By now most Oregon Ducks fans have moved on from Colt Lyerla, the once-promising tight end who had started twelve games for the Ducks over the last two years. It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to see Lyerla leave as he and head coach Mark Helfrich had been battling ever since Helfrich suggested that Lyerla sat out the Tennessee game for reasons other than an illness.
Lyerla had shown flashes of brilliance over the past two years with the Ducks. But he also had far too many dropped passes and missed blocks mixed in there to make him a truly consistent threat.
He also wasn't exactly what you would call a team chemistry guy and had a penchant attracting too many headlines for the wrong reasons.
After not traveling to Colorado with the team this week to play the Buffaloes, Lyerla officially announced that he is leaving Oregon, effective immediately. He indicated that he will not be trying to transfer to another school in the meantime, but plans to make his way to the NFL.
I'm not entirely sure how Lyerla expects to make it there, except maybe as the towel and Gatorade boy on the sideline. There is no doubt that Lyerla is talented and could be playing on Sundays if he got his head on straight.
But the NFL, more so than any of the big four, places a premium on a player's character. Lyerla would certainly get dinged for that, in addition to his relative inexperience at the college level.
Worst of all for Lyerla? This doesn't really hurt the Ducks. Obviously having a focused Lyerla around would benefit the Ducks offense. But he hasn't demonstrated the maturity or consistency at this point for the team to continue planning on him reaching that level any time soon.
Johnny Mundt has demonstrated himself a capable replacement for the time being and the Ducks already have numerous other weapons on offense. Sure the teams they have been playing haven't exactly been the toughest around; but they are still hanging 50 on teams like their lives depend on it.
This is just addition by subtraction. The Ducks lose a guy who was clearly butting heads with the coaching staff and had already proven to be a distraction off the field with his immaturity. Something tells me that the team harmony doesn't change with Lyerla leaving as the Ducks are just focused on winning the day each and every day.
As for Lyerla, well, I wish him the best. I hope that he proves me wrong and grows up and makes it to the NFL. But a wild Colt won't make it far with the attitude that he has now.
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