Oregon Spring Practice – Page 2

Spring Ball Takeaways: Ducks get back to work in wet Eugene weather

Six new players joined the Ducks on Tuesday, and we got to see some pads popping as Oregon resumed spring ball.

The Oregon Ducks returned to spring football practice after a two-week break on Tuesday morning in a wet and cold Eugene rain at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex. While the weather was drear, the energy was high for a team that got a taste of football once again back in March and has had a couple of weeks to get ready to attack success once again.

With a few new faces on the roster after the break — notably including Ole Miss safety transfer Tysheem Johnson — we got a good look at what this team will take into the spring game at the end of April as far as a roster standpoint.

As always, media members were allowed to watch in for the first 15-20 minutes of practice, which included stretching, special teams, and some individual work. Here are some of the biggest takeaways as we got back into it.

Notable quotes from Dan Lanning after Oregon’s second spring practice

After 2 practices, the Ducks now go on spring break. “You got to be great decision-makers,” Lanning said.

It’s hard not to be in a good mood when the sun is shining and football is being played.

That was the overall vibe from Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning on Saturday afternoon following the team’s second spring practice of the year. The Ducks got after it, once again in no pads, putting in work to create consistency and develop good habits ahead of the regular season.

Lanning talked about what he’s looking for from his team as they go into spring break and are off for a couple of weeks, and how they can get better coming back. He also touched on the recruits in town, and what he’s liked from the first two days of practice so far.

Here are some of the most notable quotes from Lanning on Saturday.

Photo Gallery: Ducks take field for second spring practice of 2023

The Oregon Ducks got back after it again on Saturday morning for their second practice of the 2023 spring season. We saw much of the same from Thursday’s practice, with the team going through stretching drills, special team drills, and then a quick tackle-pursuit drill before media members were ushered out.

For the most part, there were not many things to note other than a couple of absences and a couple of limited players. However, there was a large group of recruits in town to watch the practice and take in the Ducks this early in the season.

Here are some of the best photos from the day.

Spring Ball Takeaways: Dan Lanning stresses consistency in second practice for Ducks

The sun is out in Eugene, and a big group of recruits watched Oregon’s second spring practice. Our biggest takeaways from the morning session.

Energy was high for everyone on the Oregon Ducks team on Thursday morning as the team took the field for their first practice of the spring season. That was to be expected.

“I haven’t been around a lot of spring practices that weren’t good on day one,” Lanning said on Thursday after practice. “Everybody has juice and energy, a lot of enthusiasm.”

The key is making sure that you can keep that energy up throughout the month of March and into April as spring practice continues. Lanning stressed that on Thursday afternoon, telling his guys that they had no intention of being “one-hit wonders,” but rather that they needed to bring that energy day after day and make sure consistency was built.

It appeared that the consistency was there for the Ducks on Saturday morning as they made their way back out of the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex for their second spring practice of the year. Media members were allowed to watch the first 15-20 minutes of practice, where we once again saw some stretching, both static and dynamic, followed by special teams drills, ball security drills, and a quick individual period.

Here are some of the takeaways from the day.

Josh Conerly highlighted by Dan Lanning as standout player early in spring ball

“This guy’s working his tail off in absolutely everything that he does.” Dan Lanning had high praise for OT Josh Conerly.

As we enter the spring football season for the Oregon Ducks, there are a lot of individual players who come in with high expectations. Quarterback Bo Nix is among the early Heisman Trophy favorites, and there’s hope that wide receiver Troy Franklin can get into the conversation for the Belitnikoff Award when all is said and done.

One of the youngest players on the roster with high expectations early on, though, is offensive tackle, Josh Conerly. After coming to Eugene as the No. 1 prospect in Oregon’s 2022 recruiting class — the highest-rated OT to ever sign with the Ducks — there is an expectation that Conerly will immediately step into the starting lineup for Oregon this season, anchoring the left side of the line and immediately becoming the next great tackle to play for the Ducks, following in the footsteps of guys like Penei Sewell and Tyrell Crosby.

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Lofty expectations, for sure, but after hearing what head coach Dan Lanning had to say about Conerly after the Ducks’ first spring practice on Thursday, the sophomore seems to be well on his way to being an elite player, and a great leader, for the team.

“It’d be hard to mention one or two but like, you know, a guy that really stands out to me going into year two is Josh Conerly,” Lanning said. “This guy’s working his tail off in everything that he absolutely does. The way he stretches, just the way he approaches everything you know, his mentality in the classroom as well.”

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Conerly certainly has a path to the starting LT spot on the roster, but it won’t be without some competition. I wrote on Thursday morning about the litany of players that Oregon has on the offensive line who are capable of winning a starting spot, and the list is lengthy. The Ducks brought in Ajani Cornelius from Rhode Island this offseason, who was ranked as the No. 1 OT in the transfer portal. They also have George Silva competing for a starting spot, who comes to Eugene as the No. 1 ranked JUCO OT this offseason.

