Needs: TE and DE pass rush specialist.

[jimmy12]

I am curious whether the Ducks will target any grad transfers or JC guys in these two positions. If they had pulled Artis and Falo, this would have sufficed, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

[srsmiley007]

I am curious whether the Ducks will target any grad transfers or JC guys in these two positions. If they had pulled Artis and Falo, this would have sufficed, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Hopefully there's a few straggler's out there. If not, don't be surprised to see them move 1 of the other linebackers (winston or briscoe) to TE. I know they have Mattingly and Mariota, but we'll need legit depth for 2018. Briscoe might be the more logical choice because he played TE in HS but Winston is a serious athlete with good hands.

Any thoughts???

[karlhungis]

I rather have legit depth at LB and passable depth at TE than the other way around.

[duck541]

Ehh if USF last year is any indication Willie doesn't use his TEs much, so I'm not that worried.

Last year their TEs COMBINED for a total of 20 catches. That's ridiculously low.

For reference, our 3rd and 4th string TEs combined for 15 catches while both Brown and Mundt surpassed 20 catches individually, with 33 and 23 catches each.

[dthomas=ddixon]

Ehh if USF last year is any indication Willie doesn't use his TEs much, so I'm not that worried.

Last year their TEs COMBINED for a total of 20 catches. That's ridiculously low.

For reference, our 3rd and 4th string TEs combined for 15 catches while both Brown and Mundt surpassed 20 catches individually, with 33 and 23 catches each.

I was just going to post something similar. As long as all these guys can learn the offense and block well we will be fine. The team has plenty of other weapons, we don't need multiple prolific pass catchers at the tight end position.

[srsmiley007]

I rather have legit depth at LB and passable depth at TE than the other way around.

We have plenty of depth. ILB's can cover both roles. We are 5 deep at ILB and 6 deep at OLB if we don't count Fahlhaber, Rugraff and Mattingly. If Mattingly looks good in the Spring at TE than this may be a moot point as long as Breeland and McCormick stay healthy. However, don't be surprised to see Brisco or Winston get some time at TE
.
RE/OLB: Moi, Hollins, Young
MILB: Simms, Hotchkins, Apaleu
WILB: Swain, Niu, Apaleu
OLB: Dye, Winston, Brisco,

[GrandpaDuck]

Ehh if USF last year is any indication Willie doesn't use his TEs much, so I'm not that worried.

Last year their TEs COMBINED for a total of 20 catches. That's ridiculously low.

For reference, our 3rd and 4th string TEs combined for 15 catches while both Brown and Mundt surpassed 20 catches individually, with 33 and 23 catches each.

I was just going to post something similar. As long as all these guys can learn the offense and block well we will be fine. The team has plenty of other weapons, we don't need multiple prolific pass catchers at the tight end position.

Me too. The USF Tight-end was more of an H-Back and basically a blocker, not a primary receiver like in the Chip/Helfrich systems. This may have been pointed out to Falo, I know I would have mentioned it if I was the USC recruiter.

[duckfbfan15]

Bryson Young and Hollins will be the edge rushers

[ducks5ever]

Can someone please clear this up for me? We have Breeland, McCormick, and Mattingly available to play TE next year. We can surely find one good/serviceable TE out of the bunch?? I remember McCormick being the best TE out west or something close to that last year? Sorry for being ignorant, but I have no inside scoop on practices so I have no idea how the two younglings have progressed this past year.

[UOducksTK1]

Can someone please clear this up for me? We have Breeland, McCormick, and Mattingly available to play TE next year. We can surely find one good/serviceable TE out of the bunch?? I remember McCormick being the best TE out west or something close to that last year? Sorry for being ignorant, but I have no inside scoop on practices so I have no idea how the two younglings have progressed this past year.

Mattingly and McCormick haven't played a snap at TE. I really like Breeland and feel like he'll be great, but that's probably the worst depth/experience/talent we've had in over a decade (if not longer). It definitely warrants a reason to be concerned.

Additionally, we've had success with 2 TE sets. Imagine if Breeland or McCormick goes down with an injury, we would be pretty desperate.

It's certainly not a great situation to be in, but if we stay healthy and McCormick an Mattingly can contribute, I think we can make it by this year.

[duck541]

Can someone please clear this up for me? We have Breeland, McCormick, and Mattingly available to play TE next year. We can surely find one good/serviceable TE out of the bunch?? I remember McCormick being the best TE out west or something close to that last year? Sorry for being ignorant, but I have no inside scoop on practices so I have no idea how the two younglings have progressed this past year.

Mattingly and McCormick haven't played a snap at TE. I really like Breeland and feel like he'll be great, but that's probably the worst depth/experience/talent we've had in over a decade (if not longer). It definitely warrants a reason to be concerned.

Additionally, we've down good with 2 TE sets. Imagine if Breeland or McCormick goes down with an injury, we would be pretty desperate.

It's certainly not a great situation to be in, but if we stay healthy and McCormick an Mattingly can contribute, I think we can make it by this year.

While injury is definitely a concern with only one TE who has seen the field Taggart doesn't run a lot of two TE sets. We will not be running the same offense as last year.

[TyranT]

I think Matt Mariota was switched to TE as well.

[TyranT]

Ryan Bay, Taylor Stinson, and Jalontae Walker are also on the roster.

[srsmiley007]

Ryan Bay, Taylor Stinson, and Jalontae Walker are also on the roster.

Hopefully, we'll be fine. I have to believe we're targeting a grad transfer. Anyway, his offense is more like a modified pistol. What we don't know is if they modify this yet again so double tights won't likely come into play much

[karlhungis]

Aparently a TE not named Butt is wanting to transfer from Michigan so he can be closer to home in California. Hopefully Willy and co is on this.