A tumultuous offseason resulted in not only a brand new group of coaches for the Oregon Ducks but also a new group of skill position players all over the offense.
Oregon will go into the fall with a new quarterback, basically entirely new running backs, and mostly new wide receivers as they look to start off the Dan Lanning era with a bang.
The quarterback position is going to be a battle between redshirt-freshman Ty Thompson, Auburn transfer Bo Nix, and Jay Butterfield. The competition is already in full swing at spring practices this week.
Regardless of who starts under center in Week 1, the team will have at least one veteran wide receiver to rely on throughout the season – even though he’s new to the school.
That is of course Chase Cota, the UCLA graduate transfer who has over 800 receiving yards to his name, and who is familiar with the school after his dad put together a Hall of Fame career in Eugene in the 1990’s.
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“He’s an older guy so he’s obviously more experienced,” Thompson commented after practice on Saturday. “He knows a little bit more about the game, when to get friendly with the quarterback, how to you know, pick me up if I make a bad throw or whatever it is.”
Cota not only has the quarterback-wide receiver relationship down pat, but he’s also evidently a very very quick learner when it comes to the offense – another skill that will help him and his teammates in the short term and long term as this entire team adjusts to a new offensive scheme under Lanning and new OC Kenny Dillingham.
“He’s done a great job learning the offense in like, two days,” Thompson continued. “I mean, it’s crazy. He came out here day two and knew every single play without asking any questions. So you all see him making great catches. I don’t know if you all saw the big post that he caught earlier today for me. So he’s a very explosive receiver.”
Cota will be a big piece of this Oregon offense in the fall, regardless of whether Thompson or Nix are throwing him the football.
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