Tag: Jeffrey Bassa

Oregon LB Jeffrey Bassa makes Butkus Award Watchlist

Oregon Ducks linebacker Jeffrey Bassa was named to the preseason watchlist for the Butkus Award, given to the top LB in college football.

Looking ahead at the 2024 Oregon Ducks and the fall college football season — which isn’t too far off — the Ducks’ defense is looking far better than any Oregon defense in recent memory. The front seven is solid and hungry, and the secondary is full of ball hawks and hard hitters.

Leading the Oregon defense is inside linebacker Jeffrey Bassa, a fourth-year Duck defender who was placed on the preseason watchlist for the Butkus Award — an award given to college football’s most impactful linebacker.

After coming to Oregon as a defensive back in 2021, Bassa transitioned to ILB in 2022 and did not experience immediate success. But after a season of struggle, Bassa became one of the nation’s top linebackers in 2023, leading Oregon in their most successful defensive season in some time.

Bassa finished last season with 72 total tackles, 3.5 TFLs, and one game-clinching pick-six. But Bassa’s stat line doesn’t begin to encompass his impact. On the field, it’s clear to see how much of a leader Bassa is, watching him call out coverages and direct the other ten Oregon defenders pre-snap.

Now, looking forward to fall, Bassa will be asked to elevate his game even more. The Ducks are headed to the Big Ten, a conference noted for its bruising running backs and big bodies up front, making things difficult for opposing linebackers.

More than that, Oregon is faced with some of the highest expectations in program history, and if they are to reach the heights they’re expected to defense will be critical, as will Bassa’s leadership.

Pair of Oregon Duck defenders on Bronco Nagurski Award watchlist

Pair of Oregon Duck defenders, Jabbar Muhammad and Jeffrey Bassa, are on the Bronco Nagurski Award watchlist.

The Bronco Nagurski Award has been handed out since 1999 and has become the premier defensive award in college football.

Cornerback Jabbar Muhammad and linebacker Jeffrey Bassa are both on the Nagurski Award watchlist for the 2024 season.

Muhammed is the newest Duck after making the rare transition from being a Washington Husky to an Oregon Duck. The Huskies’ loss will certainly be the Ducks’ gain as Muhammad was the top cornerback in the Pac-12 last season.

In Washington’s championship run, the senior corner had 46 tackles and three interceptions in his one and only season in Seattle. He also had 17 passes defended.

As for Bassa, the decorated Oregon linebacker goes from one of the top Pac-12 defenders to one of the best linebackers in the Big Ten. Last season, Bassa had 72 tackles, 3.5 for loss and one interception.

Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts won the award last season.

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Jeffrey Bassa named one of the most underrated 2025 NFL Draft prospects

CBS Sports named Jeffrey Bassa as the No. 3 most underrated draft prospect for 2025.

After coming to the Oregon Ducks as a 4-star recruit in 2019 — playing a different position — Jeffrey Bassa has blossomed into the heart of the Ducks’ defense. Bassa had an up-and-down adjustment period after switching from safety to linebacker in 2022, but in 2023 he excelled in all facets of the game.

In 14 games last season, Bassa played 713 snaps, the third-most of any Oregon defender. On those plays, Bassa racked up 72 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, and an interception — a pick-six that clinched an Oregon win over Texas Tech.

On Friday, CBS Sports writer Blake Brockermeyer made a list of the most underrated prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft, and Bassa landed at No. 3. Here’s what Brockermeyer had to say about the Oregon Ducks defensive leader:

Bassa enoyed his best season in Eugene under Dan Lanning last year. He is one of the top coverage linebackers in the country. That combined with his excellent tackling skills and ability to rush the passer as a blitzer make him a defender who can stay on the field for every snap.

As Oregon’s primary middle linebacker, Bassa runs the defense pre-snap, setting up the Ducks defense based on the opponent’s offensive look. In addition to his cerebral acumen, Bassa also brings speed and hard hits to the middle of the field, making him a versatile and well-rounded defender.

2024 will be Bassa’s final season at Oregon, and he’ll likely make his way to the NFL after his time in Eugene. Flanking Bassa this year will be Jestin Jacobs, a former Iowa transfer. Together, Bassa and Jacobs should lead one of the strongest defenses in the country, bottling up the run game in Oregon’s new, run-happy conference.

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Two Ducks have a chance to crack CBS Sports’ Top 100 players in 2024

CBS Sports says there are two Ducks who could move into their Top 100 players with a good 2024 season.

