One thing that keeps college football so exciting is the constant turnover of players. On one hand, there is a constant competition for spots and an urgency created by the fact that these players are only on campus for 3-5 years. On the other hand, this constant turnover of personnel can create difficulties for a team and leave them in tough situations.
That is where the current Oregon Ducks football team is right now. Seniors Evan Baylis, Pharaoh Brown, and Johnny Mundt are all graduating. Current tight ends on this years roster include three redshirt sophomores, one redshirt junior, and a redshirt freshman. Three of the tight ends on the roster walked on, one of those walk ons was a defensive player up until a few weeks ago. Those 5 players have played a combined 14 games for the Ducks, totaling 6 receptions (11 of those games and all 6 receptions were last season by redshirt sophomore Jacob Breeland).
In other words, the Ducks have a major tight end problem!
To add insult to injury, two major tight end recruits have recently decommitted from Oregon. Three-star tight end Tre McKitty was the first to decommit when he flipped to Florida State. Just days after McKitty decommitted, three-star tight end Moses Robinson-Carr decommitted and looks to be a lock to go to Pac-12 rival UCLA.
This is why Josh Falo should be priority #1 for Willie Taggart and the Oregon Ducks.
Falo is a 6-foot 5-inch tight end from Inderkum High School in Sacramento, California. He is a four-star athlete that is the 2nd ranked tight end and 80th ranked player in the 2017 class by 247 Sports.
When you look at the commitments to the Oregon program so far this year, the majority of them are on the defensive side of the ball, but there may be no more glaring hole on the roster than the tight end position. Falo has the chance to be the #1 tight end for the Ducks as soon as fall camp.
Falo is a long, fluid athlete that could be used all over the offensive formation to create mismatches. There aren’t many linebackers that will be able to keep up with him in the open field, and there aren’t many defensive backs that possess his size or length. He has a huge catching radius that would make any quarterback happy to throw to him. He has the instincts to jump and high-point a football unlike a lot of high school athletes.
The two areas that will improve with college coaching are his run blocking and his route running. Those are crucial if he wants to be an every-down starting tight end.
Even though Falo is 18 years old and has never played a down of college football in his life, it is hard to imagine Falo not being the starting tight end in Eugene if he were to commit to the Ducks.
Although it is somewhat unclear exactly what the offense will look like under Taggart, the tight end position has been crucial for the Ducks in the past. Falo would join a long line of athletic, and talented tight ends for Oregon. Guys like Ed Dickson, Russ Francis, Dante Rosario, Justin Peelle.
Falo played in the Under Armour All-American Bowl and is playing in the Polynesian Bowl this weekend. He recently had his official visit to USC. Shortly after the visit to USC, Falo hosted a couple Oregon coaches for an in-home visit. Offensive Coordinator Mario Cristobal, Wide Receiver Coach Jimmie Dougherty and Defensive Line Coach Joe Salave’a were there reruiting for Oregon.
The University of Oregon will host Falo in Eugene for his official visit on January 29th, just two days before signing day. Falo has said on his Twitter account that he will be committing on January 30th.
It is thought to be a two-team race between USC and Oregon, with the University of Colorado as the dark horse.
Oregon has two key advantages in landing Falo.
1. Immediate playing time.
2. The Ducks get the final official visit before he commits.
Check out Falo’s highlights below and let me know how you think he would look in Green and Yellow!
