jordan burch – Syndication Server

Oregon DE Jordan Burch to return to Eugene for 2024 season

Oregon Ducks edge rusher Jordan Burch will return to Eugene for the 2024 season, pushing his NFL career off for a year.

Oregon Ducks’ edge rusher Jordan Burch gave fans a late Christmas present on Saturday, with the news coming out that he would return to Eugene for the 2024 season.

There was a lot of speculation as to whether or not Burch would return for head off to the NFL to test the draft waters, and a wordless Instagram post featuring pictures of Burch smiling alongside head coach Dan Lanning led to speculation. The veteran EDGE cleared things up, though, and has since made it known that he wants to help lead the team into its Big Ten era.

Burch had a great 2023 season with the Ducks, notching 33 tackles, 7.5 for loss and three sacks after coming over from South Carolina as a transfer.

When he came out of Columbia, SC, Burch was a consensus five-star recruit and the highest recruit to commit to the Gamecocks since Jadaveon Clowney. Burch didn’t disappoint as he came into his own in his sophomore season at South Carolina, finishing his first year as a full-time starter with 60 tackles (32 solo), 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

In the 2024 NFL Draft, Burch was expected to be a mid-round draft selection with high upside based on his picturesque frame for a pass-rusher, standing at 6-foot-6, 270 pounds. Based on his return, it’s pretty clear that he believes one more year at the collegiate level working under Dan Lanning could help boost his draft stock going forward.

With the loss of Brandon Dorlus this offseason, getting Burch back on the defensive line is a massive win for the Ducks, who had a trio of freshmen edge rushers that came on in 2023 and should only get better going forward.

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2024 Edge Rusher Outlook: Ducks stand strong behind trio of young studs

The Ducks had a trio of true-freshmen edge rushers stand out in 2023, and if Jordan Burch returns, that unit could be dominant in 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, and defensive line. Now let’s focus on the edge rushers.

While there are some gaps on the Oregon Ducks 2024 interior defensive line, there is a stable of rushers on the edge ready to charge at opposing quarterbacks next season. The Ducks are hoping to return veteran transfer Jordan Burch for his second season in Eugene, as well as the trio of highly productive freshmen in 2023 — Matayo Uiagalelei, Blake Purchase, and Teitum Tuioti.

The biggest thing that made Oregon’s defense better this year than they were in 2022 was their premier pass-rushing unit, led by Brandon Dorlus, Burch, and Uiagalelei. With how many returning Ducks — and new Ducks — there are at outside linebacker and defensive end, Oregon looks like they’ll be able to get to opposing quarterbacks with consistency again in 2024.

Below, is the full preview of the Oregon Ducks’ 2024 edge rushers.

Predicting which Oregon Ducks will declare for 2024 NFL Draft or return to Eugene

A look at which members of the Oregon Ducks might declare for the 2024 NFL Draft or choose to return to Eugene for another season.

We are in the part of the season where rosters are in flux as players either choose to jump into the transfer portal or make decisions about whether or not they want to return for one more year of school instead of testing the NFL Draft waters.

That is certainly the case for the Oregon Ducks, where a number of highly impactful starters have some important decision to make. Some guys, like Bo Nix, Evan Williams, Popo Aumavae, and several other have run out of college eligibility, but others can choose whether or not they want to join Dan Lanning in the Big Ten or head to the next level.

Over the next month and a half, we will get a lot more clarity on this front. The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft is on January 15, 2024, so we will know more about players like Troy Franklin, Jordan Burch, and Bucky Irving before then.

Until then, we can make some predictions and guesses as to what the future might hold for those players.

Stock Report: Dontae Manning steps up, while Jordan Burch puts on a clinic

The Oregon Ducks’ defense had a great showing in a 31-7 blowout win over the Oregon State Beavers on Friday.

The end of the regular season as come, and if you’re someone who had stock in the Oregon Ducks from the start of the year, then your portfolio is likely looking pretty great right about now.

For the most part, we’ve seen a lot of stocks on the rise, and only a couple that have fallen off from the start of the year. That was the trend once again on Friday night with the Ducks’ 31-7 win over the Oregon State Beavers, clinching a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game against the Washington Huskies.

It was another great showing from Bo Nix and the Oregon offense, while the Ducks’ defensive line had one of the best games of the year, holding the Beavers’ vaunted rushing attack to just 53 yards on the ground. Here are some of the biggest stock risers and fallers from Friday’s game:

Keys to Victory for the Oregon Ducks against the Washington Huskies

We’re just a day away from the most important Oregon Ducks’ game in recent memory. On Saturday, The No. 8 Ducks will face off against the No. 7 Washington Huskies in Seattle. Last season, the Huskies upset the Ducks in Eugene 37-34, and on the road this weekend Oregon will look to exact revenge.

