Tag: Evan Williams

Evan Williams, Jackson Powers-Johnson earn honors at Reese’s Senior Bowl

Oregon Ducks OL Jackson Powers-Johnson and S Evan Williams earned honors this week at the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

The five Oregon Ducks who went on to play at the Reese’s Senior Bowl this week have certainly made good impressions.

On the offensive side of the ball, Bo Nix dazzled with his arm talent and accuracy, while Jackson Powers-Johnson boosted his draft stock as arguably the best interior offensive lineman in the class. Defensively, Brandon Dorlus displayed an array of dominant pass-rushing moves, while Khyree Jackson and Evan Williams locked things down in the secondary.

With the Senior Bowl officially kicking off on Saturday morning, airing on NFL Network, a pair of Ducks have been given honors from the past week of practice.

Williams was honored as the Defensive Specialist Player of the Week, which is an award voted on by players and coaches at the Senior Bowl.

Meanwhile, Powers-Johnson was named the Offensive Player of the Week by Pro Football Network, even though he left before the week was done with a mild hamstring injury.

Talk to folks on the ground or watching the tape from home, and there’s little disagreement that Jackson Powers-Johnson was the best offensive player in Mobile, Ala. The Oregon center only played for two practices, but that was all the 6’3″, 330-pound blocker needed to leave a lasting impression.

In 1-on-1s, playing at both guard and his natural position of center, Powers-Johnson was dominant — anchoring with violent hands, matching with athleticism, absorbing power with stellar leverage, and finishing with his trademark physicality.

We will see where the former Ducks end up getting drafted in April, but it’s fair to say all in attendance this week did a great job of improving their draft stock.

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Senior Bowl players to watch this week at practices and Saturday’s game

A list of both Oregon Duck players and other players who fans should watch this week at the annual Senior Bowl.

The annual Senior Bowl is taking place this weekend down in Mobile, Alabama, with the game kicking off at 10 a.m. PT on Saturday morning. However, there are multiple practices taking place this week leading up to the big showcase, most of which are being aired on NFL Network and ESPN Plus.

A total of five Oregon Ducks are down in Mobile looking to showcase their abilities and up their NFL Draft stock. Beyond just the Ducks, there are a number of players who Duck fans know well from their time in college who will be interesting to watch as well.

Here’s a list of all the players that you need to be aware of this week at the Senior Bowl.

Report: Texas A&M receiver Evan Stewart to visit Oregon this weekend

Report: Texas A&M receiver Evan Stewart to visit Oregon this weekend

The Oregon Ducks receivers’ room is a bit jam-packed right now, but there’s always room for more.

According to 247sports’ own Matt Zenitz, former Texas A&M Aggie wideout Evan Stewart is set to take a visit to Eugene this weekend.

Convincing Stewart to come to Oregon would be huge news for Dan Lanning and the Ducks. He was once the No. 1 receiving prospect when he was in high school before signing with the Aggies as a part of their No. 1 class back in 2021.

In his first two seasons, Stewart hasn’t disappointed, but his stats dropped a bit in his sophomore year. Stewart wasn’t the only player in College Station to have a down year in 2023, however.

The six-foot, 170-pounder has a total of 91 catches for 1,163 yards and six touchdowns. In 2023, he just had 38 catches for 514 yards and four scores in eight games.

If Stewart did come to Oregon, he would fit right in with the likes of Tez Johnson, Traeson Holden, Gary Bryant, Jr., Jurrion Dickey and more weapons for new quarterback Dillon Gabriel to choose from. Oregon might have the most potent passing back in the country with this addition.

Only time will tell.

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2024 Safeties Outlook: Ducks need to find some help in the portal

Oregon is in some serious need of an immediate infusion of talent and experience when it comes to the safety position for 2024.

The 2023 season is now behind us, and while there is still a bowl game to be played — The Fiesta Bowl vs. The Liberty Flames — Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks are working hard on the construction of their roster and hitting the transfer portal in attempts to formulate what this team will look like going into the 2024 season, the team’s first year in the Big Ten Conference. While they work on bringing new players in via the transfer portal, we want to look at the future breakdown of each position, detailing current players on the roster, incoming recruits, and potential targets on the market right now.

So far this offseason, we’ve broken down the future of the Quarterbacks, Running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, offensive line, cornerbacks, defensive line, and edge rusher. Now let’s focus on the safeties.

Oregon has some recent success with the transfer portal in getting safeties to come to Eugene and make an immediate impact and the Ducks need to most likely do it again for the 2024 season.

