There are a lot of unknowns for the Oregon Ducks heading into the 2022 season. With a new head coach at the helm and an entirely new coaching staff, the Ducks will also take a new starting quarterback into the first game of the year against the defending champion Georgia Bulldogs.
Whether it’s Bo Nix, Ty Thompson, or Jay Butterfield, there will be a lot of questions for the Ducks’ offense to answer right away.
On top of that, the Ducks feature a running back room that is largely unproven and a WR corps that is full of underclassmen and transfers. The defensive side of the ball is a bit more established with Noah Sewell and Brandon Dorlus leading a front seven that is among the best in the country, but will that be enough to stabilize the entire team?
According to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, it may not be. This past week on Scott Van Pelt’s ‘SVPod’ podcast, Feldman came on to discuss the state of college football ahead of the season. Feldman was asked to identify the team that was supposed to be good — ranked inside the top 15 or so — that he wasn’t so sure about.
Feldman named the Oregon Ducks.
I’m very curious to see what Oregon is like this year, because Mario (Cristobal) has a bunch of dudes that he’s recruited there and Dan Lanning’s added to it. He got Christian Gonzalez who was one of my ‘Freaks List’ guys that transferred from CU. But I feel like offensively I’m not sure. Mario thought their O-line was going to be really good and he knows more about O-line certainly than I do. Bo Nix is probably the guy — there’s some good Bo Nix and there’s some not-so-good Bo Nix, right? They’ve got a tough opener out of the gate in Georgia, and I know Dan Lanning knows that operation and everything. I’m very interested to see what they look like because a new staff — you’ve got Kenny Dillingham who’s a really sharp guy, but he’s never called it like he’s going to be the, you know, you’re with a defensive-minded coach. It’s not like you’ve got Mike Norvell there. You’ve got Nix, a new situation. That’s one I’m a little unsure of to be perfectly honest. That one I don’t know if I’d put all of my money on them at this point.
Of course, Feldman didn’t outright say that he thought Oregon would be bad, but he made sure to note the numerous questions facing the team. While we can be encouraged by what Dan Lanning and the team have shown so far, it’s imperative to admit that there are a number of things that, should they not break the right way, could be detrimental to the team.
Fortunately, we will have a chance to see early on in the season — vs. Georgia in Week 1 and vs. BYU in Week 3 — exactly what the Ducks are made of.
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