One of the biggest positions of intrigue for the Oregon Ducks going into the 2025 season is tight end. Most fans will tell you that Kenyon Sadiq is among the players they are most excited to see play this year, but there are other members of the TE room who are worth paying attention to in the coming weeks and months.
One of those tight ends is Louisville Cardinals transfer Jamari Johnson, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound athlete who can dominate many roles on the field. The Ducks tried hard to land Johnson out of high school and were in his recruitment until the very end, but ended up losing out to the Cardinals.
In classic Dan Lanning fashion, though, they kept the communications lines open and eventually got him into the portal.
"It was a tight recruitment down the stretch, one that, you know, we never burned bridges on the way out," Lanning said earlier this spring. "He made a decision that was best for him as it went down the stretch. And ultimately, I think, he realized this is the place that he wanted to be when it's all said and done."
Now in Eugene, Johnson has been working hard not only to fit in, but also to get back on the field. After suffering a broken fibula early in the 2024 season, it's been a long road to recovery for the former 4-star recruit, but he's finally at the point where he can get back on the field, and he's turning some heads early on in spring practices.
"Jamari kind of got in there a little bit for the first time today, so it was our first real glimpse at him with pads on and in contact," TE coach Drew Mehringer said after the Ducks' practice on Saturday. "Jamari is a very smart kid. He's a very willing person. He's got a great personality, and wants to be coached. He's not a guy that, you know shies away from coaching. He's a guy that will look you in the eye and say ‘yes, sir’ and do exactly what you asked him to do. Is he right all the time? No, and that's part of being a coach and getting those guys to understand what it takes to be not just a good football player, but also a grown man."
While Sadiq is expected to lead the room as TE1, taking a large portion of the targets and excelling in open space, the size and athleticism for Johnson offers a lot of different possibilities. Whether that's spread out into the slot, or down the line as a blocker — something Oregon desperately needs after the graduation of Patrick Herbert and Kenyon Sadiq — remains to be seen. But early on, the Ducks seem confident in what he can bring to the table.
“Jamari is 6’6” and I bet he's got to be right around 260, right now," Mehringer said. "He's a big, big Joker, but he's faster than you think that he is, and his twitch is there. And he has great hands, he has humongous hands. He's obviously a very different body type than what Kenyon is, and so we'll see how they work together out there on the field. I anticipate seeing a lot of him come the fall. I think he's very, very gifted.
