Oregon Spring Football – Syndication Server

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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Ducks football ready to get to work and improve after spring break

Spring football resumes on Tuesday. We can’t wait.

The Oregon Ducks hit the ground running earlier this month, with a pair of spring practices ending what felt like a long and eventful offseason. At long last, Dan Lanning and his team hit the practice fields at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex and strapped up their helmets early in March.

And then they took another break.

Because of the school scheduling at the University of Oregon, the Ducks held their two practices early in March, but then put things on pause once again as the students went through final exams and spring break. While some might think this elapsed time would cause some slowing of momentum, Lanning told us earlier this month that the time away gave players an extra chance to study what they had done earlier in the offseason and improve going forward.

“I don’t know if there’s a huge benefit,” Lanning said after the Ducks’ first practice earlier this month. “It lengthens that spring window so you get a little bit more time in between to study what you’ve done well and what you can improve on.”

More than that, though, it also gives other players who have committed to the Ducks a chance to get with the team. While Oregon is on the quarter’s system academically, other schools are on either trimesters or semesters, so enrolling in the University wasn’t possible until after spring break.

We know that former Texas A&M receiver Evan Stewart joined the team during this two-week break, and there’s an expectation that Washington transfer Jabbar Muhammad and Duke transfer Brandon Johnson will be suited up for the remainder of the spring season as well.

“There’s gonna be some guys that are able to join us here post that first term that will give us a chance for those guys to get involved,” Lanning said.

While Duck fans got an early taste of football, the past two weeks saw most people tune into March Madness and Dana Altman’s miraculous run to the NCAA Tournament with N’Faly Dante and Jermaine Couisnard.

But now, it’s time for football again, and we will see more from this team starting on Tuesday.

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Spring Position Preview: Veteran experience leads athletic group of tight ends in Eugene

With Terrance Ferguson and Patrick Herbert leading the way, the Oregon Ducks have veterans leading an athletic group of tight ends.

After a couple of long off-season months, the grass is starting to grow and trees are getting ready to bloom. Spring is coming in Eugene, and with it comes the long-awaited return of football for the Oregon Ducks. A lot will look different in this new year for Dan Lanning and his team, with several of last year’s top players moving onto the NFL, including guys like Bo Nix, Troy Franklin, Bucky Irving, Jackson Powers-Johnson, and Brandon Dorlus. All of that is not to mention the fact that the Ducks are joining the Big Ten, and have a new-look conference to get used to on top of a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff to strive for.

It’s safe to say that there are a lot of things to talk about going into this spring season, and a lot of storylines to discuss. To get things started, we want to give a position-by-position breakdown of Oregon’s current roster, getting readers up to date on which players left, which players are returning, and what the overall outlook is going into the spring.

Already this week, we’ve covered the quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers. Now let’s move onto the tight ends.

A year ago, the Oregon Ducks were in a relatively tough spot at the tight end position. While Terrance Ferguson was returning after a strong sophomore campaign, an injury during spring practices sidelined him for a period of time. The future was a bit unknown as far as Patrick Herbert’s ceiling went, and the transfer of Moliki Matavao left the position group a bit thin.

Fast forward to this year, and the TE position is looking like one of the strongest groups on the Oregon roster, with Ferguson returning for a fourth season that could be filled with broken Oregon records. Behind him, Herbert is looking as healthy and productive as he ever has in his college career, and Kenyon Sadiq is verging on a breakout season, representing the most athleticism we’ve seen from a Ducks’ TE in quite some time.

It’s safe to say that TE coach Drew Mehringer has things going in the right direction. Here’s a complete breakdown of how things stand at the position, and the names and storylines that you need to know.

Spring Football Questions: Can Dante Moore push Dillon Gabriel for the QB1 spot?

As the Oregon Ducks start spring football, one of the biggest storylines to watch is a QB battle between Dante Moore and Dillon Gabriel.

Spring football is right around the corner for Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks, so we are starting to prepare ourselves and knock off the small amount of dust that accumulated during a minuscule two-month offseason. To do that, we’re diving into individual position breakdowns, and asking some of the most important questions that need to be answered over the coming weeks and months.

