Oregon's Patrick Herbert: The 'Robot' who wants a ring
The sixth-year Oregon tight end is coming into the spotlight -- whether he likes it or not.
EUGENE — Patrick Herbert once thought he’d be doing a lot more of what he did against Washington last year.
Down 14-8 early in the second quarter, the Ducks were driving in Seattle when Bo Nix dropped back, escaped the rush and bought himself some time before firing a strike toward the outstretched hands of his massive, 6-foot-5 tight end in the end zone.
Herbert jumped, secured the pass and came back down to earth for the touchdown, doing so so nonchalantly one would assume Herbert-for-six was a regularity. But as Herbert enters his sixth season of college football, he’ll be the first to say that plays like that have been fewer and farther between than what he anticipated when he came to Oregon as a lean, four-star tight end out of Sheldon High School in Eugene.
“I came in at 219, 220 and I thought I was going to be a pass catcher,” said the now 255-pound Herbert Monday at Oregon’s 2024 media day. “And then I came here and picked up blocking and found success in it.”