Tight Ends Eager To Carry Torch In Brown's Absence
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
With the news that tight end Pharaoh Brown was able to travel back home to Ohio – under the care of his mother, a nurse, and able to rehab his right leg at the renowned Cleveland Clinic – the Oregon football team could begin contemplating life on the field without their injured teammate.
Replacing the junior starter will be no easy task for the Ducks, who on Thursday held the second of two brief conditioning workouts that made up their bye week practices. Brown blossomed into a star in 2014, catching six touchdown passes through 10 games – one fewer than the NCAA leaders at tight end – and proving a formidable force as a blocker in the run game.
To fill his shoes, the Ducks will turn to a trio of veterans with different yet valuable skill sets. Between the versatility of backup Evan Baylis, the big-play history of sophomore Johnny Mundt and the line-of-scrimmage presence from junior Koa Ka'ai, there’s still potential for tight end to be an impact position down the stretch for Oregon.
“It’s not like we’re going from Player A to a Player B that’s never played before,” position coach Tom Osborne said. “Now, can they play at the level Pharaoh’s played this year? That’s the challenge. Because Pharaoh’s played really well.”
Combined, the trio of Baylis, Mundt and Kai has just three receptions this fall, two by Mundt. Brown, meanwhile, caught 25 passes for 420 yards and six scores in 10 games, along with playing what amounted to fullback in many rushing situations.
Baylis has been No. 2 behind Brown most of this season, blocking in two tight end sets and making his lone reception against Washington. As a redshirt freshman last fall, Baylis started the Alamo Bowl, and caught four passes for 71 yards on the season.
“I’ve felt like I’ve started improving over the course of this season,” Baylis said. “I came back from some knee stuff over the summer and beginning of the season. It takes a lot of reps to get the feel back and the technique back, so I’m feeling pretty good.”
Were Baylis to replace Brown as the starter, in a neat bit of symmetry he’d do so next week against Colorado, as the lone native of that state on the UO roster. Baylis said the recent coaching change resulted in his knowing very few of the Buffaloes’ current coaches and players, but that “it’s fun to play Colorado.”
Mundt burst onto the scene against Tennessee as a true freshman in 2013, catching five passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a critical 17-yard reception on the game-winning drive in the Civil War, though his opportunities this fall have been less frequent given Brown’s emergence.
“We’re just worried about Pharaoh right now,” Mundt said. “We text him every day, want him to get back and wish we could be there for him. Our thoughts go out to him. Pharaoh’s a team player, and he wants us to succeed for the team. We’ve got to go out there and make plays.”
Osborne said he’s spoken with Brown every day since the tight end was injured late in Oregon’s win at Utah this past Saturday. “His spirits are really good,” Osborne said. “He’s obviously disappointed he’s not able to play. Pharaoh’s a very emotional person anyway, but you get your season cut short, and he’s played really well this year – really well in the run game – to not play anymore is disappointing. But his mom’s a nurse, and the hospital back in Cleveland is supposedly one of the best in the country for what he needs now.”
UO coach Mark Helfrich said Brown will continue his academic work via correspondence courses this term, after making the difficult decision to return to Cleveland rather than reunite with teammates in Eugene. “I know that bugs him and bugs them, but we’ll get to that in due course,” Helfrich said. “But as grave of a situation (as it was), I would say it’s probably the best it could be at this point.”
Helfrich said Sunday the Ducks would explore ways to overcome Brown’s absence, at times using extra running backs or receivers. But he said Thursday the tight end will remain a weapon against certain matchups.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota expressed confidence the other tight ends can step up. “We’ve done a lot of two tight end packages, so they’ve been in the games, they know what we expect of them,” Mariota said. “We’re fine, and we’re looking forward to getting those guys in.”
The tight ends, in turn, also are eager for their shot to fill in for their injured teammate Brown. “He’s a great athlete, and he got great at blocking the last year,” Ka’ai said. “It’s tough to lose him, but I think the three of us can pick up the slack.”
