Tag: Jahlil Florence

Dan Lanning offers injury update on Jahlil Florence, Gary Bryant Jr. for Week 1

Oregon will be missing Jahlil Florence and Dave Iuli on Saturday, but Dan Lanning expects receiver Gary Bryant, Jr. to be available.

On some teams, the injury report is a laundry list of ailments even before the season has started, but luckily for the Oregon Ducks, it’s a short list that they can manage as they head into the season opener with the Idaho Vandals on Saturday.

Cornerback Jahlil Florence has been nursing a leg injury throughout the off-season and in fall camp head coach Dan Lanning announced Florence won’t be available.

Oregon has depth in that area, but the Ducks will eventually need Florence on the field. He’s been getting better in August, but he’s not ready to play as of yet.

The same can be said of offensive lineman Dave Iuli, who is still working back from a broken bone in his foot that took place during spring football. As with Florence and the secondary, the Ducks have quality depth up front and can withstand an injury or two. But they’ll need all hands on deck when Big Ten play arrives.

There is good news with receiver Gary Bryant, Jr, however. He’s also been tending to injuries this fall, but Lanning said he expects Bryant to be available when the Ducks take the field on Saturday.

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Dan Lanning offers injury updates on Jahlil Florence, Dave Iuli midway through fall camp

Oregon coach Dan Lanning offers injury updates on cornerback Jahlil Florence and offensive lineman Dave Iuli midway through fall camp.

In just seven days, the Oregon Ducks football team can say it’s officially game week.

Oregon is halfway through its four-week fall camp as the Ducks prepare for the 2024 season and they are thankful that the roster is becoming more healthy instead of the alternative.

Head coach Dan Lanning addressed the media after the team’s second scrimmage and gave the media some injury updates on a couple of key players.

Cornerback Jahlil Florence is nursing a leg injury and hasn’t seen the field as of yet in camp, but he’s closer to returning for the Ducks.

“He’s not there yet. You know, still conservative on what we’re letting him do,” Lanning said of Florence. “He’s still going to be aggressive with his rehab and put him in a position where he can go out there and do more for us. But right now, he’s not available.”

This is where the depth chart comes in and in years past, the Ducks would be in trouble if they had a talented corner go down such as Florence. But with the likes of Jabbar Muhammad on the roster, Oregon can withstand the loss and make sure Florence is at 100 percent before putting him in the mix.

The same can be said of offensive lineman Dave Iuli, who is attempting to return to the team after a tow ailment. From the sounds of it, Iuli is much closer to returning than Florence is.

“He’s closer. He’s closer. What does that look like? He hasn’t been full go yet,” Lanning said. “So we’ll see if we can get him in there before the season kicks off.”

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Dan Lanning provides injury updates on Noah Whittington, Jahlil Florence ahead of 2024 camp

Oregon Ducks head coach provided injury updates on Noah Whittington and Jahlil Florence ahead of the 2024 season.

Every football coach wants his team at near full health at all times, but especially before the actual season begins.

According to Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, the Ducks are nearly there with the more questionable players being running back Noah Whittington and corner Jahlil Florence.

Whittington suffered a leg injury during the Colorado game and hasn’t been able to play since. But Lanning says the running back is good to go as fall camp begins. Adding depth to the tailback position will only bolster the Duck backfield and Whittington showed he was up to the task before the injury.

He was averaging nearly eight yards per carry after a very successful 2022 season where he gained almost 800 yards.

As for Florence, he’s not quite ready for fall camp like Whittington is, but he should be available in the near future after having surgery in the off-season due to an injury.

Oregon’s secondary should be as strong as it has been in quite some time and the Ducks hope Florence can participate in drills and eventually in the actual games sooner rather than later. He had 27 tackles and one interception last season.

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Chris Hampton offers injury update for CB Jahlil Florence

Oregon defensive back coach Chris Hampton said corner Jahlil Florence is recovering nicely from a lower leg ailment.

You never want to hear about injuries to any players, but in football, it comes with the territory.

