Yogi Berra once said that something felt like “deja vu all over again.”
That had to be the feeling for Oregon Ducks fans who watched Kenyon Sadiq score his first NFL touchdown on Sunday in his New York Jets debut.
While the plays weren’t identical, they were pretty dang close — which is quite ironic, all things considered.
Sadiq is officially a tight end, although he’s uber-athletic with traits beyond that of your garden-variety TE.
Despite that designation, though, Sadiq’s first college touchdown was a three-yard run. So was his first NFL touchdown.
And they both came on very similar plays.
A Crazy Coincidence
This is how The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt laid out the plays in a new article on Tuesday:
“Sadiq’s first college touchdown, in the 2024 Fiesta Bowl against Liberty, came with Oregon in 14 personnel. When the ball was snapped, he ran behind Bo Nix, who tossed it to him, and he took it into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown. The first teammates to greet him in the end zone were his tight end teammates, Terrance Ferguson and Patrick Herbert. That sounds familiar if you just watched the Jets’ Week 1 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday — specifically their first touchdown of the season. On their first drive, the Jets lined up in 13-personnel with Sadiq positioned at almost the same exact spot he was in the Liberty Bowl on the right side. He cut behind quarterback Geno Smith, who handed him the ball. Sadiq… coasted into the front corner of the end zone for his first NFL touchdown. The first teammates to greet him in the end zone were his tight end teammates, Mason Taylor and Jeremy Ruckert.”
There isn’t much better example of the potential matchup problem that Sadiq is than the fact that he’s a pass catcher who began both his Oregon and Jets careers with three-yard rushing touchdowns.
Jets’ TE Dilemma
It’s worth noting that Sadiq didn’t get a full allotment of snaps on Sunday. Despite being the Jets’ first-round pick, he isn’t an every-down player.
New York had Sadiq on the field for 28 snaps.
The problem is that the Jets already used an early-round pick on Mason Taylor last year, and they also have Jeremy Ruckert, who proved reliable in 2025. They even had Jelani Woods on the gameday roster on Sunday as a fourth tight end.
Rosenblatt notes that the Jets ran one play in 14 personnel (one running back, four tight ends) and 11 in 13 personnel (one RB, three TEs, one WR).
Because Sadiq is more like a receiver, and apparently even a back, those designations don’t even tell the whole story. He gives the Jets’ offense a lot of options.
And for one week, it worked quite nicely. The Jets handled the Titans, and Sadiq already has a touchdown — it just came on the ground rather than through the air.
Kenyon Sadiq’s 1st Oregon TD Looked Like Rookie’s 1st Jets TD