The idea of moving to the Big Ten was for give Oregon a higher profile nationwide than the Pac-12 could ever do. That goes for the university on the whole and individual athletes in all the sports.

According to CBS Sports, there are two Ducks that are outside their Top 100, but they have a chance to crack the list should they have good seasons in the new conference.

The first Duck is linebacker Jeffrey Bassa.

According to writer Blake Brockermeyer, Bassa’s multiple talents can be a huge plus for the Ducks in the Big Ten.

“Bassa had his best season in Eugene under Dan Lanning last year and is one of the best coverage linebackers in the country as he can stay on the field for every snap,” he said. “Excellent tackler in the box and can also blitz the quarterback.”

The second Duck that could make a big jump and get out of that “second tier” status is offensive lineman Ajani Cornelius. The Pac-12 honorable mention had some difficulty adjusting to the Pac-12 level from Rhode Island, but after a year in the program, Cornelius could back a big leap in 2024.

“A transfer from Rhode Island last season, Cornelius is a powerful run-blocker who can move defensive linemen off the ball,” Brockermeyer said. “He plays with good pad level and hand placement. He struggles more in pass protection at times but those issues can be fixed with better technique. Could also kick down and be a solid guard at the next level.”

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Duck players excited for release of new ‘Generation O’ uniforms at Oregon this year

“We’ve got some stuff cooking,” Jeffrey Bassa said about the new uniforms.

Football is back in the air in Eugene as the Oregon Ducks resumed spring practice on Tuesday morning, but there is an underlying excitement that could be felt during player interviews that stems from an announcement made by the team last month.

New uniforms are coming for the Ducks in 2024 as they embark on the Big Ten era for the first time. While we’ve grown accustomed to different jersey combinations that are unveiled each and every week during the season, there is a new buzz surrounding the uniforms this year, with the team expected to unveil the new template at some point this summer.

“We got some stuff cooking,” senior linebacker Jeffrey Bassa said on Tuesday after practice.

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Bassa is one of the leaders of the team, and one of the prominent voices in the “uniform committee,” which he says is comprised of himself, Marcus Harper, Tez Johnson and Traeshon Holden, and equipment administrator Kenny Farr.

“It was great to sit down there in the room with Kenny and see everything he has planned for the year,” Bassai said. “To the little details that he does with what helmet we’re gonna wear, what socks we’re gonna wear with this. It was amazing just to be part of history. I know this is going to be a huge year with the uniforms and stuff like that. I know people are excited.”

One thing that Lanning has made of point of during his time in Eugene is connecting this new era of football to past generations of the Oregon Ducks. We’ve see that through throwback uniforms and the incorporation of past players in the program. It sounds like there may be some elements of that with the uniforms going forward as well, with some tie-ins to past versions of jerseys.

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“Same Oregon scheme that we always do,” said left guard Marcus Harper. “Nice, sleek design, real fast. I feel like some of the old colorways some people have had on Twitter might be on there, some good throwbacks that I feel like we haven’t seen since the De’Anthony Thomas era. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

A release date for the uniforms hasn’t been announced yet, but you can guess that they will likely be unveiled sometime later this summer, either before or during fall camp begins.

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Oregon LB signee Dylan Williams named among standout performers at Polynesian Bowl

Dylan Williams, a 4-star LB signee in Oregon’s 2024, showed off his physical skills in the Polynesian bowl last week.

The Polynesian Bowl — an All-Star game for incoming recruits — took place last week, and several 2024 Oregon Ducks recruits participated in the event. Aydin Breland, Dakoda Fields, Aaron Flowers, Dylan Williams, and Braden Platt were among Oregon’s participants, although many more Ducks competed.

On Monday, Matt Moreno and Ryan Young of Rivals released their top performers for the week, and they picked Dylan Williams for the “Bringing the Boom,” award.

Dylan Williams is a 4-star linebacker from Long Beach, California, where he attended Long Beach Poly High School — a high school football powerhouse. In his senior season, Williams had 83 total tackles, 11 TFLs, 3 sacks, and an interception.

Moreno and Young had this to say about the Oregon LB signee and why he deserves the award:

“The No. 4-ranked inside linebacker controlled the middle of the field for Team Makai, and it didn’t take long for him to make an impact in Friday’s game with a big early tackle plus an athletic interception working against Utah quarterback signee Isaac Wilson.”

Moreno also posted this video of Dylan Williams laying a hit, and fellow Oregon LB commit Braden Platt cleaning up the tackle.

