Tag: josh conerly

Oregon Spring Ball Position Battles: Ducks’ OL enters spring with a clean slate

The Ducks have a clean slate when it comes to the starting offensive line. Watching those guys battle for snaps is going to be fascinating.

As we get into the start of spring football across the nation, it’s become increasingly hard to find either fans or media members who don’t hold some semblance of confidence when it comes to the immediate outlook for the Oregon Ducks.

After a successful 10-win season in 2022, Dan Lanning and his staff did a good job of increasing the level of talent on the roster and creating a culture of competition across the board going into spring practice, which starts on Thursday. One of the biggest areas of competition is going to reside with the big boys up front in the trenches.

The competition to secure the five starting spots on the offensive line is going to be contentious, and incredibly entertaining to watch.

For those aforementioned positive feelings about the Ducks to come to fruition, it’s going to be necessary for the Oregon OL to play at or near the level that we saw last season. The Ducks were among the best units in the country, allowing the fewest number of sacks in the nation and bolstering one of the best rushing units. Of course, with four of the five starters from a year ago now off of the team, matching that level of success is a big ask.

So you take a contentious position competition and add some relatively high stakes.

The result is entertainment for anyone who is paying attention.

Despite the relative lack of notable experience on the offensive front, the Ducks are loaded with talent across the board. You have Josh Conerly, a former 5-star who was the No. 1 OT in the class of 2022, Ajani Cornelius, the former Rhode Island player who was the No. 1 OT in the transfer portal this year, and you also have George Silva, the No. 1 JUCO OT this season as well. That’s just the competition at the tackle position. Throw in a couple of returners at guard, a few highly-rated recruits, and another veteran transfer addition, and you’ve got the makings of a loaded OL room, all competing for snaps.

Again, I can’t wait to watch this play out.

Of course, we likely won’t have an answer on who the starters are after spring ball concludes at the end of April, but we could get a pretty good sense for how things stand. Here are some players that I will be keeping a close eye on over the next several weeks on the OL in Eugene.

A’lique Terry announced as Oregon Ducks new offensive line coach

The Oregon Ducks have announced that A’lique Terry will be the newest offensive line coach for the team, taking over for Adrian Klemm.

The Oregon Ducks have officially hired a replacement for former offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, reportedly bringing in A’lique Terry.

Terry most recently was the Minnesota Vikings’ assistant defensive line coach, but he has spent time as the offensive line coach for the Hawaii Warriors, and he also worked as a graduate assistant on the offensive line at Oregon under Mario Cristobal’s tenure.

Terry will be taking over for Klemm, who left Eugene to join the New England Patriots’ coaching staff as the offensive line coach. Terry will also have the benefit of heading up one of the top position units in all of college football during the 2022 season, where the Ducks ranked first among all teams with just 5 total sacks allowed in 13 games.

Despite the impressive numbers, TK has a big task on his hands, as Oregon enters somewhat of a rebuild on the O-line this offseason. The Ducks saw four of their starters from last year — LT T.J. Bass, RT Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, RG Ryan Walk, and C Alex Forsyth — all graduate this offseason, which has left several vacancies on the offensive front. Fortunately, the Ducks have a returning starter in LG Marcus Harper, and senior RG Steven Jones announced that he would return for one more year after missing much of the 2022 season due to injury.

On top of those pieces, there is an expectation that former 5-star Josh Conerly — the No. 1 ranked OT in the 2022 recruiting class — will step into a starting role, while the Ducks also landed Ajani Cornelius — the No. 1 OT in the transfer portal in 2023.

There are a lot of questions about who will play where on the offensive line for the Ducks this season, and a lot of holes to fill. However, Oregon has no shortage of talent to be able to fill those holes and continue the stellar line play that fans have grown accustomed to seeing over the past several years in Eugene.

Now they have a coach who will be leading them as well.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

On This Day: Dan Lanning begins a new era of Oregon Ducks football a year ago today

365 days ago, Dan Lanning was hired as Oregon’s new head coach. Let’s dive deep and look back on his successful first year in Eugene.

365 days ago, the Oregon Ducks started a new era of football with the hiring of Dan Lanning, the former Georgia Bulldogs defensive coordinator who was being made the youngest head coach in the Power 5 conference.

That era is certainly off to a good start, wouldn’t you say?

There were a couple of rocky moments near the end of Lanning’s first season with the Ducks, but from a bird’s eye view, the first-year head coach absolutely was a success during his first year in Eugene, exceeding expectations early and doing a great job to establish a culture at his new school.

