EUGENE -- The Ducks don't have that talent this spring at tight end.

He's likely prepping for the NFL Draft where, if based strictly on ability, he'd probably be a first-rounder.

The Ducks don't have that athleticism there, either. Over the last three years, it came in bursts and bunches. There were times when it looked like a gift from above, the Ducks harboring a player who could likely run faster and jump higher than anyone else at the position -- a player who, when in the right mindset, could change the course of a game with his body.

The Ducks don't have Colt Lyerla this spring and they don't have that sort of freakish talent to replace him. But when given the sum of his current group's parts, tight ends coach Tom Osborne said he’d take what Johnny Mundt, Evan Baylis and Pharaoh Brown add up to.

"Obviously everybody raves up and down about Colt's athletic ability," Osborne said, "but you have to perform. It's not a Combine where you run fast and jump high. You have to play and play every down."

As it is now, none of the three players competing for playing time at tight end are likely going to physically take the Pac-12 by storm like Lyerla did two years ago. During Lyerla's sophomore season, the Hillsboro native caught 25 passes for 392 yards and six touchdowns, his 15.7 yards-per-catch led the Pac-12 tight ends and he was a brute on the line. He was so effective with his strength, Osborne said the best game he ever played was in 2012 against USC in which Lyerla only caught one pass for 13 yards. He had the ability to do it all, Osborne said.

But waning focus and off-the-field issues derailed Lyerla's career with the Ducks. He left the team in October and was caught with cocaine in December. He's now trying to prove to NFL teams he's not the head-case he's often confused with, hoping they set aside a troubled past in exchange for obvious talents.

He was a headache for Oregon at times, for sure, but he was also one of its most dangerous weapons.

Mundt first tried his hand at replicating Lyerla's success. With Brown injured in fall camp and Lyerla ill, Mundt steamrolled his way to 121 yards and two touchdowns, using lead pipes to stiff-arm his way through Tennessee and into the hearts of the Oregon faithful. The true freshman would only gain 160 yards and grab another touchdown the rest of the season, though, as he found that his breakout game set unrealistic expectations upon himself as he hit a wall midway through the year.

"I set that bar pretty high. I had a lot of friends telling me, 'Good luck meeting that next game,' " Mundt said. "It definitely became a grind. We were down to two tight ends at one point. It was a struggle."

By the time Mundt slowed down and Lyerla left the team, Brown had recovered from his injury and took the reins. Then a sophomore, Brown found consistency on the line and grabbed 10 catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns, developing a trust with Osborne for his knowledge of the playbook and ability to learn on the fly.

"He's the smartest of the group," Osborne said.

But late in the year, Brown did something admittedly dumb, and was suspended for the Alamo Bowl for his role in a viral video that showed Oregon players pelting cars and drivers with snow.

Mundt split time at the Alamo Bowl with Baylis, then a redshirt freshman and the fastest of the group, as both players finished the game with a catch apiece.

The trio enters this spring with the same amount of combined career starts (12) as Lyerla had individually.

The inexperience may be a blessing, though.

Osborne said the key difference between his current core of players and the one that came before them is drive. When Lyerla had it, he was unstoppable. But it was as hard to predict when he had it as it was to stop him when he did. This group, Osborne said, doesn't have that issue.

"Before, guys weren't playing hard all the time and they thought they could get away with it," Osborne said, referring to Lyerla. "That's not the standard of being successful."

That's not to say this group is perfect, the coach said.

Mundt needs to prove he can play consistent for a whole season.

"I don't want ups and downs," Mundt said.

Brown has to prove he's learned from his suspension and can take on the role as a leader.

"That was a wakeup call," Brown said. "I had to get right and get back on track. It was a big learning lesson."

And Baylis has to prove he can continue to grow with the momentum that had Osborne call him the team's most-improved player late last season.

Things certainly feel different this spring, they agreed. There's competition in the air. Each has his own strengths and weaknesses, and if there's reason to be optimistic it's that they don't solely rely on strength until it becomes a weakness.

"Colt was a tremendous athlete and things came to him easily," Baylis said. "He worked really hard but sometimes certain things would take him off that. If you're not as physically gifted you just have to get your technique right and you can still accomplish the same thing."

In February, Lyerla likely improved his draft stock with a standout performance at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. If anyone forgot how freakishly athletic he was, he reminded them with the position's second-fastest 40-yard dash and the longest broad jump.

"He's a gifted, gifted kid but he has a bunch of off-the-field issues," NFL draft analyst Mike Mayock said. "He's probably a first- or second-round talent."

And the Ducks might be better without him.

"Many times last year those guys combined to play much better and perform much better than Colt did," Osborne said. "They just don't run as fast."

-- Tyson Alger | @tysonalger