Tag: Oregon Ducks football

Report: Former TCU defensive lineman will visit Oregon

Former TCU defensive lineman Damonic Williams will visit Oregon, along with five other schools, sometime this spring as he looks for a new home.

The Oregon Ducks are looking to add some talent to the defensive line in this spring transfer portal window, it appears. According to On3’s Hayes Fawcett, former TCU defensive lineman Damonic Williams, who just entered the transfer portal, will visit Oregon sometime soon. The exact date hasn’t been determined.

In his two seasons as a Horned Frog, Williams dominated the Big XII with 60 tackles, 9.5 for loss, 4.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. As TCU has been mostly known for their offense, it’s no surprise Williams will look towards schools that are more balanced or defensively driven such as Oregon.

Coming out of Mission Hills, Calif., the 6-foot-2, 320-pounder was a three-star recruit in the 2022 class.

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Will Stein and his system helped bring Gabriel to Oregon

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel says he was attracted to Will Stein’s system and proven track record in his transferring to Oregon from Oklahoma.

There’s a lot that goes into a college player’s decision-making when they enter the transfer portal. One of those decisions right off the bat is to whether or not go in the portal in the first place.

Once they do go into the portal, the road to another destination has some bumps have curves. It’s rarely smooth sailing. That wasn’t the case for new Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel. It seemed as if once he decided to leave Oklahoma, he had his bags packed for Eugene.

The Ducks success with players coming from the portal is one of the best out there. According to Gabriel, offensive coordinator Will Stein was a huge part of his decision to become an Oregon Duck.

“I think it’s the track record of what Coach (Stein) has been able to do at a bunch of different spots at a bunch of different levels as well, he said. “I also think proven concept, right? Being here and seeing all the guys who’ve done what they’ve done. Two 1,000-yard-plus receivers. The quarterback has thrown for 4,000 plus yards with 40-plus touchdowns. And also winning a bunch of games, which is the main thing.”

In his one season is Stein’s offense, Bo Nix’s numbers went up and he led the Ducks to an 11-2 record, including a Fiesta Bowl win over Liberty. It’s the kind of success Gabriel wants to duplicate or improve upon, if possible.

“When you look at the offensive side of the ball, it’s how you continue to be ahead of the chains and score a bunch of points,” Gabriel said. “They’ve been able to do that. That for me was intriguing.”

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Troy Franklin’s success acts as motivating factor for Ducks’ WR room

Oregon’s current generation of young receivers have a good legacy to look up to in Troy Franklin.

Troy Franklin was arguably the best wide receiver to ever play for the Oregon Ducks. For the current receivers on the roster, those who watched Franklin work up close and personal, the next step is trying to follow in his footsteps and continue his legacy.

The Ducks don’t have a long history of receivers getting selected early in the NFL draft, but that is something that Franklin will likey change this year, with some mocks projecting that he will be selected in the first or second rounds later this month. Being able to see that ultimate success bear out for someone who put in the work in Eugene is what wide receiver coach Junior Adams says is one of the biggest motivating factors for his current WR group.

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“A lot of those guys have been in the room with him and they saw him, they see now that the process works,” Adams said on Saturday. “They’ve seen someone in the same seat that they sit in that lived it on a day-to-day basis here in this organization and now have the opportunity that he has. Obviously, that’s going to be a really good example for those guys in the room.”

Besides Traeshon Holden, Tez Johnson, and Gary Bryant, the Oregon receiving corps is a fairly young group, but the talent is oozing out everywhere. The young Ducks saw what talent coupled with work ethic can do to opponents and set up a nice professional career, something Franklin is preparing for currently.

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Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel is making an impression on and off the field

Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson says the Ducks newest QB is making a strong early impression.

If there’s one guy on the Oregon Ducks football team to assess how the newest Duck quarterback Dillon Gabriel is faring in the early going, it would be Tez Johnson.

The Oregon senior receiver was in Gabriel’s place this time last year when he transferred in from Troy. Although he had plenty of experience under his belt, he was still the new guy on the field trying to make a positive impression to everyone on and off the field.

Only in Johnson’s case, he was catching passes, not throwing them.

So when asked how his new quarterback was doing in his short time on campus, Johnson offered up this analysis on the former Oklahoma Sooner.

