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A lot has been written about Oregon’s linebacker group and rightfully so. That position group should be one of the best in the country with Noah Sewell, Justin Flowe, Jeffrey Bassa, and Keith Brown with several other outstanding players.
They should be in opposing quarterbacks’ faces all season long. But according to co-defensive coordinator Matt Powledge, on those rare occasions where those linebackers don’t penetrate the backfield, the Ducks secondary isn’t exactly a piece of cake to get past.
Oregon has so much talent in the secondary that’s it going to be difficult to find playing time for all that deserve it. Powledge thinks he’s found a system to remedy that problem.
“We’re trying to dual-train so we can get the five best players out there and at the same time we can build depth at multiple positions,” he said. “It’s been really good this spring. I think they’ve really taken ownership of some things. I think you’ll see a lot of growth from them this upcoming season.”
Growth might be the key word there as Oregon won’t throw out defenders who are significantly smaller than the receivers they’ll be facing. Bennett Williams is 6-foot-1, Trikweze Bridges is 6-3 and Bryan Addison is 6-4. It’s unusual to have defenders that big and it will present a different component other teams will have to deal with and it won’t be fun for them.
“That’s one of the things that’s really stood out with our secondary. You have Bennett (Williams). You have Trikweze (Bridges). You have Bryan (Addison). Those guys are long and can run and are athletic,” Powledge said. “They also have a great a mental aspect that they bring to the game. Their versatility is really going to help us right now.”
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