Tag: josh conerly

Pair of Ducks listed as top potential draft picks for 2025 NFL Draft

A pair of Ducks are projected to garner a lot of attention from NFL scouts for the 2025 draft.

The 2024 is still about four months away, but some are beginning to think about the 2025 NFL draft.

According to CBSsports.com writer Tom Fornelli, there are two Ducks that NFL scouts are going to pay close attention to. Transfer wide receiver Evan Stewart via Texas A&M and offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr. are two of the 20 best players who will be draft eligible for 2025.

This is what Fornelli had to say about Oregon’s newest receiver.

Stewart was one of the top receivers in the 2022 class. Unlike (Missouri’s Luther) Burden, Stewart performed slightly better as a freshman than in his sophomore season. Still, most of that can likely be attributed to circumstances beyond Stewart’s control. Stewart has since transferred to Oregon, where he’s seen as the replacement for Troy Franklin in the Ducks’ offense. If Stewart puts together a big year in (green and yellow), he could play his way into the first round.

One of the reasons Stewart came to Oregon no doubt was to catch passes from Dillon Gabriel. The Ducks expect Gabriel to have an impact on the receivers similar to what Bo Nix had and Stewart should benefit greatly.

As for Conerly, the former five-star recruit will be a junior and should be one of the top offensive linemen in the Big Ten next season.

“Much like the QB class for next season, I’m not confident about who will be seen as the top tackle in next year’s draft,” Fornelli said. “Last year, it was Penn State’s Olu Fashanu and Notre Dame’s Joe Alt. Several candidates could step up this year, and Conerly is one of my favorites. Oregon’s offensive line was a significant strength last season, and Conerly was excellent in pass protection. He has the production and the traits to garner NFL attention.”

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10 biggest position battles to watch ahead of Week 1 for Oregon Ducks

Week 1 is fast approaching. These are some position battles that we’re keeping a close eye on over the next week in Eugene.

Fall camp officially ended for the Oregon Ducks on Wednesday afternoon, wrapped up with a media availability for both head coach Dan Lanning and quarterback Bo Nix.

While the past several weeks have been filled with schematic install and getting the players into football shape, the next few days will mainly consist of figuring out the final spots on the depth chart, and working towards the Week 1 clash with Portland State.

For the most part, the Ducks should feel pretty good about where they stand when it comes to the depth chart. Some of their top positions — quarterback, running back, tight end, defensive line — have established starters returning for another year, so there isn’t a lot of skepticism about who is starting where. At other spots on the roster, though, we can’t say the say.

Earlier this week, we gave our final depth chart projection going into the last week of fall camp. Over the next several days, though, these position groups need to be figured out.

Here are some of the biggest position battles to watch play out over the next week for the Ducks:

‘We can roll eight-deep;’ Oregon OC Will Stein discusses offensive line depth

“I feel good about our depth. A lot of guys have played and there’s been some newcomers come on that we’re excited about.”

One of the primary things to watch throughout fall camp and early in the season for the Oregon Ducks is the offensive line play. After a stellar 2022 season that saw one of the nation’s best offensive lines deployed in Eugene, there will be a changing of the guard in 2023. Four of the five starters from last year’s unit have graduated from the program, and while there is a lot of talent to replace them, the cohesion will need to be smoothed out early in the season.

After Oregon’s 15th fall practice on Monday, offensive coordinator Will Stein was asked about that cohesion and the depth at the position in particular. What he had to say should be encouraging to Duck fans:

“I think we can roll eight deep, I really do,” Stein said.

While fans may be mostly concerned about the first five guys who will take the field up front, Stein’s confidence in the depth at OL is great to hear. With so much physicality in the trenches, it is rare that you make it through a season relying on only five linemen, so being able to go to as many as eight guys should keep the team rocking and rolling on the front line, especially at the start of the season.

