Oregon Football: Kenyon Sadiq – Addicted To Quack

Since the year 2000, Oregon has seen many great tight ends come through the program—and the hype this offseason suggests that Kenyon Sadiq could be the next in line in 2025. Nine different Oregon tight ends have recorded at least 400 receiving yards in a single season during that span, so I decided to take a look at the collegiate careers of each of those nine to identify common trends and see what insights they might offer about Sadiq’s trajectory.

Here are the careers of those nine tight ends showing total receiving yards and percentage of team yardage for each year of their respective careers:

Early Career Trends

Focusing on each player’s first three seasons—since Sadiq is about to enter his third year—several patterns emerged:

True Freshmen

Unsurprisingly, very few made an impact in their first year. Only three of the nine had more than 100 receiving yards, and none surpassed 200 yards or accounted for more than 5% of the team’s total receiving yardage.

True Sophomores / Redshirt Freshmen

In their second season, production began to vary more widely. While all nine players showed improvement (as expected), the degree of improvement differed greatly:

• On one end, Ed Dickson had a huge leap in 2007, increasing his yardage by over 400 yards and accounting for 15% of the team’s total receiving yards.
• On the other end, Justin Peelle—who redshirted in 1998—had just 65 yards and 2% of team yardage in 1999. His breakout didn’t come until his redshirt sophomore season.

True Juniors / Redshirt Sophomores

By year three, eight of the nine tight ends were significant contributors to the offense, each accounting for at least 9% of the team’s receiving yardage. The lone exception was Dante Rosario, who saw a slight regression in year three before posting a strong senior season in 2006.

The Two Paths to Greatness

Looking at these careers, it’s clear there are two broad paths that great Oregon tight ends have followed:

1. Breakout in Year 2
2. Breakout in Year 3

So where does that leave Kenyon Sadiq?

Evaluating Sadiq’s First Two Years

From the tight end perspective, one could argue that Sadiq’s 2024 season was already a breakout. His sophomore jump in production mirrors that of former greats like Tim Day, David Paulson, Jacob Breeland, and Terrance Ferguson.

Among Oregon tight ends, only Ed Dickson had a larger sophomore-year jump in both yardage and percentage of team receiving yards.

What This Means for Sadiq in 2025

Based on historical trends, Kenyon Sadiq appears well on his way to becoming Oregon’s next 400-yard tight end. In fact, the average third-year stat line for Day, Paulson, Breeland, and Ferguson is:

• 416.5 receiving yards
• 12% of the team’s receiving yardage

Of course, those numbers are just raw stats from four different players, with four different quarterbacks and four different offensive coordinators. Sadiq will be the fifth tight end in a unique situation of his own in 2025.

That said, considering Oregon’s relatively inexperienced wide receiver room, and an offensive coordinator who favors tight ends and emphasizes the short passing game, it almost feels like 416.5 yards could be Sadiq’s floor this season.