While virtually the entire depth chart for the Oregon Ducks is expected to be nailed down later this week, head coach Mario Cristobal said on Tuesday that there are a few positions that might take a little bit more time to determine the starter.
One of those positions is surely in the defensive secondary at the cornerback spot. With the loss of DJ James, who was indefinitely suspended after an alleged airsoft gun incident before fall camp, a starting spot at the boundary CB position opened up. Throughout the first two weeks of camp, a couple of players have been in a heated competition for the starting spot, in second-year freshman Dontae Manning, and third-year freshman Trikweze Bridges.
The two players are more different than they are alike. Manning was a 5-star recruit out of Kansas City who stands 6-feet tall, 185 pounds. Bridges, meanwhile, is 6-foot-3 with a massive 7-foot-2 inch wingspan.
Though different body types, the duo has been formidable so far this summer, putting all of the pressure on the coaching staff to determine the top guy.
“Anytime you get competition in camp, it’s going to be a back-and-forth deal,” said Oregon’s cornerback’s coach Rod Chance. “I think both of them are such different players. You’ve got one guy who’s really long; has a long lever, a press coverage guy. And the other guy is tightly wound and has a lot of twitch, a lot of explosiveness about him.”
Though Bridges was not as high profile coming into Eugene as a three-star recruit, he has surely played himself into contention for a starting job in his second full season with the Ducks. During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Bridges had two solo tackles while appearing in all seven games.
“Both of those guys are battling day-in and day-out, sometimes by the period,” Chance said. “Sometimes one guy has a better period when the competition is coming, and the next guy picks it up the next period.”
Manning is the player with all of the gravitas at the start of his career. As the 12th highest recruit in Oregon Ducks football history, there’s a belief that he will be one of the mainstays of the defense during his time in Eugene.
Though he was on campus in 2020, a hamstring injury suffered right before fall camp ultimately held him out of action. Now that he is back healthy with a full offseason under his belt, things are heading in the right direction for the freshman.
“In my mind, he’s a true freshman. He hasn’t had that full opportunity to get the training and the grinding or the fundamentals of what we’re doing,” Chance said. “So it’s leaps and bounds from where he was last year just because he’s getting those reps, but he’s a phenomenal athlete and we’re just trying to continue to hone in on his consistency and his process.”
While it is two young players with minimal experience vying for that top spot on the boundary, both guys have shown throughout the summer that they are capable of getting the job done. With veterans around them in Mykael Wright and Verone McKinley, there should be little worry about Oregon’s secondary this coming season.
“They’ve done a great job, both making plays, both flying around,” McKinley said after Wednesday’s practice. “It’s hard to just pick one because both of them are playing well so I know they’ll both be in the rotation.”
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