Whether we get definitive answers during the month-long spring season for the Ducks or not, it’s clear that Oregon has some major questions to answer as they prepare for life without Bo Nix, and a new reality in the Big Ten Conference competing for a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff. Let’s get the ball rolling with a question about QBs.

On the morning of December 9, 2023, it appeared that the Oregon Ducks had solved their future quarterback issue. While Bo Nix was still on the roster and preparing to lead the Ducks into the Fiesta Bowl against the Liberty Flames, it was known that the 2024 season would need to bring change with Nix off to the NFL.

In stepped Dillon Gabriel, a transfer from Oklahoma who had shown himself to be one of the more electrifying and dynamic passers in the nation over the previous couple of seasons. Gabriel had one year of eligibility remaining, and he wanted to spend it in Eugene, hoping to follow the Nix model of elevating his draft prospects and closing the final chapter of his college career with legitimate national championship aspirations.

Just nine days later, though, competition arrived for Gabriel, this time in the form of UCLA transfer Dante Moore, a former 5-star prospect with history in Eugene.

For the most part, it has been assumed by fans and most media members following the team this offseason that Gabriel will be the starter from the day that camp starts in the fall. He is, of course, among the betting favorites to win the Heisman Trophy in 2024, and he enters the season as one of the most experienced passers in the nation, holding 49 starts, 125 touchdowns, and 26 interceptions under his belt, with almost 15,000 yards to throw on top.

Are we so sure that Gabriel’s name should be written in pen at the top of the depth chart, though? Let’s look into that question a bit more.

Spring Position Preview: Ducks’ QB room brings new look, high ceiling into 2024 season

Previewing the Oregon Ducks quarterback room heading in to the 2024 season as we get set for spring football to return later this month.

When one of the best quarterbacks in the history of college football walks out the door, it’s safe to say that there are big shoes to fill for the next guy stepping up. In 2023, Bo Nix set the college football record for the best completion percentage in the history of the sport, leading the Ducks to a victory in the Fiesta Bowl after finishing third in voting for the Heisman Trophy.

Nix is now off to the NFL, where he is projected to be a first-round pick. While Oregon has a lot of production to fill at the QB spot, they did a great job of finding potential difference-makers in the transfer portal at the position, bringing in both Dillon Gabriel and Dante Moore to compete for the top spot.

There are also another couple of names to know on the depth chart in the QB room. Here’s a full breakdown of the passers currently on the roster in Eugene.

As a 5th-year starter, Bo Nix is seeing his experience pay dividends on the field

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix is a lot more comfortable than he was this time last season and the Ducks are going to benefit for it.

Oregon Ducks quarterback Bo Nix is in a very different spot than he was at this time a year ago.

In April 2022, Nix was that new transfer that as feeling his way around the football program and Eugene after coming from SEC Country and Auburn.

Flash forward a year. Nix is now very comfortable in his surroundings as the leader of a football team that should make a lot of noise in 2023. That comfort feeling off the field should pay dividends on the field.

“I’ve grown so much just off the field on the field. As a leader, as a teammate, as a quarterback,” Nix said. “You really can’t put a price on how much I’ve grown and I think it shows now just some competence out on the field.

“I have a different sense of awareness when I’m out there and being on offense, even though it’s not almost all the same, but remotely the same and I have the concepts down. It’s not as much thinking as it is just playing. It’s just matching what I know from what I’ve learned and what I’ve been taught and then just going out there and playing.”

Having an experienced quarterback that doesn’t need a lot of supervision is going to go a long way for some of the new offensive coaches, such as new offensive coordinator Will Stein. Not having to worry about a young quarterback learning the playbook can allow Stein to focus on other younger players.

“This year is probably the most eye-opening that I really get to see it. I’m in a great situation,” Nix said. “Our coaches really allowed me to be flexible and do a lot. I’m thankful for that. But at the same time, they do a great job of teaching me what to do when I’m out there. And so I do feel like I have a lot under my belt. I got a lot of visual pictures images of safety, rotation and fronts, and routes and timing and so it also helps to go with similar guys again like Troy, T-Ferg, Kris, those guys, so that will be great moving forward. Now that I got a lot under my belt seen a lot can now go out there and just play.”

