Tag: terrance ferguson

No. 7 TE in the class of 2025, Jack VanDorselaer names Oregon among his top schools

No. 7 TE in the class of 2025, Jack VanDorselaer names Oregon among his top schools

As we near the end of the 2024 summer recruiting cycle, coaches will begin to look to next year’s class of recruits. One of those 2025 prospects, Jack VanDorselaer, recently showed interest in the Oregon Ducks, when he included them among his top nine schools.

VanDorselaer is listed as a wide receiver and tight end hybrid. At 6’5″ and 230 lbs, VanDorselaer would likely be fully a TE in college, but if he were to lose some weight, he could also become a high-point, possession WR for QBs to target over the middle of the field, and at his back shoulder along the sideline.

[lawrence-related id=45476]

VanDorselaer is a 4-star recruit as of right now according to 247 Sports, though there is plenty of time for that ranking to move in either direction. Currently, 247 Sports has him ranked as the No. 7 TE in his class. Schools seem to agree with 247’s assessment because VanDorselaer has drawn the interest of top-quality programs such as Georgia, Alabama, USC, and more.

Since VanDorselaer is part of the class of 2025, we have to look further into the future to estimate his place in the team, and I have to make guesses as to what the team will need then. From my perspective, Terrance Ferguson will be an NFL TE by the start of the 2025 season, and Kenyon Sadiq (or someone else that gets picked up along the way) will be Oregon’s lead TE. That would leave room for someone like VanDorselaer to grow because he could get reps early in his career, while also getting to study under a talented TE such as Sadiq.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

The most important tight ends to know in the 2023 Pac-12 season

The importance of having a dominant TE is trickling from the NFL down to college. Here are some of the TE names you need to know in the Pac-12.

As we continue our preview of the 2023 college football season in the Pac-12 conference, we are going to shift our focus from individual teams to individual positions. The last several weeks have been spent picking apart each school out west, finding where they improved the most over the offseason, and identifying what realistic expectations should be for them going forward.

You can see them all here: Arizona Wildcats — Arizona State Sun Devils — California Golden Bears — Colorado Buffaloes — Oregon State Beavers — Stanford Cardinal — UCLA Bruins — USC Trojans — Utah Utes — Washington Huskies — Washington State Cougars

Now we’re going to look at position groups as a whole in the conference. Whether it’s a quarterback or a linebacker, a punter or a safety, there are dozens of highly talented players out west. We want to go through them all, position group by position group, and highlight some of the most important names that fans should know at each spot.

— Quarterbacks — Wide Receivers — Running Backs — 

Tight end is a position that has evolved over the years. Originally, the position consisted primarily of blockers who occasionally had the option to release from their block and be a check-down option for their QB. Nowadays, TEs are some of the most important players on the field. They are often their QBs favorite target, either due to the consistency they bring in short-yardage situations, their big play potential or a combination of the two.

Today, I examine the most important TEs in the Pac-12 for the 2023 season. Some teams have multiple representatives and some have none, both of which are indicative of how that team uses TEs, as well as how talented the team is in general.

Here are some names that fans should familiarize themselves with as we get ready for the season to start.

Top five worst draft picks made in OKC Thunder history

Let’s look at the 5 worst draft picks made in OKC Thunder history:

The 2023 NBA draft is getting closer by the day, which means it’s time to look back and review the Oklahoma City Thunder’s short draft history.

Every team has swings and misses with draft picks, but the Thunder do an excellent job at utilizing their premium picks. And, they’ll have another at No. 12 this month.

Let’s look at the five worst draft picks made by the Thunder. For whatever reason, these five players never worked out in OKC.

For simplicity’s sake, this will only include drafts where general manager Sam Presti was the man in charge, which means the Seattle Supersonics will mostly not be in consideration for this exercise.

Matayo Uiagalelei, Josh Conerly highlighted as player who could help Ducks’ TE depth

Oregon needs more depth at TE. On Tuesday, Dan Lanning highlighted Matayo Uiagalelei and Josh Conerly as potential solutions.

With the news that Oregon Ducks tight end Terrance Ferguson is out for the rest of the spring season with an injury, an already existing need for the Ducks’ offense has become more pressing.