“As you guys know, early in the year temperatures are up, so big boys sweat,” Stein said. “Big boys get a little tired out there. So the only way to really get into shape is to play real football. We can scrimmage all we want, we can practice all we want, but until we put the pads on going to Autzen Stadium on the turf, that type of energy is when you really know what you’re made up of upfront.”

The Ducks currently boast a good mix of experience and young talent on the line. Incoming transfers like Junior Angilau and Nishad Strother bring a veteran presence to the unit, meshing well with sixth-year senior Steven Jones. On the outsides, you have both Josh Conerly and Ajani Cornelius looking for their first season starting at the Power Five level. In between there are a handful of talented linemen who are fighting hard for spots on the depth chart.

“I feel good about our depth. You know, a lot of guys have played and there’s been some newcomers come on that we’re excited about,” Stein said.

Living up to the heights that were reached a year ago is going to be tough, but under a new OL coach in A’lique Terry, the Ducks feel confident that they can once again play to “the standard” that is being set in Eugene.

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These 12 Ducks can become household names as the 2023 season goes on

Oregon’s football roster has seen a lot of turnover this past season and these dozen Ducks could be household names very soon.

Even on a roster of more than 100 players, you’ll need to know the names and faces of numerous new players when Oregon football takes the field this montt.

Many are freshmen from the latest recruiting class. But the transfer portal has become almost as important as those recruiting classes, which adds to the turnover of the football roster year after year. Fortunately for the Ducks, the quality of those they have brought in has been at the highest level.

Head coach Dan Lanning and his staff aren’t messing around. Many of the newcomers and redshirt freshmen have the ability to make an immediate impact on the Ducks this season. Here are a dozen players who aren’t household names yet, but will be as the 2023 season moves along.

Second-year Ducks who have biggest chance to break out in 2023 for Oregon

Fall camp is the best time to identify potential breakout players. In Eugene, these second-year guys have caught our eye so far.

With over a week of fall camp behind us now for the Oregon Ducks, we’ve seen enough football and talked to enough coaches and players to start to get a sense of what is to be expected in the coming season.

One of the things that is always fun to try and identify during fall camp is a list of players who could be primed for a breakout. Whether that is experienced players who haven’t gotten an opportunity to prove their worth just yet, or young players who could be stepping into a vital role with a year of experience under their belts, there are always a handful of guys going into each season that look bigger, better, and ready to contribute.

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Whether it’s due to a massive weight gain or an increased knowledge of the scheme, the Ducks have a long list of second-year players who we have identified as candidates to break out in 2023.

Here’s who our eyes are on:

Josh Conerly Jr. named to Outland Trophy watch list ahead of 2023 season

Josh Conerly Jr. named to Outland Trophy watch list ahead of 2023 season

2023 is expected to be the season where the top-rated offensive lineman in Oregon Ducks school history finally comes into his own.

The word “finally” is a bit misleading there, because as a true sophomore, former 5-star recruit Josh Conerly Jr. hasn’t had a massive opportunity to show what he’s capable of yet with the Ducks, but he did turn heads several times as a true freshman, even catching a touchdown pass on his birthday against the Colorado Buffaloes.

However, with a remade offensive line in Eugene this year, Conerly is expected to step up as one of the driving forces of the unit this season. So it doesn’t come as a surprise to see him named to the Outland Trophy watch list, highlighting the players identified as potentially the best offensive linemen in the nation this season.

The Ducks lost four of their five starting offensive lineman from a year ago, and there will now be heavy competition to fill the remaining starting spots. Among those competing are Conerly, Ajani Cornelius, Jackson Powers-Johnson, Marcus Harper, Junior Angilau, and Nishad Strother.

The only player in Oregon history to win the Outland Trophy was Penei Sewell, who received the honor in 2019, two years before being selected by the Detroit Lions with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

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Where JacQawn McRoy stands among highest-rated OL to ever commit to Oregon

JacQawn McRoy comes to Oregon as the No. 3 OT in the 2024 class. Where does he stand among the best linemen to ever commit to Oregon?

