nothing about these players should know about them.

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What better source than the players themselves? I asked the incoming transfers — all but two of them I could get to due to interview scheduling — what they wanted Duck fans to know about them and who they are going into the season.

These are the answers I got.

Ducks land transfer from Ole Miss tight end Casey Kelly

TE help incoming for the Ducks. Oregon lands a commitment from Ole Miss TE Casey Kelly.

The Oregon Ducks got a major helping hand at the tight end position on Friday afternoon, landing a commitment from Ole Miss transfer Casey Kelly.

Kelly announced on Twitter that he would be committing to the Ducks after taking a visit to Eugene.

At Ole Miss, Kelly played in 19 games and had 28 catches for 282 yards and three touchdowns. He immediately adds some much-needed depth to the TE room in Eugene after the team lost Terrance Ferguson for the remainder of spring ball. At the moment, only Patrick Herbert and Kenyon Sadiq are the only two scholarship players at the position on the roster.

While Ferguson is expected to return for the fall season and be healthy, the addition of Casey alleviates some depth pressure in the TE room.

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