“He’s funny. Ya know, Dillon Gabriel is a total goofball,” Johnson said. “Like, he’s all for the team. He’s a goofy guy. He’s a kid in the locker room. But he’s also good people like when it’s time to put work in, you’re gonna put the work in. And we like that about a quarterback.”

There was no other player like Nix when it came to putting the work in and being good people. Gabriel certainly has some big cleats to fill, but from the sound of it, No. 8 is handling it like the cool customer he was billed as being.

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Tez Johnson and other Duck receivers adjusting to lefty QB

The ball comes out a bit differently from a lefty QB, but Tez Johnson says Oregon’s WRs are adjusting quickly.

You would think catching a football would be the exact same thing whether is was coming out of the right hand or the left hand, but those who watch baseball know the ball spins differently for a southpaw than it does for a traditional right-hander.

The same goes for a football and the Oregon Duck receivers are adjusting to the differences as the lefty Dillon Gabriel doesn’t spin it as Bo Nix did.

“The rotation is different, but it’s all pretty much just the same. When he (Gabriel) throws it, you just have to go up there and grab it,” Oregon senior receiver Tez Johnson said. “He throws a pretty good ball, though. You just have to know that on the right side, it’s going to drift away from us, and on the other side it’s going to drift towards us.”

It’s quite the adjustment, but this is why you have a month and a half of spring practices and fall camp later this year before the actual season begins. From the sounds of it, Gabriel’s passes are hitting their marks.

“It just takes a day or two, just a couple throws to be like ‘Oh okay,'” Johnson said. “More right-hand dominant than the left because the right-handed quarterbacks are gonna hit more on the left hand than the right.”

The Ducks won’t care which hand Gabriel’s passes hit, as long as they stick is all that matters.

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Chris Hampton offers injury update for CB Jahlil Florence

Oregon defensive back coach Chris Hampton said corner Jahlil Florence is recovering nicely from a lower leg ailment.

You never want to hear about injuries to any players, but in football, it comes with the territory.

Oregon defensive back Jahlil Florence, expected to contend for a starting spot in the Duck secondary in 2024, hasn’t seen much time on the field this spring as he is still nursing a lower leg injury he suffered in the off-season.

According to defensive back coach Chris Hampton, there’s still a chance Florence could recover in time to participate in the next month.

“We may get some out of him later on in the spring,” Hampton said about Florence. “He’s out there now doing some of the walkthrough stuff with us. But that’s about it right now. But I think his rehab is going pretty good.”

He may be recovering physically, but there can be a mental toll on any player who can’t do the thing they love. Hampton said Florence is improving on that aspect as well.

“After talking to Chief and talking to Jahlil, he’s in a much better space than what he was about a month ago,” he said. “So I expect we’ll maybe get some of him here at the end of spring.”

Realistically Florence can take all the time he needs as long as he is ready to go in the fall and be on that field Aug.31 against Idaho.

Dillon Gabriel ahead of the curve in terms of picking up Oregon offense

Dillon Gabriel’s experience at the college level is allowing him to pick up Oregon’s offense quickly.

It’s going to be strange to watch the Oregon Ducks football team take the field Aug. 31 to take on Idaho without quarterback Bo Nix leading the team.

In the third year of Dan Lanning’s tenure at Oregon, he has turned to senior transfer Dillon Gabriel for the 2024 season. Lanning is counting on the former Oklahoma signal caller’s past experience in Norman to pay dividends for the Ducks now.

But it all starts now in the spring.

“I just think more than anything, the way that he prepares has given Dillon an opportunity to really absorb a lot of this really quick with the walk-throughs that we’ve had,” Lanning said. “The time leading up to spring, us doing spring a little bit later than some teams, I think that’s allowed him to get ahead of the curve before he stepped out here. And then his experience speaks for itself, his poise and his ability to get guys to come do extra work with them I think is really paying off.”

Gabriel is at Oregon for just one season as he paves the way for Dante Moore and Austin Novosad, but his work ethic and the example he leaves could last for a long longer than Gabriel is actually there.

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LeBron James says Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks helped Miami reach new heights

LeBron James. Chip Kelly. Erik Spoelstra. How the three combined to create an NBA Championship offense.

Chip Kelly and the NBA is like a puzzle piece that doesn’t quite fit.

But Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was able to put a round peg in a square hole as LeBron James said.

