The mark of a great team in college football is the presence of depth, and the ability to withstand injuries when they should happen to come. For Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks, that depth is going to be tested early on in the 2024 season.
On Saturday, Lanning confirmed after the Ducks’ second fall scrimmage that senior guard Matthew Bedford had suffered a knee injury that will sideline him for the next several weeks, at the very least. A person with knowledge of this situation tells me that the hope is Bedford, who is projected to start at right guard, will be ready to play by the time conference play begins in late September.
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“We’re not going to be selfish or try to push him back to get him here tomorrow,” Lanning said on Saturday. “I don’t think that’s realistic. Will he be able to play games for us this year? Yeah, absolutely. I think he will.”
Now it’s time to test that depth.
Fortunately, the Ducks have plenty of options to call upon. At the top of this list is Nishad Strother, an East Carolina transfer from last spring who competed with Steven Jones for the RG spot, but was sidelined with a minor injury during fall camp.
Strother started 30 games for the Pirates before transferring, playing over 2,000 career snaps at multiple different spots across the line. He was competing with Bedford for the starting RG spot throughout the offseason and now will likely step up as the leading candidate to start.
“That’s part of that competitive depth that we talk about,” Lanning said. “I think Nishad has worked his tail off to put himself in a position to be able to help us, as well as some other guys on that interior line. So that gives us an opportunity to figure out what our best lineup is.”
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While Strother may be the leading candidate to take over at RG, there is also a scenario where Lanning and OL coach A’lique Terry mix and match in the trenches and choose to shuffle things around.
One thing that this coaching staff has stressed over the years is cross-training their athletes in order to make them serviceable at multiple positions. That means that if necessary, someone like Iapani Laloulu — who played snaps at LG in 2023 — could move from center to RG, or Marcus Harper — who has spent time at C in the past — could move from LG to C.
“I think my job is to envision every scenario where anyone can be,” Lanning said. “So, yeah, absolutely, we envision a multitude of scenarios and what that looks like.”
So what will the final combination be? Time will tell, but the Ducks are certainly in a position where they can deal with an injury to one of their best for the start of the season.
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