They lose a lot of talent at that spot due to graduation and outgoing transfers. While the players on the roster are talented, they are lacking in experience for the most part. It’s not a spot you want to be in as you go into the Big Ten Conference. Securing the services of a couple of safeties in the portal might be almost as important as getting Dillon Gabriel at quarterback.

Here’s a breakdown of Oregon’s safety position going into 2024, and some transfer targets that the Ducks are looking at.

3 Keys to Victory for the Oregon Ducks on Saturday

3 Keys to Victory for the Oregon Ducks on Saturday

A week after their statement win against the Utah Utes, the Oregon Ducks will take on the California Golden Bears at home. The Bears have struggled this season; They have an overall record of 3-5 and a conference record of 1-4.

Still, Cal is not without talent. Last week, the Golden Bears put up nearly 50 points against the USC Trojans, led by the strong rushing of Jadyn Ott. If not for a failed 2-point conversion attempt in the game’s final moments, Cal would’ve had a chance to win against the formerly No. 6 ranked USC.

This likely won’t be Oregon’s toughest test of the year, but they still do need to execute. Below are the three things I think will be most necessary for the Ducks to ensure success on Saturday.

Stop the run

Mandatory Credit: Christopher Creveling-USA TODAY Sports

Last week against the Trojans, Golden Bears RB Jadyn Ott had a huge day with 153 yards on 21 carries, plus three touchdowns. Oregon has been good at stopping the run all year, so hopefully, Ott’s explosiveness won’t be a problem. Overall, If the Ducks can limit his output, they’ll put themselves in a good position to win on Saturday.

Spread out the offense

(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

Last week against Utah, Oregon’s passing game and run game were firing, which is what made their offense so special. Cal has struggled this year against multi-dimensional offenses like Oregon’s. So, if the Ducks can move the ball in the air and on the ground like they did last week, they’ll take over this game.

Maintain consistency across the board

Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

As Dan Lanning pointed out in the Oregon vs. Utah Cinematic Recap,  the hardest trait for humans to achieve is consistency. The Ducks were consistent against the Utes across all facets of the game and if they can have that same consistency against Cal, they’ll set themselves up nicely for USC and the rest of this season.

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Photo Gallery: Oregon’s throwback jerseys steal the show in 38-24 win

Photo Gallery: Oregon’s throwback jerseys steal the show in 38-24 win over Cougars

After not playing a game in Autzen Stadium for almost a month, the Oregon Ducks came home and took care of business against Washington State by beating them 38-24. The Ducks needed a win after their loss last weekend in Seattle, and they’ll need wins from here on out.

As Head Coach Dan Lanning pointed out after the game, it wasn’t a complete game for the Ducks, but they still got the desired result. Oregon will need a complete game next week when they travel to Utah. As I mentioned, the Ducks need to win every game they have left to keep postseason hopes alive, and the Utes will be looking to exact revenge after Oregon beat them 20-17 last season.

Below are some of the highlights from today’s win over the Washington State Cougars:

Ducks Wire Player of the Game: S Evan Williams dominates with 2 sacks

Evan Williams gets the game ball from us after picking up two sacks against Colorado on Saturday.

It’s not every day that you get to name a defensive player as the player of the game for an Oregon Ducks team that is primarily driven by offensive excellence.

It’s also not every day that you have one of your safeties lead the team in sacks on the day.

It was Evan Williams who was arguably the most impressive of all Oregon defenders on Saturday afternoon, though there are many who could earn this Ducks Wire Player of the Game honor in what ended up being a 42-6 blowout win for No. 11 Oregon over the No. 19 Colorado Buffaloes.

Williams finished the game with 4 tackles and 2 sacks.

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It wasn’t a close game from the very start. The Ducks went up early and never took their foot off of the gas. It resulted in one of the biggest statement victories around the world of college football this weekend.

Williams played a huge part in that, helping the Oregon defense notch 7 total sacks, which ties the school record for a single-game number.

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12 burning questions for the Ducks to answer in Week 1 vs. Portland State

Can the pass-rush get home? Will Ty Thompson thrive? Is the Jurrion Dickey hype real? Our biggest burning questions going into Saturday for the Ducks.

It’s been a long offseason for the Oregon Ducks that has been full of changes. While the first year under Dan Lanning was successful, there is a hope and desire from the fanbase that 2023 will bring even higher heights to the program now that the coaching staff is more established in Eugene, and more of Lanning’s players are on the roster.

