Tag: Oregon Defense

No. 3 recruit, DL Williams Nwaneri names Oregon in top five and sets commitment date

No. 3 recruit, DL Williams Nwaneri names Oregon in top five and sets commitment date

The summer is nearing its end, and as it does, more of the top recruits across the country are naming their future schools. One of the few players yet to announce their decision is defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri. Rated by 247 Sports as the best DL in the 2024 class, and the No. 3 player overall, Nwaneri is one of the most sought-after prospects across the nation, which has made his commitment a highly-anticipated event.

At 6’5″ and 250 pounds, Nwaneri is a force on the D-line, but he maintains an ability to make quick cuts that can make blockers miss. This versatility is one of the things that has skyrocketed him up the recruiting rankings for his class.

Last Thursday, Nwaneri named his top five schools — which includes the Oregon Ducks — as well as his commitment date — which is August 14th. The Ducks have already had a successful recruiting season, but the addition of a diamond-like Nwaneri on the D-line would do wonders for the future of Ducks football. With the Ducks now joining the Big 10 and leaving the pass-happy Pac-12, stopping the run will become more of a defensive focus, so a bolstered D-line becomes paramount.

Even though he named Oregon as a top 5 school, it is unlikely Nwaneri will end up in Eugene. As a Missourian he may be inclined to stay closer to home at schools like Oklahoma or Missouri itself — both of which are schools included in Nwaneri’s top five. Furthermore, 247 Sports experts have aggregated a crystal ball prediction of 100 percent confidence that Nwaneri will commit to Oklahoma when the time comes less than two weeks from now.

If the unlikely occurs and Nwaneri chooses the Ducks, he will be a welcome addition that will likely make a quick impact, but I wouldn’t expect it to be the way things shake out on August 14th.

The most important safeties to know in the 2023 Pac-12 season

The most important safeties to know in the 2023 Pac-12 season

As we continue our preview of the 2023 college football season in the Pac-12 conference, we are going to shift our focus from individual teams to individual positions. The last several weeks have been spent picking apart each school out west, finding where they improved the most over the offseason, and identifying what realistic expectations should be for them going forward.

You can see them all here: Arizona Wildcats — Arizona State Sun Devils — California Golden Bears — Colorado Buffaloes — Oregon State Beavers — Stanford Cardinal — UCLA Bruins — USC Trojans — Utah Utes — Washington Huskies — Washington State Cougars

Now, we’re going to look at position groups as a whole in the conference. Whether it’s a quarterback or a linebacker, a punter or a safety, there are dozens of highly talented players out west. We want to go through them all, position group by position group, and highlight some of the most important names that fans should know at each spot.

Quarterbacks — Wide Receivers — Running Backs — Tight Ends — Offensive Line — Defensive Line — Linebacker — Cornerbacks

In a conference such as the Pac-12 which has always been heavily pass-first and pro-style in terms of offense, it is only natural that there be a focus on the defensive secondary in order to counter the opposing team’s prolific passers and receivers.

Today, I’ll take a look at who I think are the most important safeties for Pac-12 fans to know ahead of the 2023 season. Some of them are ball hawks, some negate the run, but many are strong hybrids of the two qualities and add a lot to their respective defensive units.

Below are the top safeties in the Pac-12 for 2023:

Top 10 2024 Player, DL David Stone puts Oregon in top six schools

Top 10 2024 Player, DL David Stone puts Oregon in top six schools

While college coaches are already starting to take a glance at players in the class of 2025, some of the best players in the class of 2024 are still undecided — or at least unannounced — on where they will play their college football. One of the best examples of this is defensive lineman David Stone.

Rated as a 5-star recruit by 247 Sports (as well as other outlets) Stone is one of the top 10 players in his class and will likely have an immediate impact wherever he goes. At 6′ 4″ and 270 lbs, Stone already has a frame that should startle opposing offensive linemen and quarterbacks. Stone has set his commitment date for August 26th, which is now less than a month away, and the anticipation is building across the college football world.

From Oregon’s perspective, the addition of Stone would be perfect. Obviously, any program would vivaciously welcome a top ten player to their program, but with one of the country’s best pass rushers in Brandon Dorlus likely moving on after the 2023 season, the addition of David Stone would immediately fill a hole in the Ducks’ defense.

From Stone’s perspective however, it doesn’t look like the Ducks are at the top of his list. Yes, he named them among his top six schools earlier this week, but according to 247 Sports experts, Steve Wilfong and Brandon Drumm, Stone will more than likely choose to be an Oklahoma Sooner. Wilfong and Drumm have logged crystal ball predictions of Stone to Oklahoma at a 78% certainty level, with Michigan State as seemingly the only alternative if he does pass on the Sooners.