Had it not been for an unfortunate injury suffered by QB Bo Nix, and losses to both the Washington Huskies and Oregon State Beavers — Oregon’s two biggest rivals — the love for Lanning would be endless. Regardless, with his recruiting prowess, ability to coach on the field, and obvious love for aggressiveness in his mentality both on and off the gridiron, it’s tough to find many fans in Eugene who are not ecstatic about Lanning’s hiring in Eugene, and confident for what the future holds.

As we did earlier in the month to remember the departure of former Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal and look back on what his first year away from Eugene has brought, we wanted to do the same thing with Lanning.

What all has transpired in his first 365 days as the Ducks’ head coach? What were some of his high points, and where were a few of his lows? Here is a year-in review for Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks.

Social Media Buzz: Noah Sewell, Josh Conerly, and Bo Nix score trick-play touchdowns

Josh Conerly, Noah Sewell, and Bo Nix walk into the end zone… Safe to say Oregon fans went wild on Twitter.

It appears that Oregon Ducks offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham woke up on Saturday morning looking to have some fun.  If you didn’t know that was the case before Oregon’s game against the Colorado Buffaloes, then you found out pretty quickly.

It became apparent early on when backup offensive tackle Josh Conerly scored the first touchdown of the day, hauling in a short pass from Bo Nix after breaking out wide from the jumbo package formation near the goal line. Not long after, it was Nix himself who was on the receiving end of a score, hauling in a pass from RB Bucky Irving after a pitch and run to the right side. Nix walked it in for an easy score.

If that wasn’t enough, a few minutes later, linebacker Noah Sewell went airborne over the line of scrimmage near the goal line for a TD after lining up at full-back. Sewell became the first LB to score an offensive TD in Oregon since 1996, per the team.

It’s safe to say that fans had an awesome time watching all of this. Here are some of be best reactions on Twitter.

Dan Lanning feels OT Josh Conerly is prepared, could play ‘relatively soon’ for Oregon

Will Josh Conerly be the starting LT for Oregon in Week 1? Impossible to say. The door to him playing early and often is not closed, though.

The recruiting world for the Oregon Ducks has seen a number of highs over the past few years. Multiple five-star players have signed on to come to Eugene and put on the green and yellow, causing a lot of fanfare and excitement.

One of the most notable 5-star players to sign with the Ducks was OT Josh Conerly, the No. 1 player at his position in 2022. Not only was Conerly a massive get just for the talent that he brings, but also because it marked the first massive win in the tenure for new head coach Dan Lanning.

[lawrence-related id=28185]

Now that we have an offseason and stretch of fall camp behind us, many people are starting to wonder how quickly Conerly, a true freshman, might be able to crack the starting lineup in Eugene. He is an incredibly talented individual, but is coming into a position group that has an abundance of veteran experience and know-how.

When asked to evaluate how Conerly has played during fall camp so far, though, Lanning might have tipped his hand on Thursday as to how soon the freshman phenom might see the field.

[lawrence-related id=28176]

“I think Josh is gonna be a really good player for the Ducks,” Lanning said. “I mean, I think he’s gonna be a phenomenal player for us. He’s shown that he has a worker’s mentality, has a growth mindset. When his time comes, I think he’ll be prepared for it you know, and that could be relatively soon we’ll see.”

Much of the fall camp period has been an exercise in sleuthing for reporters at practice. While we are only allowed to see about 15-20 minutes of work from the team, we often work to see which lineman are working with who, and decide if it means anything. For the most part, it’s been a crapshoot of a time trying to piece together a depth chart.

However, the Ducks released a video on Thursday that showed some of the reps in what is believed to be the first scrimmage of the year a couple of weeks ago.

Conerly is seen taking reps at LT with what looks like a first-team offensive line, against some expected starters on defense. Does that mean that he will be the starter when Oregon lines up against Georgia on September 3? Absolutely not.

It is a positive note though, especially when you take into account what Lanning said about the freshman on Thursday.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=none image=https://duckswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[listicle id=28340]

Brandon Dorlus has high praise for 5-star OT Josh Conerly Jr.

“Me and him go at it every day.” Brandon Dorlus has gotten familiar with Josh Conerly. He had high praise for the true freshman.

When Oregon fans look at the practice reports and the stories that come from Duck media members, one of the main things that they always look to see is if about the quarterback competition, and if any of the three have separated themselves from the pack.

