Like a 21st-century reinvention of the circus promoter hawking his show, new Oregon football coach Chip Kelly took to his “Coach’s Corner” blog last week to advertise the team’s free, open-to-the-public spring practices.
The largest crowd of the spring’s six practices arrived last Friday under the Moshofsky Center’s big top – big enough that Kelly joked afterward the team should have had a 50/50 raffle. Amid the constant three-ring practice activity with multiple drills taking place at the same time across the field, a sizable number of the “Ooohs” went to one of the team’s deepest position, the tight ends.
During an early ‘three on two’ period, where two receivers work for space on three defenders, Dion Jordan offered a glimpse of the unit’s athleticism and promise while confirming its raw nature before Oregon’s first game against Boise State on Sept. 3.
Jordan, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound redshirt freshman, running toward the sideline with a defender on his hip, turned around mid-stride and nearly caught the pass from Jeremiah Masoli with his left hand before a second defender broke up the play.
Members of the crowd whipped out their cell phones to text
message their friends about the play after a resounding, “Oooh.”
It caught the eye of Kelly, too.
“I feel better about that position than probably any other position on our team from a depth standpoint,” Kelly said.
What did it mean to tight ends and special teams coach Tom Osborne? Not much, yet. But along with big catches by David Paulson, Malachi Lewis and Mychal Rivera, not including single-season receptions record holder Ed Dickson, wearing a non-contact jersey with a strained hamstring, it showed that the battle for who dresses for each game could go well into August’s fall camp.
As late as last week, the position was seven players deep. NaDerris Ward and Sam Doman were switched during Monday’s practice with the offensive linemen and running back groups, respectively, to address depth issues in those particular units. It is unknown yet whether those two players could return to the tight ends. Either way, both highlighted the unit’s depth.
“I love their energy, and they’re trying to play hard and they’re 10 times better than we were even last fall and I think competition does that,” Osborne said. “There are six guys in the room and only three or four who will make the bus.”
Journey to Oregon hardly a straight shot
Now, there is a five-deep competition for playing time this spring because of a number of factors and individual journeys that have finally lined up for the Ducks. Dickson, Lewis, Paulson and Rivera all came to Oregon direct from high school.
Jordan did, as well, but only after the 10th-rated tight end in the nation missed the second half of his senior season at Chandler (Ariz.) High because of third-degree burns that covered more than 25 percent of his body after an attempt to siphon gas out of a car with a vacuum cleaner went wrong and burned him on both arms and shoulders and from his knees to his toes on both legs. During fall camp last August, he tore his meniscus in his knee, which put an end to talk he could use his lanky arms, speed and big hands in the slot receiver position during the nearly three months he was out of practice.

“If Dion figures out what he can do, he can be better than all of them, tomorrow, once he figures out how to do it,” Osborne said. “But in the three-on-two drill, once he gets it down, oh my goodness. Wow. He is talented, and he’s tough. But how long will it take for him to develop? Is it two years, a year, fall camp, is it halfway through next season? That will determine where he fits and how other guys fall in line.”
Lewis came to campus with a running back’s speed and experience and made the switch from H-back to tight end as the spread offense began to be implemented his freshman year. He rushed for 3,740 yards in his career at Rio Mesa High in Oxnard, Calif., the school record. During his senior year he caught just eight catches for 242 yards. Since then, he has played in all 26 games in his career despite his relative inexperience partly because of his speed, which was timed at 4.82 in the 40-yard dash during winter testing, the fastest time of all tight ends, according to Oregon.
Before being switched, Sam Doman was the lowest on the depth chart because of his switching of schools and positions. He spent a season at Brigham Young University as a scholarship quarterback after he played that and defensive back in high school. After being on the BYU sideline in the Cougars’ win over Oregon in the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl, Doman transferred to Oregon, where he sat out the 2007 season for a transfer rule. Doman, who has filled out to 6-foot-4 and 228 pounds, rejoined the team after not playing during the fall.
Expectations have followed NaDerris Ward since he transferred from national power Georgia in 2007. At 6-foot-5, 266 pounds, Ward injured his shoulder early in Friday’s practice after displaying good hands and speed during position drills throughout the week. An Oakland, Calif., native, Ward was the second-best tight end in the country out of high school according to Rivals.com, but after appearing in four games for the Bulldogs in 2007, transferred back to the West Coast after two deaths and a grandmother’s illness. An appeal to play last season on grounds the health of his family was a hardship was denied by the NCAA, and as Ward said, his practices suffered in the fall knowing he had no chance of playing.
“He’s got a sense of purpose now,” Kelly said.
“I was kind of in the tank a little bit, especially after finding out I wasn’t able to play so my intensity was a little less and I probably wasn’t giving as much effort as I should have been,” said Ward, whose catches and speed for such a big body in last Wednesday’s drills had several fans reach for their rosters to look up who No. 12 was.

Osborne has been cautious with his praise. Jordan and Ward are effectively learning the position again, while Lewis made the transition from H-back to tight end two years ago. Jordan finished last season practicing with the wide receivers. He and Kelly have praised the 6-foot-5, 243-pound Dickson, the undisputed top player of the group, for his work with the young tight ends. The unit’s potential, at this point, is just that.
“I don’t know if we’re performing to the level that I think sometimes and media perception is,” Osborne said. “The other guys may be tall big or run a fast 40 but they haven’t developed the football extent yet that we need to.”

Fitting into Oregon’s system
Ask Osborne what the prototypical tight end is and he responds with, “Great question.”
Oregon’s spread offense has made a single definition hard to craft. The players must be able to block well, especially considering the emphasis on running the football, which has allowed Oregon to set rushing records in consecutive seasons. It was Dickson’s blocking improvement last year that drew rave reviews from Osborne.
They must be able to catch – Dickson caught 43 passes to break the single-season record in 2007, then broke his own record with 508 receiving yards on 35 catches last fall. Dickson, who has sat out portions of spring practice with a hamstring injury, also displayed rare stamina by being on the field for 1,135 plays in 2007, the second-most on the team to rover Patrick Chung. Special teams is another key area the players must contribute to, and is another of Osborne’s specialties.
The demands of the offense have blurred the line between what Osborne calls the “thumpers,” who are basically undersized offensive lineman whose pass-catching ability is minimal, and “receivers,” who can lead a team in receptions but get knocked off the line. Paulson has shown a mix of both that has impressed Kelly with great hands in traffic, catching several passes in 11-on-11 work last week, while being big enough at 250 pounds to stand up to blocking.
“David Paulson has had a great offseason,” Kelly said.
But in Oregon’s offense, is there room for more than one tight end at a time on the field?
The question is the 11th-player debate: Is the 11th player on the field a third wide receiver, a second tight end or a fullback?
Everyone believes tight ends can become the 11th player routinely in formations, but only if that player gives the team an advantage the other players wouldn’t.
“We’re always going to tailor what we do to our personnel so that if we have more tight end we’ll run more tight ends,” Kelly said. “If those two tight ends looks like me then you probably shouldn’t have them in the game.”
Speed is the reason quarterback Nate Costa, who is rehabbing his knee from a third ACL injury suffered last August, says it’s possible to have several players on the field at once.
“Malachi and Dion and Ed, those are tight ends who have very rare speed,” Costa said. “You have mismatches against those inside linebackers and safeties, and you throw those two in the game at one time it’s going to be a big mismatch.”
And it could be a position battle that goes well into the fall.
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