A trio of Ducks entered the portal on Saturday afternoon, which led to some shocked Oregon fans.
The transfer portal officially opened up on Saturday in the world of college football, and Oregon Duck fans sure took notice.
In the hours following Oregon’s first spring game of the 2023 spring season, a trio of notable players announced that they would be entering the portal and leaving Eugene.
Among the three, the most surprising was arguably linebacker Keith Brown, a native Oregonian who was seemingly in line to see a significant role on defense this season. Just a couple of days ago, Brown told media members how much playing at Oregon meant to him, and explained that the love for the Ducks was why he had not entered the portal thus far in his three-year career.
The other two players to enter the portal — CB Jalil Tucker and DT Treven Ma’ae — also came as somewhat of a surprise for Duck fans.
A lot of Oregon fans and media members took to social media after the fact to react to the personnel moves for the Ducks. Here are some of the best tweets from the afternoon.
Former 4-star CB Jalil Tucker to enter the transfer portal after redshirting in 2022.
The transfer portal officially opened up again on Saturday in the world of college football, and the Oregon Ducks certainly noticed.
It was a busy afternoon following the Ducks first scrimmage of the spring season. Jalil Tucker, a redshirt freshman cornerback, announced via social media that he would enter the portal and look for a new team. Tucker was one of three Ducks to do so on Saturday, joining LB Keith Brown and DL Treven Ma’ae.
Tucker is a former 4-star recruit who came to Eugene as a high school teammate of CB Jahlil Florence.
After the trio of departures, the Ducks are down to 88 scholarship players on the active roster.
Defensive lineman Traven Ma’ae becomes the second Oregon defender to enter the transfer portal on the day.
First it was Keith Brown. Now it’s defensive lineman Traven Ma’ae.
The junior out of Bishop Gorman High School in Nevada played in all 13 games last season and like Brown, was expected to compete for a possible starting job in 2023.
Last season, Ma’ae was credited with 12 tackles, five solo, and a sack. In his 29 games played as a Duck, Ma’ae had 32 tackles, 11 solo, and 2.5 sacks.
The native Hawaiian was a four-star prospect and was the No. 2 player coming out of the state of Nevada when he committed to the Ducks.
At 6-foot-5 and 272 pounds, Ma’ae will be a heavily sought-after transfer and it’s very possible he goes back to Nevada or even Hawai’i to finish out his career.
Oregon conducted its first scrimmage of fall camp inside Autzen Stadium where the defense had the advantage.
It was almost like the real thing.
For the first time this fall camp, Mario Cristobal’s Oregon Ducks football team scrimmaged inside Autzen Stadium in front of the season ticket holders and other fans.
“It was great to have our fans out here because they’re a big part of what we do at Autzen Stadium. It was just great to see them,” Cristobal said after the practice under the lights. “We’re very grateful for them being here and we know they can’t wait to be a big part of Sept. 4.”
As expected, the defense out-performed the offense as this Oregon defense has a chance to become something special. Despite missing cornerback DJ James and safety Jamal Hill because of an earlier incident with law enforcement, the secondary came to play.
Redshirt freshmen Trikweze Bridges made a case to become a starter with some of his play. He’s 6-foot-3 with a wingspan of 7-foot-2, which should be considered a huge cornerback and is a big advantage.
As for the offense, it was a mixed bag, according to Cristobal.
“I thought Anthony (Brown) early had some pressure,” he said of the Ducks starting quarterback. “(He) delivered some good balls. Some were more accurate. Some were not. There were some bright moments and some you’d like to have back.”
To be fair, it’s going to be difficult to judge the offense’s ability to move down the field on a consistent basis early on this fall. At least offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead has three weeks to iron everything out before Fresno State comes calling.
Zachary Neel – USA TODAY
Cristobal also gave praise to freshman quarterback Ty Thompson, who looks leaps and bounds better than he did in the spring thanks to a summer workout program and just being around his teammates and the facility.
“He was decisive tonight. When there was pressure, he found a way out most of the time,” Cristobal said. “Towards the end of the two-minute drill, he didn’t eat the ball. Sometimes a freshman with think, ‘I don’t want to throw an interception.’ He was very precise for most of the evening. I thought he made good decisions in the running game as well.”
Some of the other young players hoping to practice well enough to see playing time are linebacker Treven Ma’ae and running back Seven McGee, who might have the upper hand at being the starting punt returner.
The Ducks will take Sunday off from the field, but they’ll continue to weight train and have a speaker come talk to the team. Cristobal said he’s planning to have one or two speakers a week come in and share their insight on the topics they happen to specialize in.
