Most Interesting Prospects: Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson

By definition, every tight end in the NFL Draft is tied for first place in my “most interesting tight ends” ranking. They’re all precious diamonds to be loved and appreciated individually, and choosing between them is like choosing between my children. I just won’t do it.

That’s the bit. (Though not much of a bit, I admit. I do love tight ends). In reality, though, the tight end situation is perilous.

On Blue 58, I outlined the NFL’s ongoing tight end problem. The college game produces, generally speaking, “move” tight ends — essentially giant wide receivers that look and operate like, well, giant wide receivers. That’s a useful skill set; football is a game for big men, after all. But you don’t have to defend giant wide receivers all that differently than tiny ones, so we end up in a situation where having tight ends on the field doesn’t bring offenses much of a schematic advantage.

Blocking ability among young tight ends is rare, too. It’s so rare that I don’t even consider it a primary consideration as we look at tight ends in the draft. It’s easier to assume that tight ends are just going to be bad at it, especially early in their careers.

That leaves us with the difficult task of projecting tight ends based on very little. How do we find a good one? I think you have to focus on big athletes and hope for the best from there. Every young tight end is going to come with a “some assembly required” label, so finding some guys with traits that look like they could be assembled into something interesting. So let’s find some big athletes who look like they at least have the tools to succeed at the next level.

For traits-only scouting, I think you could do a lot worse than Oregon’s Terrance Ferguson. A little taller than 6-foot-5 and a little under 250 pounds, he has close to ideal size; he might even be a little too tall and certainly trends toward being a little too light for his height. But he definitely has athletic chops. At that height and weight, he ran a 4.63 second 40-yard dash, which puts him within .02 seconds of the Packers’ Luke Musgrave. He can certainly run.

Can he block? Not particularly, but he’s at least willing to throw his body at guys, which is more than can be said for a lot of college tight ends. Couple that with decent productivity in the passing game and you’ve got at least a decent prospect. His size and speed are excellent, and his soft skills look moldable. What else can you ask for?

This seems a little more vague than some other prospect reports I’ve written, and that’s partly by accident but partly by design. I’m realizing more and more that tight ends are even more of a projection than most other positions, and I’m working to tailor my expectations accordingly. I’ll still love every tight end, but I at least want to be realistic about what they all could stand to achieve.