Feature Spotlight: Jacob Breeland
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Player Bio
Pos: TE H: 6’5” W: 248 LB
Hometown: Mission Viejo, CA (Trabuco Hills HS)
Class: Redshirt-Senior
The consensus three-star recruit by 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals began turning heads well before his sophomore season with Oregon. As a senior at Trabuco Hills, Jacob Breeland showed incredible athleticism for a player of his size. Listed at 6’5” coming out of high school, Breeland’s size already made him stand out, but it was his hands and athleticism at the wide receiver position that really caught scouts’ attention.
California’s No. 4 ranked tight end prospect by Scouts.com and 25th ranked tight end in his class, according to 247Sports’ composite rating. Breeland shined his senior year for the Mustangs as a wide receiver. Over 14 games his senior season, Breeland made 61 receptions for 1,028 yards and 11 touchdowns. Averaging 16.8 yards per reception and named program MVP; helping lead Trabuco Hills to the South-West Division Championship.
His size made him an obvious target as a tight end during Oregon’s recruiting process and later ended up committing to the Ducks after visiting in October of 2014. He redshirted his first year with Oregon. It was as a redshirt-sophomore where he finally saw a considerable up-tick in playing time and broke-out as a down-field threat in the passing game.
As a redshirt-sophomore, Breeland started in 11 of 12 games in 2017. Including a post-season game. Over the 12-game span he brought in 18 receptions for 320 yards and a team-high five touchdowns; averaging 17.8 per reception. The five touchdowns tied Breeland for the lead among Pac-12 tight ends. He led Oregon as a deep-threat as well, leading the team in 20+ yard receptions with seven.
2018 saw a slight rise in receptions and yards for Breeland, but a considerable decline in touchdowns. The 6’5” tight end was target even more his junior year, the touchdowns just didn’t seem to materialize. Breeland caught 24 balls in 12 games for 377 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 15.7 per reception, setting a career-long 66 yard reception on a touchdown against San Jose State. SJSU was one of the top schools recruiting Breeland out of high school before he committed to the Ducks.
Entering the 2019 season, Oregon’s tight end is highly thought of, being listed as an early top 100 NFL Draft prospect in 2020. Breeland will be a familiar target for Justin Herbert this coming season. He should see a slight rise in production from the past two season. Especially after the Ducks lost their top down-field target, Dillon Mitchell, to the Minnesota Vikings in the 2019 draft.
Oregon with 8 players in the top 91 in the CBS Sports Early Top 100 NFL Draft Prospects for 2020
— Paul (@TheCorpatty) April 30, 2019
5. Justin Herbert
12. Calvin Throckmorton
43. Troy Dye
59. Shane Lemieux
66. Juwan Johnson
75. Thomas Graham
77. Jacob Breeland
91. Jake Hanson
https://t.co/TSFnVLAIWY
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Career Stats
(2015-2018)
GP: 24 - REC: 48 - YDS: 820 - AVG: 17.1 - TD: 7
Awards
- Coaches Pac-12 All-Conference honorable Mention (2017)
- Phil Steele Pac-12 All-Conference third team (2017)
- Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention (2017)
- Two-Time PFF Pac-12 Team of the Week (2017: Week 4 & 12)
- Orange County Register’s 2014 First-Team All-County Team
- First-Team All-Sea Coast League (2014)
- First-Team All-South Coast League (2013)
- Third-Team All-Orang County (2013)
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Best Performance:
The redshirt-senior out of Mission Viejo, California nearly broke 100-yards in his week 2 performance against a familiar opponent in San Jose State University. Totaling 92 yards on just three receptions, Breeland wreaked havoc in the backfield. He dominated the middle third of the field for Oregon, connecting on this 66-yard pass from his QB for six points. While setting his career-long reception record.
♂️
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) September 15, 2018
Justin Herbert finds a wide-open Jacob Breeland for the 6️⃣5️⃣-yard TD.
Watch #SJSUvsUO on our app: https://t.co/jEFBXj2k8O pic.twitter.com/w2ZTIUoJwX
Worst Performance:
What makes week two against SJSU such a great performance for Breeland was his ability to bounce back after a disappointing week 1 against Bowling Green State University. Oregon pulled away with the 58-24 victory, but the tight end’s contributions were minimal. Totaling a reception for five yards. It was a very underwhelming performance for the offensive weapon that shined so much in his sophomore season. Though he struggled to make any waves offensively in the 2018 season opener, Breeland’s bounce-back performance just day’s later shows the kind of mental-toughness this young, potential star has.
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Highlights
As a wide receiver turned tight end, Breeland possesses elite athleticism for a player of his size. His athleticism and strong hands at his 6’ 5” 248 lb. frame makes him an ideal red-zone target and deep-threat. Breeland shows the ability to stretch the defense with his size and speed creating mismatches on offense. He’s a multi-versatile talent on the offensive side. As someone you can rely on during 1st and 3rd down situations, as well as a target in the end-zone for six.
Justin Herbert ➡️ Jacob Breeland for 6️⃣.
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) November 19, 2017
Watch #AZvsUO: https://t.co/ZLABag9Ytt pic.twitter.com/8TssSEzwQb
It doesn’t hurt that he’s not afraid to mix-it up in the run game and get dirty. Proving he has the toughness on the field that compliments the talent offensively.
Look at this double team/digout by TE Jacob Breeland. When you have TEs willing to mix it up, you can tell the culture of @oregonfootball is changing. #OL101 #Physicality pic.twitter.com/SGNU3DcEB1
— Aaron Taylor (@AaronTaylorCFB) September 26, 2018