Williams is one of three linebacker commits in the Ducks’ 2024 class along with 4-stars Kamar Mothudi and Braden Platt. 247 Sports ranks Williams lowest of the three, but all three are talented. For 2024, Oregon’s LB corps is set up well, with Jeffrey Bassa and Jestin Jacobs returning. But in 2025 and beyond, players like Dylan Williams and Braden Platt could become key to the Ducks’ defense, so it’s nice to see them performing well early.

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Duck fans react to news that LB Jeffrey Bassa will return for 2024 season

Oregon Duck fans celebrated enthusiastically after the news came out that Oregon Ducks linebacker Jeffrey Bassa was returning for 2024.

Oregon Duck fans got some of the best news that they could have hoped for on Wednesday night, with veteran linebacker Jeffrey Bassa announcing on social media that he would be returning for the 2024 season instead of heading to the NFL Draft.

While it was initially believed after the season that Bassa was going to return, some rumors started to swirl that he was strongly considering declaring for the draft instead, with the thought that he would be a mid-round pick in April. Instead, Bassa will return as the leader of the defense and likely one of the best-returning linebackers in the nation.

In his three-year career at Oregon, Bassa — a former safety turned linebacker — has played in 38 games and had 181 total tackles, with 10 TFL, 3 sacks, and 3 INT.

As you would expect, Duck fans celebrated enthusiastically at the news.

Oregon LB Jeffrey Bassa announces return for 2024 season

Oregon Ducks linebacker Jeffrey Bassa announced his return for the 2024 season, putting off the NFL Draft for one more year.

Oregon Duck fans got the news that they desired on Wednesday evening, with veteran linebacker Jeffrey Bassa announcing that he would be returning for the 2024 season.

After three years with the Ducks, Bassa was weighing his options and deciding on a potential jump to the NFL Draft, where he was thought to be a mid-to-late-round pick. Ultimately, he decided that a return to Eugene for one more year would be the most beneficial for him.

In 2023, Bassa was among the leaders of Oregon’s defense notching 71 tackles in 14 games to go along with 2.5 TFL and 1 INT. On social media, Bassa announced his return with a video and the words “I’m back.”

In his three-year career at Oregon, Bassa — a former safety turned linebacker — has played in 38 games and had 181 total tackles, with 10 TFL, 3 sacks, and 3 INT.

In the Fiesta Bowl, Bassa was named the defensive MVP, and he should be one of the leaders of the defense going into the new season.

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Report: Oregon LB Jeffrey Bassa still undecided on returning in 2024

Oregon Ducks linebacker Jeffrey Bassa is reportedly still undecided on his future in 2024.

For the most part, we know which players on the Oregon Ducks 2023 roster are returning for another year in 2024 or heading off to the NFL. One of the biggest undecided players yet to make a decision, though, is starting linebacker Jeffrey Bassa.

After another incredibly productive season, Bassa can return to Eugene for one more

year under Dan Lanning, or he can test the NFL Draft waters, where he would likely be a mid-round draft pick.

At media avaialbilities ahead of the 2024 Fiesta Bowl between Oregon and Liberty, Bassa was asked about where his head is at when it comes to making that decision. According to 247Sports’ Jared Mack, Bassa is still weighing his options.

If Bassa chooses to return, the Ducks’ linebacking unit is expected to be stout, with LB Jestin Jacobs coming back for another year with Oregon. Should Bassa leave, there is still a lot of talent at the position, but they will be lacking a bit of experience going forward.

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2024 Linebacker Outlook: Depth is not an issue, portal could help

Oregon will have plenty of talented options at linebacker in 2024, but the Ducks could look in the portal for additional help.

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, and defensive linemen. Now let’s focus on the linebackers.

Oregon has no shortage of linebackers slated to be on the 2024 roster and as the Ducks enter the Big Ten Conference, the more run-stoppers they have, the better.

As of now, veterans such as Jeffrey Bassa, Jestin Jacobs, Connor Soelle and Bryce Boettcher are all set to make their mark on the Big Ten. Since he came from Iowa, Jacobs should be able to tell his fellow linebackers the ropes and what to expect from the conference.

Other than that core four, experience will be at a premium, which is why Duck fans should expect Dan Lanning to search the transfer portal to help out with that experience.

Oregon has many other players already on the roster as linebacker talent has been a priority since Lanning arrived. The Ducks should see the beginnings of that labor beginning next season. Those first two incredible recruiting classes should be ready to make an impact, especially at linebacker, in 2024.