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We won’t get a final answer on who starts at OL this spring, but we can get a pretty good idea of where guys stand going into the summer months. If Conerly can continue to work hard and reach his projected ceiling with the Ducks, then he could end up being a really great player in Eugene. From the sounds of it, he is well on his way.

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Notable quotes from Dan Lanning following Oregon’s first spring practice

“I haven’t been around a lot of spring practices that weren’t good on day one.” Dan Lanning broke down the Ducks’ first practice on Thursday.

The second year of Dan Lanning’s tenure in Eugene with the Oregon Ducks officially started on Thursday morning, with the team taking the field for their first spring practice of the year.

It’s a season that has some high expectations from fans and the college football world at large, with quarterback Bo Nix coming back for one final season, boasting aspirations of being named a Heisman Trophy finalist when all is said and done.

After notching 10 wins in his first year with the Ducks, Lanning knows that he will need a strong second act in order to keep the momentum rolling in Eugene. As the Ducks continue to work towards the annual spring game on April 29th, we got a chance to catch up with the head coach following the first of 15 practices. Here are some of his most notable quotes from the interview:

Springball Takeaways: New QB leads 11-on-11 drills while LB Justin Flowe inches closer to return

Oregon’s 11th spring practice saw Ty Thompson take the first reps at QB in 11-on-11 drills, and LB Justin Flowe return to live action.

The Oregon Ducks practiced inside the Moshofsky Center once again on Tuesday as they prepare for the long-awaited Spring Game on Saturday afternoon.

During the portion of practice where media members were allowed to watch, we got a good update on some injured players and their status, as well as another look at “fastball” 11-on-11 drills with offensive and defenses lining up against each other.

There were some notable players in ceratin spots and one incredibly notable absence from the day. Here are a few takeaways from the action.

Springball Takeaways: Injury updates, and notable drills from Oregon Ducks 10th practice

We got to see some notable new drills and get a look at injured players in Oregon’s 10th spring practice on Thursday.

The Oregon Ducks were back inside the Moshofsky Center on Thursday morning for their 10th spring practice of the year, this time wearing shells while they went through work ahead of the Spring Game coming at the end of next week.

While we didn’t get any full-contact action, there were a lot of pads cracking with a couple of new drills that we saw, one of which looked similar to the classic “Oklahoma” style drill where two offensive players were pitted up against two defensive players in a run-blocking and tackling scenario.

We also got an update on a few injured players and one wide receiver who was not present at the start of practice but was later seen on the sideline without pads on. Here are the takeaways:

Spring Ball Takeaways: Noah Sewell takes a hit and Dan Lanning stresses energy

Linebacker Noah Sewell appeared to take a big hit to the shoulder in Oregon’s Tuesday practice. That, and other takeaways from the morning here:

A brief dressing-down in the warm-up session, and a star player taking a hard hit to the shoulder.

Those were my two biggest takeaways from the Oregon Ducks’ spring practice on Tuesday morning, with the sun shining on a chilly morning in Eugene.

While the team was going through stretches to start the day and was getting set to break into special teams drills, the music shut off and things went quiet for a minute. It appears that head coach Dan Lanning was getting on the team for a lack of energy — the consensus opinion of media members who were looking on. Players ran a quick sprint and then broke into drills.

Whether that was the case or not we will find out from Lanning later this morning when speaking with him after practice, but it appeared as such at the moment. Here are a few other takeaways from the morning:

Lanning: Oregon’s QB battle has featured maturity and competitive toughness

The early returns from Oregon’s QB battle show a competitive edge matched with a willingness to make each other better.

It seems like ever since quarterback Justin Herbert left the program, the Oregon Ducks have had intense competitions for QB1 and 2022 won’t be any different.

However, the early returns from this competition show a little bit of comradery thus far after a couple of spring football practices. During the parts of practice that have been open to the media, the trio of scholarship quarterbacks on the roster — Bo Nix, Ty Thompson, and Jay Butterfield — have appeared to develop a nice rapport and be open to sharing information and helping each other out.

According to Lanning, it’s an exciting group to work with, and one has shown a lot of maturity thus far.

“I think we have a mature group,” Lanning said. “You look out there and you want competitive toughness. You want guys that go out there and work every single day to get better. But the reality is they also realize they can make each other better if they share their knowledge and share what they see. So they’re doing a good job of that.”

Nix has the experience with his time at Auburn, but Thompson came into Spring camp noticeably bigger and stronger. He was a five-star recruit and the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the nation. Butterfield showed what he can do in last year’s Spring Game and even though he didn’t get any playing time in 2021, his talent can’t be ignored.

All three bring something different to the offense and it’s up to Lanning and offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham to decide who will make the Ducks better in 2022.

While the competition goes along, though, it’s nice to see early on that the three players appear to be trying to better the team along the way, and making sure whoever wins has all of the knowledge that he needs.

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