Behind Ferguson, Oregon has just a pair of scholarship players at the position — Patrick Herbert and Kenyon Sadiq. While both players are talented and present a high upside, it doesn’t take a savvy football mind to tell you that more bodies are needed in the TE room.

This is something that both Dan Lanning and TE coach Drew Mehringer have addressed, and will undoubtedly be a position that they look to bolster in the coming weeks via the transfer portal. On Monday, we saw the Ducks extend an offer to North Texas tight end Var’Keyes Gumms in the portal, and there will likely be more offers to come over the next several days.

In the meantime, Lanning and the Ducks’ coaching staff are looking for current players on the roster that can help alleviate the numbers problem.

[lawrence-related id=41456]

“The good thing for us is we have a lot of guys on our roster that have played tight end as well at other times,” Lanning said on Saturday after the team’s scrimmage. “They might not be listed as tight end on our roster but that doesn’t mean that they can’t play tight end so we have some position versatility with the guys we have on our team.”

So who are a few of those guys that could potentially move over to the TE room this spring in order to help out? Lanning was again asked on Tuesday and threw out a couple of names to watch for.

“A few people, right, like Matayo (Uiagalelei) is a guy that’s had history,” Lanning said. “Jake Shipley is a little banged up right now, but he’s a guy that’s been able to flip over the other side. We also got guys like Josh Conerly lined up as a tight end last year in a game. So I think we got a lot of guys that have some versatility there.”

Uiaglelei was an expected name, since he signed with the Ducks in the 2023 recruiting class as an athlete who played both EDGE and TE in high school. While he was expected to primarily play on the defensive side of the ball in college, his high school tape showed some impressive catching and blocking abilities down at St. John Bosco in California.

[lawrence-related id=41443]

Conerly, on the other hand, is a rather surprising name for Lanning to throw out there. While the former 5-star offensive tackle did player several snaps at TE in 2022 while being utilized in Oregon’s ’14J’ jumbo package, it was almost always in a blocking role during a short-yardage situation. Of course, there was one instance during a game against Colorado where Conerly slipped out in a play-action pass and caught a touchdown pass, but it’s unclear whether that was enough proof that he can be a pass-catching tight end for the Ducks, or not.

If Oregon is looking for blockers, then Conerly could be a great solution. However, he is currently projected to be the starting left tackle for the Ducks, so moving him out a spot on the line would throw a wrench in that plan.

No matter who the Ducks decide to put at TE to alleviate some of the pressure this spring, it’s clear that they have their eyes on the transfer portal and are working hard to get someone added to the roster before the season starts.

“Certainly a position that we have a need for and have our eyes open for it.”

[mm-video type=video id=01gyajz1cf09w78gj44a playlist_id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gyajz1cf09w78gj44a/01gyajz1cf09w78gj44a-010bdbc78ad49f9281566b7c8db4a512.jpg]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Early transfer portal options for the Ducks to consider at TE position

The Ducks need to add at least one TE via the transfer portal. There aren’t a ton of great options available, but here are some guys Oregon could look at.

At this point in the offseason, we can feel confident that the Oregon Ducks are going to add a player or two at the tight end position via the transfer portal. Going into spring ball, the Ducks had just three scholarship players in the TE room, and the top player on the depth chart — Terrance Ferguson — was just declared out for the rest of the spring season with an injury.

So what started as a position of need has now turned into a near-emergency situation for Dan Lanning and his staff.

On Saturday when talking to TE coach Drew Mehringer, he all-but confirmed that the team would look to the transfer portal to find a player or two that can contribute at the position.

“Obviously, we’re going to have to figure something out with that,” Mehringer said. “I’ve been talking with Lanning and Will [Stein] and have a really good plan going forward for that, but we’d like to get somebody else in who can help us, if you know what I mean.”

The portal officially opened again on Saturday, and a ton of players have already declared that they will be looking for a new team. While there aren’t a ton of high-end tight ends available at the moment, we went through and looked at some players who Oregon could potentially look at and try to add this offseason.

As more tight ends become available in the portal, we will keep an eye out and add them to the list.

Here are some names to know at the moment.

Drew Mehringer talks Terrance Ferguson, Kenyon Sadiq, and Oregon’s talented TE room

Following Saturday’s scrimmage, Drew Mehringer talked TE depth, and a lot about the upside of freshman Kenyon Sadiq.