We saw over half of the roster from last year replaced by incoming recruits or transfers, so there are a lot of new faces to watch on Saturday against Portland State in the season-opener. While we got a look at most of them in the spring game back in April, none of that will compare to the action that we see on Saturday afternoon.

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If you’re like me, then I’m sure you have a ton of questions about this team going forward, from offense to defense, to special teams.

Here are some of the most important things that I think we need to find the answers to.

Three Ducks make the Athletic’s Top 100 transfers list

A trio of new Ducks cracked The Athletic’s top 100 transfers in college football this season.

College football has seen a lot of change in the past five years. Notably and recently, we’ve seen massive conference realignment, the impacts of which remain to be seen. Another impactful change to the game is the re-worked transfer portal. Not so long ago, players had to sit out the season following their transfer, and it also cost them a year of eligibility.

Since the changes to the transfer rules were made, the way teams approach recruiting has totally shifted. Often, coaches have to focus just as much of their efforts on recruiting transfers as they do high school stars. On Thursday, The Athletic listed their picks for the top 100 players that switched teams this offseason, several of whom were Oregon Ducks.

The highest Duck on the list was DE Jordan Burch who was ranked at No. 4. Burch transferred from South Carolina after a career year in 2022, which is something he can hopefully build upon for 2023. The Athletic had this to say about Burch:

“The Ducks have a lot of speed in their front seven, and Burch and Brandon Dorlus are going to be a ferocious tandem. Last year, the former five-star recruit had a breakthrough season for the Gamecocks with 60 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss. The 6-foot-6, 290-pound Burch has turned heads inside his new program with his athleticism, clocking 20.85 mph on the GPS, vertical jumping 34 inches and squatting almost 700 pounds.”

The idea of Dorlus and Burch being a dynamic duo is an exciting prospect, and also something I see as realistic. Last year, the Ducks struggled to pressure the QB on defense, which is something Dorlus usually excels at. With Burch now opposite Dorlus on the line of scrimmage, opposing offensive lines will likely shift their scheme to counter both Dorlus and Burch, which is much more difficult than just blocking Dorlus, which is why they hopefully will be a “ferocious tandem,” as The Athletic suggested.

The other two Oregon players featured on the list were S Evan Williams and OT Ajani Cornelius. Cornelius made headlines last year when he was one of the most sought-after transfers available, despite not being recruited by any Division I schools out of high school a few years before. Evan Willaims is entering his fifth season in college to cap off his already impressive career. He was also graded by PFF as the 4th best returning safety in the Pac-12.

Regardless of whether they live up to this hype, all three of these players will be key for the Ducks. Williams and Burch fill holes that were major struggle areas for the Ducks last year — struggles that ended up costing the Ducks late in the season. Cornelius will also be a key piece in rebuilding the offensive line that looks totally different than the one we saw a year ago. Hopefully, they can be the difference the Ducks need to take a step forward this year.

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The most important safeties to know in the 2023 Pac-12 season

The most important safeties to know in the 2023 Pac-12 season

As we continue our preview of the 2023 college football season in the Pac-12 conference, we are going to shift our focus from individual teams to individual positions. The last several weeks have been spent picking apart each school out west, finding where they improved the most over the offseason, and identifying what realistic expectations should be for them going forward.

You can see them all here: Arizona Wildcats — Arizona State Sun Devils — California Golden Bears — Colorado Buffaloes — Oregon State Beavers — Stanford Cardinal — UCLA Bruins — USC Trojans — Utah Utes — Washington Huskies — Washington State Cougars

Now, we’re going to look at position groups as a whole in the conference. Whether it’s a quarterback or a linebacker, a punter or a safety, there are dozens of highly talented players out west. We want to go through them all, position group by position group, and highlight some of the most important names that fans should know at each spot.

Quarterbacks — Wide Receivers — Running Backs — Tight Ends — Offensive Line — Defensive Line — Linebacker — Cornerbacks

In a conference such as the Pac-12 which has always been heavily pass-first and pro-style in terms of offense, it is only natural that there be a focus on the defensive secondary in order to counter the opposing team’s prolific passers and receivers.

Today, I’ll take a look at who I think are the most important safeties for Pac-12 fans to know ahead of the 2023 season. Some of them are ball hawks, some negate the run, but many are strong hybrids of the two qualities and add a lot to their respective defensive units.

Below are the top safeties in the Pac-12 for 2023: