Who is on the Oregon Mount Rushmore at tight end?

Tight end is a hard one. The Ducks have had so many good ones, so many fan favorites.

Part of the difficulty is criteria. In choosing four for the Oregon Mount Rushmore do you rate them with a subjective judgment about talent? Statistics? Size and speed? Do you consider eras and how the player was used?

Pro career? Oregon only? Post-1980? All-America, All-Conference?

Then there are special cases-- Jake Breeland was headed for a monster season in 2019 before a leg injury against Colorado midway through the year. In just six games he'd caught 26 passes for 405 yards and six touchdowns.

Pharaoh Brown's 2014 season was cut short by a devastating leg injury in which the doctors considered amputation. He lost an entire year in 2015, coming back to play a full season in 2016 to catch 25 passes for 420 yards and six TDs.

Wunderkind Colt Lyerla may have been the most athletically gifted Oregon tight end ever, although that's a lively discussion between Russ Francis, a first-round NFL draft pick who set a national prep record in the javelin, current tight end Kenyon Sadiq, 22 mph speed on the GPS, and 2026 5-star commit Kendre Harrison, who is also a 20-point/20-rebound prospect in basketball.

Harrison has shut down his commitment but he hasn't taken a snap yet, so the "most athletic" is a debate between Francis, Lyerla and Sadiq, although Terrance Ferguson, who is going to wear No. 18 with the Rams as a tribute to Spencer Webb, has to be considered.

Lyerla's Oregon career was cut short by drug and personal issues. As a sophomore in 2012 he caught 25 passes for 392 yards. He scored 13 touchdowns in his brief Oregon career.

At the NFL combine Ferguson measured 6-foot, 5 3/8 inches, 247 pounds. He ran the 40 in 4.63 and vertical-jumped 39 inches. That's insane athletic ability for the unassuming redhead from Littleton, Colorado.

These factoids and sketches leave out blocking, another essential part of a tight end's job, but harder to quantify. Hard to account for too is the difference between the pass-happy spread of 2007-present versus the pedestrian and sometimes limited offenses that preceeded it.

Some data, then we'll vote:

Best NFL careers for Oregon tight ends, career NFL stats

The data and info on Duck tight ends in the NFL is provided for entertainment purposes only, and some perspective. Russ Francis played only 14 games as a Duck. In the old PAC-8 he caught eight passes in 1972 and 31 in 1972, for 495 yards and four touchdowns.

Certainly he's the most decorated Oregon tight end with 13 years in the league, a Super Bowl ring and three Pro Bowls, but in terms of his Duck career, it's not Rushmore-worthy, though he did earn all-conference honors in '73.

By contrast, Josh Wilcox played just two seasons in the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Saints, but his Oregon career was stellar. He played four seasons and starred on the 1994-95 Rose Bowl team, catching 90 passes for 1,264 yards and 14 TDs.

Picking a Mount Rushmore of Oregon tight ends for their Oregon careers, Autzen Zoo would pick these, for longevity, legacy and on-field production:

Oregon Mount Rushmore, Tight ends, college receiving stats

Another name fans frequently bring up is David Paulson, who played three seasons from 2009-11. Though a favorite, Paulson's career numbers were 67 catches for 1041 yards and 10 touchdowns, just shy of Spencer's Butte.

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