The Oregon Ducks picked up a big-time commitment on Saturday afternoon, landing the No. 3 OT in the 2024 class, and the No. 59 overall player in the nation.

4-star OT JacQawn McRoy announced his verbal commitment to Oregon, becoming the 17th member of the 2024 class that ranks No. 8 in the nation. He is the fourth offensive lineman to join since A’lique Terry took over as the OL coach in Eugene, and the No. 1 ranked OL in Oregon’s current class.

When you look at the grand scheme of things, though, how highly rated is McRoy when you compare him to the best offensive linemen to ever commit to the Ducks?

We went through the archives to find out.

Recruiting Superlatives: Highlighting Oregon’s most notable recruits over last 5 years

Who is the most influential Oregon recruit in the last 5 years? What about the biggest recruit to get away? We give some Duck recruiting superlatives.

On Monday morning, Bruce Feldman and The Athletic put out an article in their series of recruiting breakdowns looking at some of the top teams in the nation over the past couple of decades and offering superlatives for some of the most notable recruits to come through the program.

In the article (subscription required) they talked about Joey Harrington and De’Anthony Thomas as two of the most important recruits in program history, and identified Justin Herbert as the biggest developmental project, rising from an overlooked 3-star into the No. 6 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

I’m not going to bite into Feldman’s writing; it’s very good and deserves your attention. However, it did get me thinking about some superlatives that could be handed out for a more current group of recruits. While Feldman looked as far back as 2000 to identify some top players, I wanted to dial in the microscope a little bit and come of with some superlatives of my own.

For this exercise, I go back five years ago to the 2018 recruiting class, and started from there up to the last class that was signed in 2023. I also threw in a few “future superlatives” for good measure, highlighting a few of the recruits in 2023 and 2024 who I think will have major impacts down the road.

Without further ado, here are my superlatives for the Oregon Ducks recruiting over the past five years:

Position Outlook: Ducks offensive line stacked with talent, experience

There very well could be 5 new starters on the UO offensive line this fall. Despite the newness, the Ducks have the talent to be really good up front.

One of the many positions on the Oregon Ducks roster where Dan Lanning and the rest of the coaching staff have made a concerted effort to increase the level of talent is on the offensive line.

With the addition of guys like Ajani Cornelius, Junior Angilau, and Nishod Strother, Lanning has used the transfer portal in order to up the level of talent on the offensive line. While the Ducks are trying to replace four of the five starters from a season ago, there is a belief that the talent is there to be just as good as they were in 2022 is on the roster.

We have a pretty good idea of what the starting left tackle and right tackle positions will look like, but as for the interior of the OL, there are spots that are up for grabs. Going into fall camp, the offensive line is going to be one of the more intense position battles in Eugene.

With the new lineman on the roster and the expected jump from underclassmen, we broke down what we expect the Ducks’ offensive line to look like this fall.

Bo Nix gives praise to new faces along the offensive line

The new faces that make up the offensive line showed some nice early returns in the Spring Game, according to QB Bo Nix.

The highlight of the Oregon Spring Game was the improved defensive unit as they dominated the offense for much of the game, but one group on offense that shined was the line.

There are a lot of new faces along that line and the concern that is associated with that group is warranted. After the game inside Autzen, Oregon quarterback Bo Nix said the concern can be curtailed some.

“I think they do a really good job. There are new faces, but still very talented players,” he said. “You get them going together and they start communicating more and more with more experience and as we go they’re only gonna get better. With that group, the name of the game is just staying healthy and so doing what’s right throughout the season with their bodies.”

Working out and eating right will be the goal for the line this summer as they can work on technique once fall camp arrives. It’s going to be a challenge to replace players like Alex Forsyth, Ryan Walk, T.J. Bass, and Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu. Building chemistry among Josh Conerly, Jackson Powers-Johnson, and others will surely be a very high priority in August.

Protecting Nix will be the No. 1 key for the Ducks to have a successful 2023 season, and based on the talent up front, and the growing chemistry, it shouldn’t be an issue going forward.

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