The next thing they usually look to see is if there is anything new on the Josh Conerly front.

That’s understandable. As the No. 1 ranked OT in the 2022 recruiting class, Conerly surprised a lot of people when he chose to commit to the Ducks, passing over the USC Trojans along the way. Now in Eugene, Conerly holds the distinction of the top-ranked OT in program history. He’s a true freshman in a position room that is ripe with veteran players and returning starters, but that’s not stopping him from taking a shot at the starting left tackle spot.

“You can tell he’s really trying to play this year as a young guy,” said defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus, who regularly battles with Conerly in practice. “It’s tough to play left tackle as a freshman — especially in the Pac-12.”

Of anyone on the team who could give you an honest assessment of where Conerly’s game is currently at, Dorlus might be the guy. Lined up at defensive end, he and the true freshman have regularly competed in both one-on-one and competition periods. Dorlus has gotten an up-close view of Conerly’s abilities.

“Josh Conerly is a beast. He’s just a dog,” Dorlus said. “Usually when you come in as a freshman and you lose reps, you get in your head and you stop working and think ‘this is over.’ But with him, he’s lost plenty of reps but it’s crazy because he comes back and he’s worked on it. He has a great work mentality. I love going against him. Me and him go at it every day.”

Dorlus went on to clarify that it is him that gets the majority of the wins in one-on-one drills, but he still respects the young player’s efforts.

Oregon’s offensive line is currently dealing with the injury bug, with as many as  6 of the 14 scholarship players on the roster dealing with some sort of injury thus far in camp. That’s opened a door for Conerly to get some reps with the first team, and could potentially leave a pathway for him to earn a lot of playing time going forward.

[mm-video type=video id=01gaknnt6daz7z26thtj playlist_id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=01f1jz1vgtfhzk6ner image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gaknnt6daz7z26thtj/01gaknnt6daz7z26thtj-168b6c8017adb6a7ebfb7b2c414429a2.jpg]

[listicle id=27523]

Offensive lineman Josh Conerly is one of the top true freshmen in college football

Oregon’s 5-star OT Josh Conerly was named to the true-freshman All American Team.

Oregon is expected to have an experienced offensive line in 2022, but as with all position groups, having depth is very important.

The Ducks have that depth along the O-line, which includes true freshman Josh Conerly Jr., one of the top recruits in the Class of 2022.

At 6-foot-4 and 294 pounds, the Seattle native was wanted by nearly everybody, including his hometown Washington Huskies. But Conerly decided to travel down I-5 and be a Duck instead.

Ahead of his freshman season, Conerly is in elite company, named by On3 as a true freshman All-American.

This is what On3.com said on Conerly:

Oregon has sustained a rash of injuries along the offensive line with approximately half of the Ducks’ 14 scholarship players at the position missing time (in the past). That’s created an opportunity for Josh Conerly Jr. to step up as a potential true freshman starter in Eugene. (He) has been working with the first unit. It remains to be seen how things will shake out when and if the health at the position improves, but Conerly’s chances of starting will likely increase the longer this goes. The Seattle Rainier Beach product was among the headliners in Dan Lanning’s first signing class at Oregon and ranked as the No. 40 overall prospect in the 2022 On3 Consensus.

Of course, Conerly is yet to take a snap of college football, and there is currently an uphill battle for him to earn playing time with a veteran group of returning linemen in Eugene. Regardless, it’s pretty clear early on that the former 5-star recruit is going to have an entertaining career with the Ducks.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=none image=https://duckswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[listicle id=27518]

Where the Ducks land among the top-ranked offensive lines in the nation

The Ducks have experience on their side when it comes to the O-Line. They rank among the best units in the nation going into 2022.

When many people project the Oregon Ducks are going to find success in the 2022 season under new head coach Dan Lanning, a lot of that is on the basis it will come of the backs of the defense.

However, you shouldn’t be so quick to overlook the offensive line.

One of the most valuable position groups on the field, Oregon has a real strength on the line this season, returning a handful of starters from last season and bringing in some talented young pieces as well. Though there have been a couple of injuries to monitor — T.J. Bass and Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu have missed time during fall camp — the Ducks look largely healthy and ready to go for the start of the season.

If you’re looking for it, there is also an upside that comes with the injuries on the front line as well. While we expect the veteran players to be ready to go by Week 1, their missing practice has allowed some young guys — five-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly, four-star offensive guard Dave Iuli and three-star OT Kawika Rogers — to get valuable reps early on in practice.