According to the NBA legend and future Hall of Famer, Spoelstra, a Portland native and Jesuit High School graduate, took a page out of Chip Kelly’s book when he was with the Oregon Ducks, and used philosophies in Kelly’s spread offense to help unlock a new level with the Heat at the start of their title run.

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James said in a recent interview that Spoelstra came back to his home state and studied Kelly’s spread offense that changed the landscape of college football back in 2011.

“Spo is the reason why we were a better team, and our team was assembled more properly,” James told J.J. Reddick on a recent episode of Uninterrupted. “That summer, he went to Oregon and hung out with Chip Kelly, and learned the spread offense.”

Miami lost to Dallas in the previous season and James said Spoelstra’s goal was to study the Ducks’ spread offense and translate that to the professional basketball game. At this point in time Oregon was having great success on the field, having just made it to the national championship game against Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers, and Kelly’s offense was changing the landscape of college football.

Spoelstra hoped to glean some of the tricks from that, and translate them to the basketball court.

“I don’t know the super conversations that he and Chip had,” LeBron said. “But when he came back to us, he knew that in order for us to reach our potential, for one, I had to be *expletive* ten times better than I was in that previous June Finals. But Chris Bosh had to go to the 5, and had to start working on his corner three.”

Moving Bosh out of the paint allowed James to drive more to the hoop for easy buckets, get fouled, or both. This spread the floor in a way that allowed playmakers space to move and cut without the ball, much like Kelly’s offense opened up running lanes for the likes of LaMichael James, Kenjon Barner, and De’Andthony Thomas.

The strategy also worked for Miami, as they went on to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder for the championship the following season, and repeated the next year against the San Antonio Spurs.

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Report: No. 2 uncommitted QB set to visit Oregon before announcement

The No. 2 uncommitted QB in the nation will visit Eugene before his April 14th announcement.

In a report from On3.com, the nation’s No. 2 uncommitted quarterback, Husan Longstreet, will visit Oregon before making his official announcement on April 14.

But Oregon is just one of three schools Longstreet will visit as he will be going to Ole Miss and Auburn as well.

Longstreet is a four-star recruit from the Class of 2025 and stands at 6-foot-1 and hails from Corona, Calif. Should he choose to commit to the Ducks, Longstreet will join a talented, but crowded, quarterback room in Eugene.

Oregon will have Dante Moore, Austin Novosad, Akili Smith,  Jr. and Luke Moga on the roster in 2025 as things stand as they are. But college football rosters fluctuate with the transfer portal and the odds say someone or someones will move on elsewhere.

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Over half-dozen Ducks selected in latest 7-round mock draft from ESPN

According to the latest mock draft from ESPN, seven Ducks will be selected in the NFL selection process in April.

The NFL draft is less than a month away and we can then see how accurate, or inaccurate, all of the mock drafts are.

To be fair, most are fairly accurate and in the latest mock draft from ESPN, more than a half-dozen Oregon Ducks are expected to be selected.

Writer Matt Miller has turned in his best guess of how the NFL selection process will go and the first Duck to be picked will be quarterback Bo Nix to the Las Vegas Raiders, with the No. 13 overall pick in the first round.

Miller says Nix would “give the Raiders’ offense the dual-threat aspect it needs for new coordinator Luke Getsy. The Raiders could also be in play for a right tackle or wide receiver at this spot after being quiet on the offensive side of the ball in free agency.”

Speaking of receivers, the Ducks had a good one with Troy Franklin and he would go to Detroit at pick No. 61. For an offensive-oriented team with a quarterback like Jared Goff, the Lions would be a great place for Franklin.

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But before Franklin is picked in the second round, Oregon would see someone get to go on stage and shake Commissioner Roger Goodell’s hand and that would be Duck center Jackson Powers-Johnson at No. 20 to Pittsburgh. He would be snapping the ball to their new signal-caller Russell Wilson.

In the third round, defensive back Khyree Jackson would be heading to the nation’s capital and play for the Commanders as selection No. 78. Ten spots later, defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus goes to Green Bay at No. 88.

To round out the draft for Oregon, a pair of Ducks go to Baltimore. Running back Bucky Irving would be picked in the fourth round at No. 130, and defensive back Evan Williams joins him as a seventh-round selection at No. 228.

The draft gets underway less than a month from now on April 25th.

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