Oregon fans have witnessed, both as a Duck and as an opponent, what happens when Nix just goes out there and plays. What happens is a lot of touchdowns and a lot of wins.

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Spring Ball Takeaways: Ducks look for fast play in fourth spring practice

Thursday’s practice brought our best look yet at offensive line rotations, and a new QB scramble drill.

On Tuesday afternoon following the Oregon Ducks’ first spring practice after the two-week break, head coach Dan Lanning was asked about what he wanted to see from his players going into Thursday’s practice, and then again into Saturday’s practice.

Consistent growth was the answer.

“When you guys get off the field, everyone’s gonna want to go watch film because they’re eager, but they’re gonna first thing pull up the plays that they did really well,” Lanning said. “The challenge is to focus on the piece you didn’t do well, how do we fix those? Right? It’s not about the highlights, right? We can all put together a highlight. It’s about the low lights and how we eliminate those. So I’m looking for us not to make the same mistakes Thursday that we made today.”

That was the mindset going into the fourth spring practice on Thursday morning, and the intensity was noticeably ramped up. Media members got to watch the first 15-20 minutes of practice. Here are some of my takeaways from that time.

Oregon adds a 5th QB to the roster — Matt Rush from Washington University

Senior QB transfer Matt Rush, out of Division III Washington University in St. Louis, has joined Oregon as a walk-on quarterback.

It’s always good to have many quarterbacks on the roster just in case disaster strikes via injuries.

Oregon as added walk-on quarterback Matt Rush as a senior transfer out of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Rush isn’t your typical walk-on QB, though.

As the starter for the Division III school for the last two seasons, he completed 67 percent of his passes and threw for 54 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also averaged 240 yards per game.

The 6-foot, 181-pounder from Hinsdale, Ill. was a two-year letter winner in football and three-year letter winner in basketball at Hinsdale Central High School. He threw for over 2,000 yards in his prep career with 32 touchdowns, including 20 touchdown passes as a senior.

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Oregon Spring Position Battles: Transfers, position changes have all eyes on safety room

Between incoming transfers and potential position changes, Oregon’s position battle at safety will be fascinating to watch.

We got a nice taste of spring football over the past week in Eugene with the Oregon Ducks taking the field for a pair of practices before the students went on a two-week spring break, pausing football activities until April 4th.

While we patiently wait for practices to resume, I want to continue our in-depth look at some of the position battles on the roster for Dan Lanning and the rest of the coaching staff to observe over the coming weeks. While nothing will be finalized after spring ball concludes, it will give us all a good chance to look at where some people stand going into the summer months before fall camp starts.

We’ve already looked closely at the offensive line for the Ducks, as well as the wide receivers, cornerbacks, and linebackers. Let’s continue our deep dive by turning our focus again to the defensive secondary, this time parsing through the handful of candidates to take over as the starting safeties for the Ducks.

It’s important to note that while in the traditional sense of football, you have two safeties on the field; free safety and strong safety. However, in the new scheme that Lanning runs, Oregon will also generally deploy a nickel package, where a third safety comes onto the field to play alongside a boundary safety and field safety.

With that being said, here are the players who I think will vye for the most playing time at the safety position this season,

Spring Ball Takeaways: Ducks open 2023 season with new faces, new energy

Spring ball is finally here. Some of our biggest takeaways from the first day of practice in Eugene.

In the world of college football, the first day of spring football feels like the first day of school in many senses. You get to see the new kids in town, whether they came from the high school level or from elsewhere in the country via the transfer portal. You also get to see all of your old friends, checking out their new clothes (or new numbers) and looking to see what type of growth spurts they went through while you were away.

Then you get to see all of your favorite teachers once again, and some potential new teachers — A’lique Terry, Mike Cavanaugh, Chris Hampton, etc. — who came to school while you were away.

It’s an exciting time, and there was a ton of energy present when the Oregon Ducks took the field at the Hatfield Downlin-Complex on a brisk Thursday morning in Eugene.

The structure of practice was similar to what we’ve seen in the past; an open stretching period to start things off, followed by special teams drills, ball security drills, and then individual work. Here are some of the notable takeaways from the first day of practice.