“Fortunate for us we’ve been able to get a lot of young guys reps early,” Lanning said earlier this week. “And there’s been some guys that have stuck out and had really good days. You know, Josh Conerly had a good day, had a really good rep and competition today. Competition drill — we do kind of a one-on-one drill — he did a really good job. Seen some good things from Dave (Iuli), seen some good things from Kawika (Rogers). A lot of those young guys have done well up front.”

As it stands, the Ducks should feel confident about where their OL stands going into the season. But where do they stack up when it comes to the best position groups in the nation? Here’s where On3 ranked them:

‘Over-worked, under-appreciated;’ Coach Adrian Klemm discusses progress on OL during fall camp

“It’s a mature group and they take pride in what they do.” OL coach Adrian Klemm is happy with what he’s seen from his group so far.

The outlook for the Oregon Ducks’ offensive line is certainly positive. With a handful of veteran players returning for one more season, offensive line coach Adrian Klemm had reason for wanting to leave a job with the Pittsburgh Steelers to come back to the college ranks and take over a group that could be among the very best in the Pac-12 this season.

Klemm has also made an early mark in the recruiting world as well, helping to land 5-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly back in the spring. Conerly was ranked as the No. 1 OT in the 2022 class, and Klemm helped push the Ducks over the USC Trojans in the end.

With fall camp now well underway, we got a chance to talk to Klemm after the Ducks’ 6th practice of the year, the first one in full pads. Here are some of the best quotes from the day:

Dan Lanning highlights Josh Conerly, Khamari Terrell, other freshman standouts at practice

Josh Conerly, Khamari Terrell, and a couple other true freshmen got kudos from Dan Lanning this week.

Some freshman football players have the benefit of enrolling early at school and joining their team for the spring season, going through a number of practices, and ultimately getting some live reps in the annual spring game.

Others aren’t so fortunate, needing instead to try and get up to speed when fall camp rolls around. There is an acclimation period that the entire team goes through, consisting of two days of spider pads, and three days of shells (helmets and shoulder pads). This offers somewhat of a slow integration into the physical nature of college football, which can often be a wake-up for young players who are used to the high school level of play.

“I think the physicality… I mean, if you’re going to bite as a pup you’re going to bite as a dog, and we can try to enforce that a little bit,” head coach Dan Lanning said on Tuesday when asked about young players responding to the increased physicality. “But the reality is that if you’re a physical player, you’re going to be a physical player.”

For many incoming freshmen, the start of fall camp is a lot like getting thrown into the deep end of the pool. You may have been an all-star athlete in high school, but now you’re running with the big dogs who are sometimes as many as 3 or 4 years older than you.

“I think what you notice as you get into day five and day six is you start to recognize who’s actually got their head buried in their playbook — who’s spending the extra time — because it’s hard to play fast if you don’t know what you’re doing,” Lanning said. “And that probably sticks out the young guys that are putting in the extra time that’s required to be successful. Those are the guys who are reaping the benefits right now.”

When pressed to identify a player or two who have done what he was alluding to, Lanning — a coach who rarely singles out individuals thus far in his tenure at Oregon — pointed to true freshman defensive back Khamari Terrell, a former 4-star recruit out of Texas.

“There’s a few guys… I just threw kudos to Khamari Terrell, he’s done a really good job of meeting and taking extra time to watch film, doing the little things,” Lanning said.

Another place where Lanning wasn’t shy about offering praise was on the offensive line. Due to a couple of minor injuries, mainly to RT Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, there has been an opportunity for young players to step up and take advantage of some playing time on the O-line. Oregon fans will be happy to hear that Josh Conerly, the 5-star recruit who ranked as the No. 1 OT in the 2022 class, was near the top of the list.

“There’s been some guys that have stuck out and had really good days. You know, Josh Conerly had a good day, had a really good rep and competition (period) today,” Lanning said. “The competition drill — we do kind of a one-on-one drill — he did a really good job. We’ve seen some good things from Dave (Iuli), seen some good things from Kawika (Rogers). A lot of those young guys have done well up front.”

As is normally the case with training camp, an opportunity has risen for young players and underclassmen to showcase their talents and try to establish a place for themselves on the depth chart. How high up on the depth chart they actually land is a case-by-case basis, but what matters is that the players are getting a chance to show what they’re capable of.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=none image=https://duckswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[listicle id=27132]