Wherever Stone ends up in 2024, he is likely going to be a special player coming around the edge. If he does decide to go to Oklahoma, he could be an important piece in the rebuilding of a program that was setback hard after the departure of Lincoln Riley and many of its star players two years ago. If he chooses Oregon, hopefully, he and Matayo Uiagalelei can dominate off opposite edges and terrorize opposing QBS for years to come.

On a team full of stars, the Ducks have their underrated players too

Oregon football has its share of stars, but it also has some “glue guys” that keep it all together and that value can be underrated.

As we prepare for the upcoming college football season, much of our conversations as Ducks fans revolve around the stars: Bo Nix, Bucky Irving, Troy Franklin, and more. We also discuss coaches plenty, as they are heavy on the recruiting trail, searching for players in the class of 2024.

Today, I looked at 10 of the most important players on the 2023 Oregon Ducks that we at Ducks Wire don’t talk about as much. These are players you likely are aware of, and some you’ll know well. Regardless of their skill level, I believe that every player on this list has had one aspect of their game underestimated or undervalued.

For some players, they were underrated in the recruiting process. For some they are undervalued by Ducks fans and college football fans alike, and sometimes perhaps by their own coaches. Regardless of the reason, all of these players deserve a little bit more of each conversation about Ducks football devoted to them.

PFF release the top 10 returning safeties in the Pac-12

The Ducks used the transfer portal this offseason to land some of the top-graded safeties going into the 2023 season.

Arguably the most important part of a team’s defense is that team’s safeties. Their No. 1 job is protecting against and discouraging the deep ball, but they also have a responsibility in the run game. Since CBs typically have smaller frames, safeties are often the primary tacklers on outside zone runs, a running style becoming more and more popular.

Last season, the Oregon Ducks struggled defensively, but they especially struggled against the run. Sure, a lot of that responsibility goes to the front seven, but with the support of consistent tackling safeties, things may have gone smoother.

On Sunday, Pro Football Focus (PFF) released a list of the top 10 returning safeties in the Pac-12, ranked by PFF grade. While a Ducks safety doesn’t top the list, Oregon has more entries than any other school, which bodes well for a more consistent and physical defense than we saw in 2022.

Here’s where Oregon’s safeties rank among the top in the conference, per PFF.

4-star Safety, Jakob Gude puts Oregon in his top five

4-star Safety, Jakob Gude puts Oregon in his top five

Since the start of Dan Lanning’s tenure at Oregon, one of the Ducks’ biggest recruiting strengths has been at defensive back. It is likely that a lot of this success is due to the prowess of defensive backs coach, Demtrice Martin whose son Cole Martin will start his freshman year at Oregon next fall.

On Wednesday, another quality 2024 DB, Jakob Gude, showed interest in joining forces with the Ducks after high school when he named the Oregon Ducks one of his top five schools. Gude is ranked by 247Sports as a top 50 safety in next year’s class and the 53rd best player from his home state, Georgia.

Gude is nearly 6 feet tall and is 180 lbs. In pass defense, he uses his lean frame to cover ground more quickly than many bigger safeties could. While that lean frame can sometimes hurt Gude in the run game, his ability to position himself before and during the play can often make up for his lack of size.

Jakob Gude’s Recruiting Profile

Phil Steele names several Ducks in his All-America and All-Conference picks

Phil Steele names several Ducks in his All-America and All-Conference picks

In anticipation of the 2023 College Football season, independent sportswriter Phil Steele has made his predictions for All-Conference and All-America teams, both of which include several Oregon Ducks.

First, Steele believes that Oregon QB Bo Nix and edge rusher Brandon Dorlus will be the two Ducks to have All-American seasons, both of whom will earn fourth-team recognitions.

The fourth-team selection likely means  Steele sees Bo Nix as the fourth-best QB in 2023. While I would rank him slightly higher, four is much higher than much of the media has ranked him, such as his exclusion from On3’s top Heisman candidates.

Brandon Dorlus is an exciting inclusion. For the most part, Dorlus had a good 2022, though he struggle to sack the QB. With the addition of Jordan Burch and other pass rushers this offseason, Dorlus may see more opportunities to pressure the quarterback when passing, which could be why Steele expects big things from Dorlus in 2023.

As for All-Pac-12 teams, many more Ducks drew Steele’s eye. He predicts Bucky Irving, Dorlus, and Khyree Jackson to all earn first-team honors, as well as Troy Franklin and Camden Lewis to take spots on the second team. For the third team, Steele selected Nix, Terrance Ferguson, Evan Williams, and Kris Hutson. Finally, Steele sees Josh Conerly Jr., Popo Aumavae, Tez Johnson, and Jordan Burch filling out spots on the fourth team.

There are a few things that stand out from these picks. the first is Bo Nix on the third team, but with how loaded the presence of Caleb Williams and Michael Penix Jr. make the Pac-12’s QB carousel, it makes sense.