The Ducks are 2.5-point underdogs in this game, which is about as close as betting lines get. This matchup will feature two of the best QBs and offenses in the country. Oregon should have the edge defensively, but overall, this is a pretty deadlocked matchup.

In order for the Ducks to win this game, they will need to do a multitude of things, but below I’ve distilled the three things I think will be most important to an Oregon victory.

Hot Start

The Huskies’ greatest strength is their offense, so it will be paramount for Bo Nix and the Ducks’ offense to come out hot to try to expose their defense. If they don’t, it could give the Huskies’ defense momentum, which could create a hole that it will be tough for Oregon to crawl out of. A first-drive touchdown would be massive. Perhaps, a Bo Nix to Troy Franklin deep connection.

Pressure Penix

Michael Penix Jr. is the catalyst of the Huskies’ offense, and one of the reasons for his dominance this year has been how well Washington’s O-line has protected him. Jordan Burch, Brandon Dorlus, Evan Williams, and Matayo Uigalalei have all proven to be elite pass rushers this season, but this game will be their toughest and most important.

Develop the run game

I’ve said this a lot this week, but if there is one thing we learned from the Oregon v. Stanford game, it is that when the Ducks run game isn’t on, the rest of the offense struggles. Washington doesn’t have the best run defense, which provides a good environment to give Bucky Irving and Jordan James a heavy dose of the football. Also, if those RBs get cooking early, it will bring the Huskies’ safeties up closer to the box, and open up the passing attack.

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Stock Report: Jordan Burch officially arrives, while Troy Franklin makes another statement

Evan Williams and Jordan Burch are dominating on defense, while Troy Franklin continues to impress. Our stock report for Week 5.

Over the last several weeks, our stock reports for the Oregon Ducks have gotten a little bit chummy, to be completely honest.

It’s hard to knock these players for much when they are winning games by an average of 39.8 points per game and are 5-0 on the season for the first time since 2013.

While we normally set out in a stock report article to highlight who played well, and who might need to perform a little bit better, there have been very few things to criticize over the last several weeks.

That was the case again on Saturday in a 42-6 win over the Stanford Cardinal. The Ducks struggled early, punting on their first two possessions and falling behind 6-0. A 42-0 run from there left any doubt about this team behind.

There was some fantastic play from the defense, explosive play from the offense, and, all-in-all, an impressive performance from the Ducks.

Here’s our stock report following all of the action:

7 major questions for the Ducks to answer in Week 3 vs. Hawaii

Does Jordan Burch show up? Will the penalty problems go away? Can Oregon’s secondary step up to the test? Our biggest questions for Saturday.

We entered the 2023 college football season with a lot of questions for the Oregon Ducks. With so many new faces on the roster under year two of Dan Lanning, there were a million different things that we couldn’t wait to see play out in Week 1 against the Portland State Vikings.

Unfortunately, because of the level of competition, we didn’t get a ton of answers. A week later, with a thriller down in Lubbock that the Ducks were able to squeak out against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, we were actually left with more questions than we were answers once again. So now, going into Week 3 against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, there are a lot of things that we still have yet to learn about the Ducks.

With all of that being said, let’s look at what some of those big questions are going into Saturday:

2023 Oregon Stock Draft: Picking unheralded Ducks with ‘The Flock Pod’

Once again, @ZacharyCNeel got together with the boys from @TheFlockPod to go through an Oregon Ducks stock draft. Who do you think won?

It’s becoming a time-honored tradition that I look forward to as much as anything we do each year — the annual Oregon Ducks Stock Draft conducted between Zachary Neel, and the hosts of The Flock Pod, JD Pluid, and Shane Potter.

Essentially, the trio goes through the Oregon roster and drafts unheralded players who may blow up over the season. If you were to think about it as buying stocks, the goal is to buy as low as you can and watch that stock — or player — grow and mature over the season. We did this last year and found great success. Here are the draft results from a year ago:

Zachary Neel (2022)
Kris Hutson
Christian Gonzalez
Bucky Irving
Josh Conerly Jr.

Shane Potter (2022)
Justin Flowe
Seven McGee
Jeffrey Bassa
Byron Cardwell

JD Pluid (2022)
Noah Sewell
Bo Nix
DJ Johnson
Terrence Ferguson

There were some hits and some major misses, but overall it gave us a great look at some of the guys on the roster who have a chance to break out over the coming weeks and months.

So who did everyone draft when going through the exercise ahead of the 2023 season? You can listen to the episode here:

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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