Oregon defensive back Jahlil Florence, expected to contend for a starting spot in the Duck secondary in 2024, hasn’t seen much time on the field this spring as he is still nursing a lower leg injury he suffered in the off-season.

According to defensive back coach Chris Hampton, there’s still a chance Florence could recover in time to participate in the next month.

“We may get some out of him later on in the spring,” Hampton said about Florence. “He’s out there now doing some of the walkthrough stuff with us. But that’s about it right now. But I think his rehab is going pretty good.”

He may be recovering physically, but there can be a mental toll on any player who can’t do the thing they love. Hampton said Florence is improving on that aspect as well.

“After talking to Chief and talking to Jahlil, he’s in a much better space than what he was about a month ago,” he said. “So I expect we’ll maybe get some of him here at the end of spring.”

Realistically Florence can take all the time he needs as long as he is ready to go in the fall and be on that field Aug.31 against Idaho.

Breaking down Oregon’s new-look secondary ahead of the 2024 season

A deep dive into the Oregon Ducks secondary entering the 2024 season, which features several new faces ready to have an instant-impact.

We usually wait until later in the year to dive deep into a position group and preview how things are shaping up for the Oregon Ducks going into the season, but when looking at the secondary that is being put together in Eugene, we simply couldn’t wait.

On Saturday afternoon, the Ducks landed a commitment from former Washington Huskies’ cornerback Jabbar Muhammad, adding yet another proven veteran playmaker with an incredibly high upside to a defense that returns a majority of starters from last season.

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The Ducks have also added guys like Kam Alexander, Brandon Johnson, and Kobe Savage to the secondary, all of whom project to be instant-impact players.

To keep track of all of the movement, and offer an idea of what the Ducks’ starting secondary players and depth pieces will look like, let’s break down all of the names that you need to know and project how they will impact the team in 2024.

7 Things to know about Oregon’s transfer DB Brandon Johnson

Get to know Oregon’s new CB Brandon Johnson, a transfer from Duke.

Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks can’t seem to get enough of the transfer portal, picking up a new transfer target or commitment seemingly every day. On Wednesday afternoon, Oregon added their 10th transfer commitment of 2024: Brandon Johnson, a former defensive back for the Duke Blue Devils.

The Ducks are losing their top CB from 2023, Khyree Jackson, this offseason, so the addition of Johnson is opportune. Oregon has also added 4-star transfer CB Kam Alexander as well as a long list of blue-chip players in the 2024 class.

Earlier this week, Washington’s star CB Jabbar Muhammad entered the portal, and speculation grew that he would end up at Oregon. After Johnson’s transfer, it is still a possibility, with Johnson projected more as a nickel safety than an outside cornerback.

Here are the things you need to know about Oregon’s newest CB.

SIGNED: 4-star cornerback Sione Laulea is officially a Duck

Sione Laulea, the No. 2 overall junior college recruit in the country, signed his letter of intent for the Oregon Ducks on Wednesday.

The wave of Oregon Duck recruits inking national letters of intent continued on Wednesday with Sione Laulea, a 4-star cornerback in the class of 2024. Laulea is the Ducks’ second highest-rated 2024 CB recruit, and the only junior college recruit so far in this class.

For the last two seasons, Laulea played cornerback at the College of San Mateo, in California. Laulea wanted to stay on the West Coast as he joined the FBS, and chose to Oregon earlier this fall. According to 247 Sports, Laulea is the No. 2 overall player in the JUCO class of 2024 and the No. 1 CB.

Oregon has several talented CBs already on their roster, but it is hard to say which players will be the Ducks’ top corners in 2024. Laulea is one of three 4-star CBs in Oregon’s 2024 class, but his two years of junior college ball give him experience Dakoda Fields and Ify Obidegwu don’t have.

This offseason, the Oregon Ducks are losing star CB Khyree Jackson, who declared for the NFL Draft in early December. Like Laulea, Jackson is a former JUCO player who made the jump to FBS, where he was successful. Hopefully, Laulea can have the same success as he moves to the next level that Jackson did.