As spring practice continues on in Eugene, we’ve had the opportunity to talk to more coaches on the roster outside of head coach Dan Lanning.

On Saturday, it was time to talk to tight ends coach Drew Mehringer, who was made available for the first time since last fall. There was a lot to talk about, including what took place in the scrimmage that the Ducks went through on Saturday morning in Autzen Stadium.

On top of that, Mehringer has a talented group of TEs, though short on scholarship depth. We discussed that, and what its been like working with Will Stein as the new offensive coordinator. Here are some of the best quotes from that conversation.

Terrance Ferguson out with injury ‘for a while;’ Oregon’s TE depth comes into question

“He’s going to be down for a while for us,” Lanning said. “We’re just going to be precautionary there with him and hold him out for the rest of spring.”

The depth at one of the most important positions on the offense is being called into question for the Oregon Ducks this spring.

Head coach Dan Lanning revealed to media members on Saturday afternoon following the team’s first scrimmage of the spring season that tight end Terrance Ferguson has been dealing with an injury and is expected to miss some time.

“He’s going to be down for a while for us,” Lanning said. “We’re just going to be precautionary there with him and hold him out for the rest of spring.”

Ferguson was first noticed to be absent at Oregon’s spring practice on Thursday morning, but was later seen walking around the facility without crutches or a cast on any extremities. It is unclear what the injury is, but Lanning says that it’s serious enough to hold him out for the rest of the spring season.

Unfortunately for the Ducks, this is one of the few positions on the roster where depth now becomes a serious concern. Behind Ferguson, Oregon only has two scholarship tight ends, with Patrick Herbert and true freshman Kenyon Sadiq.

There is a belief that they will look to the transfer portal to add another player or two. The portal opened on Saturday officially and will close at the end of the month.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Report Card: Will the real Oregon Ducks please stand up?

Oregon did what it needed to do and then some against Eastern Washington. This is what this week’s report card looks like:

It’s so hard to judge a team that plays an FCS opponent that clearly is on a different level. But considering how things went around the country with several upsets, Oregon’s 70-14 win over Eastern Washington was a pleasant sight to see.

Bo Nix threw for five touchdowns with no interceptions and looked like the senior quarterback he is. Oregon’s receivers and tight end dominated the smaller and slower Eagles secondary and the running backs, kept plugging along.

On the defensive side of the ball, Oregon forced two turnovers, including a Pick-6. It wasn’t exactly the prettiest of plays, but six points is six points.

But for the second straight game, the linebackers were relatively pedestrian. They weren’t bad, but didn’t do anything special either and that has to be a concern moving forward.

All in all, a win is a win and Dan Lanning and the Ducks will definitely take it. Here’s how the report card looks for everyone involved.

Social media reacts to Terrance Ferguson’s wild second touchdown reception

Terrance Ferguson turned into a pinball as he bounced away and spun into the end zone for another touchdown.

Oregon Ducks football coach Dan Lanning said this week he wanted his team to execute the Xs and Os a lot better than they did against Georgia.

It’s doubtful he drew this one up.

Quarterback Bo Nix threw into coverage and the pass should have been picked off, but the pass was tipped right into tight end Terrance Ferguson’s big mitts and when he turned around with the ball, he had to bounce off a defender, put on a spin move and then score.

It was Ferguson’s second touchdown reception of the night and he’s quickly becoming a go-to target for Nix. Hopefully next time, the tight end is a little more open than he was on this play.

Twitter reacts to Oregon finding the end zone for first touchdown of 2022

It took Oregon a little over a full game, but the Ducks found the end zone thanks to Terrance Ferguson.

It took a little over four quarters of action and a week on the calendar, but the Oregon Ducks finally hit paydirt with their first touchdown of the 2022 college football season.

Quarterback Bo Nix hit tight end Terrance Ferguson on a short pass going over the middle and the big 6-foot-4 Colorado native did the rest. He used a nice block downfield from running back Sean Dollars and scampered 13 yards to take an early 7-0 lead over Eastern Washington.

Naturally, Twitter was all over it to celebrate the initial score of what should be many for the Ducks in the home opener.