Another thing is the exclusion of Troy Franklin from the first team. Franklin played at such a high level in 2022 and it was only his sophomore season. Furthermore, while he and Nix quickly built chemistry last season, they should have an added sense of familiarity after playing side-by-side for a full season.

The last thing that stands out to me from these predictions, is the inclusion of Tez Johnson. This year’s spring game was the first time many Ducks fans got to see Tez Johnson in action, and what they saw was a speedster that couldn’t fit more perfectly into Will Stein’s offense. What makes this inclusion surprising is how low-profile Johnson’s transfer to Oregon was. He was only rated as a 3-star WR. Hopefully, Tez Johnson will do plenty of things this fall that he did in the 2023 spring game because he will shock a lot of people, though clearly Phil Steele won’t be one of those people.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Oregon v. Texas Tech picked as one of key matchups in 2023 season

Oregon may not be playing the defending national champs this season, but their game against Texas Tech in Week 2 will be a great early litmus test.

This past week, many college football teams across the country received the date and time at which they are set to play their first few games of the season, which has garnered a lot of anticipation for some of the impending matchups. USA Today sportswriter, Paul Myerberg, highlighted what he believes to be the most key matchups of the first slate of games. One of those matchups will come on Sep. 9, between the Oregon Ducks and the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

One of the key points Myerberg made about the matchup is that Texas Tech is coming off of an eight-win season, which was head coach Joey Maguire’s first season with the Red Raiders. The situation is similar in Eugene, as head coach Dan Lanning enters his second season with the Ducks, hoping to build off of his ten-win debut season.

The game will be played in Lubbock, Texas, and it will be Oregon’s first road game of the 2023 season. Going into a hostile environment — especially one in Texas — to start the season is never easy, and while the Ducks will be the favorites to come out on top, Texas Tech should make it a tough game to win.

Of the Ducks’ first five games, Myerberg sees this matchup as Oregon’s toughest test, even though he still expects them to win the game, and begin the season 5-0.

In 2022, the Red Raiders’ offensive struggled, particularly on the O-line, and they didn’t seem to improve upon that weakness too much this offseason. This game should be a chance for the Oregon defense, which has been described as much more physical than they were in 2022, to exploit Texas Tech’s O-line and get to the quarterback.

After facing Portland State in week one, the Red Raiders could shellshock the Ducks early, as the level of competition will be noticeably elevated from week one to week two. Still, the Ducks have a strong combination of talent and experience returning in 2023 that should hopefully carry them to victory in this game to start the season 2-0.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

4-star edge rusher Zina Umeozulu names Oregon as one of top schools

Check out EDGE prospect Zina Umeozulu’s — who named Oregon as one of his top schools — recruiting profile.

As the 2024 recruiting season matures, the number of blue-chip recruits interested in the Oregon Ducks continues to grow. Today, 4-star edge rusher Zina Umeozulu announced his top nine schools, one of which is the Ducks. Umeozulu is ranked by 247Sports as the 141st player in his class and 11th best EDGE.

Umeozulu is from Allen, Texas, and his top schools seem to reflect a liking for his home state and its surrounding region. Of the nine schools he named, five are in Texas or in a state that borders Texas. In addition, Umeozulu’s only two scheduled official visits are with Texas and Oklahoma.

One thing that could make Oregon an attractive target for Umeozulu is the interest of another high-quality 2024 pass rusher, Elijah Rushing. According to On3, the Ducks are the favorite to land Rushing, who many think is the best pass rusher in the 2024 class.

Historically, edge rushers do much better when they have a quality teammate on the other side of the D-line, because it prevents the O-line from focusing too much on one or the other. If Rushing is to come to Oregon, Umeozulu could be attracted by the prospect of being part of a powerhouse freshman pass-rushing tandem.

 

Zina Umeozulu’s Recruiting Profile

5-star DL Aydin Breland sets official visit to Eugene

A Top-10 recruit in the class of 2023 has scheduled a visit with the Oregon Ducks.

Earlier this month, 5-star defensive lineman Aydin Breland, announced the Oregon Ducks as one of his top 12 schools. On Tuesday, Breland announced that Oregon, Georgia, and Miami will be where he takes three of his five available official visits. His visit with the Ducks is scheduled for June 23rd, which is the last of the three.

Breland is currently a student at Mater Dei High School, a California school known for churning out college and NFL talent. Currently, Breland is rated as a 5-star player by 247Sports, which also rates him as the sixth-best player in the country, and the second-best DL.

In 2023, it seems likely that Oregon’s star defensive linemen will be the returning Duck, Brandon Dorlus, and South Carolina transfer Jordan Burch. However, Dorlus and Burch are both seniors and after 2023, the Ducks will likely need to find talented pass-rushers and run-stoppers to replace them. If Oregon is able to attract Breland, he could be a perfect replacement for Dorlus or Burch and could even have the potential to be an All-American.

Aydin Breland’s Recruiting Profile