Here are some highlights from Laulea:

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2024 Cornerback Outlook: It’s time for the young Ducks to take over

The Oregon Ducks have a deep stable of talented cornerbacks, and they should be relied on heavily going forward.

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, and offensive line. Now let’s focus on the defensive secondary. 

The Oregon Ducks have found a lot of success over the past two years when it comes to landing a high-end cornerback out of the transfer portal. Whether it was Christian Gonzalez or Khyree Jackson, Dan Lanning and Demetrice Martin have consistently identified lock-down players who could help their defense instantly for a season before going off to the NFL.

They might not need to do that this offseason.

While there is a hole to fill at the CB1 spot in Eugene with Jackson leaving for the professional level, a belief resides that the Ducks will look at one of their home-grown players to step into that role rather than relying on the transfer portal once again. Of course, if the right person jumps into the portal that the Ducks feel can make them better, I believe they would take a swing, but the talent currently exists on the roster to have Oregon’s secondary as good as we’ve seen in years.

With NFL Draft decisions, impending transfers, and incoming freshmen, here’s a glance at the outlook for cornerbacks going into next season:

Khyree Jackson opts out of Fiesta Bowl vs. Liberty to prepare for 2024 NFL Draft

Khyree Jackson opts out of Fiesta Bowl vs. Liberty to prepare for 2024 NFL Draft

Khyree Jackson, a star cornerback for the Oregon Ducks and a well-regarded 2024 NFL draft prospect, has announced that he will sit out against the Liberty Flames in the Fiesta Bowl. Jackson’s announcement doesn’t come as a surprise, since players of his caliber often opt out of bowl appearances in their final college seasons to prepare for the NFL Draft and avoid injury.

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Jackson, a transfer from Alabama, played one season for the Ducks, but immediately he established himself as one of Oregon’s best defenders. In 2023, Jackson allowed only 19 receptions for 200 yards and also grabbed 3 interceptions and 2 sacks.

By heading to the NFL and opting out of the Ducks’ bowl game, Jackson continues to follow in the footsteps of former Ducks CB Christian Gonzalez. Like Jackson, Gonzalez transferred to Oregon and was spectacular, but he only stayed for one year before declaring for the NFL Draft, where he was a first-round pick.

The Ducks may have trouble replacing Jackson for the Liberty Bowl. The Ducks’ CB2, Jahlil Florence, struggled with injuries near the end of the season, and Oregon lost CB Trikweze Bridges to the transfer portal, which leaves Oregon’s depth at CB quite thin.

As of now, Jackson is seen by some analysts as a middle-round draft pick, but he has the offseason to improve his stock. After the season he had at Oregon, I think Jackson has the potential to rise to a 2nd or 3rd round prospect.

Oregon CB Trikweze Bridges enters the transfer portal

Oregon Ducks cornerback Trikweze Bridges has announced that he plans to transfer from Eugene after the 2023 season.

Trikweze Bridges, a 4th-year cornerback for the Oregon Ducks, announced that he has entered the transfer portal. His diminished role on defense from 2022 to 2023 is likely what led to his transfer.

In four seasons with the Ducks, Bridges played in 42 games and recorded 90 tackles, 4 INTs, and forced 2 fumbles. As I alluded to above, Bridges’ role on this year’s Ducks team is much smaller than in 2022. Last season, Bridges played 704 snaps, but only played 205 in 2023.

Oregon’s strong recruitment at the CB position in recent years is another factor that may have contributed to Bridges’ transfer. This year, the CB2 spot was taken by sophomore Jahlil Florence, and there are a lot of other young CBs on the Ducks roster that could’ve made it hard for Bridges to crack the starting lineup in his final year.

At 6’3″ and 198 lbs., Bridges was recruited in the class of 2019 as a 3-star CB. During his high school recruitment, Bridges showed a lot of interest in the Florida State Seminoles and the Alabama Crimson Tide (Bridges is originally from Lanett, Alabama), so look out of for those schools as potential stopping points for the fifth-year CB.

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