It’s quite obvious the Oregon Ducks football team was elite this past season. They finished 12-2 with the only two losses against Washington, a team playing for the national championship on Monday.
Both of those losses were also by just a field goal.
An elite team has elite players and the Ducks certainly had that. According to ESPN, Oregon had four of the top 100 players in the country.
Quarterback Bo Nix topped the list at No. 6 in the article. This is what they said about the Duck signal caller.
Nix was sensational for the Ducks, especially in Pac-12 play, as he earned first-team All-Pac-12 and was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year. The Auburn transfer ranked second in QBR (91.2) behind only Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and threw 45 touchdown passes to just three interceptions while being sacked just five times.
Wide receiver Troy Franklin was next on the list at No. 26. Perhaps the Ducks’ best wideout could have been higher, but just outside the Top 25 isn’t bad either. ESPN highlighted how good Franklin was in league contests.
The explosive receiver ranked third in FBS with 14 touchdown receptions during a season in which he finished with 81 catches for 1,383 yards (No. 6 in the country in total yards). He was particularly good in Pac-12 play, with six 100-yard receiving games in six conference games. He had at least four catches in all but one game this season, with the exception being a two-catch game in USC with 147 yards.
The list didn’t include the skills players. The linemen weren’t forgotten and center Jackson Powers-Johnson made the list at No. 42.
There’s a reason Powers-Johnson is headed to the NFL draft. The Ducks’ center was an anchor for their offense as he guarded quarterback Bo Nix and helped fuel the team’s running to perfection. His work was aptly recognized this season as Powers-Johnson was awarded the 2023 Rimington Trophy, which recognizes the most outstanding center in college football.
The remaining Duck on this list was tailback Bucky Irving. Where would the Ducks be without Irving’s yards on the ground to take pressure off the passing game? Here’s what ESPN had to say about the No. 51 players in the country.
Irving was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection for the Ducks and rushed for 1,180 yards with 11 touchdowns. He rushed for 100-plus yards in back-to-back games against Washington and Washington State in the middle of the season and is a vital cog in one of the most explosive scoring offenses in the country.
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