In the past couple of decades of Oregon Ducks football, there have been a few players to stand out in the special teams landscape thanks to their abilities to return punts and kicks.
Guys like Cliff Harris, or Keenan Howry, or DeAnthony Thomas, or LaMichael James come to mind, all possessing blazing speed and quick agility that makes them perfectly suited for the position. It’s always one of the things that fans want to know most about a team whose roster is in the building stage — who will be the kick and punt returners?
For the Ducks in 2022, that question doesn’t have a simple answer.
“I really think that will be by committee,” said Joe Lorig, the special team’s coordinator. “You know, I think we’ve got a bunch of guys that are really capable that I’m really excited about. So yeah, not because I’m trying to hide anything just because I think it’d be by committee. I really do.”
That’s a pretty large committee. Throughout fall camp, the following players have been seen rotating through kick and punt return drills, all taking relatively equal reps for the most part:
- Christian Gonazlez (Kick Return)
- Kris Hutson (Kick Return/Punt Return)
- Seven McGee (Kick Return/Punt Return)
- Sean Dollars (Kick Return)
- Jordan James (Kick Return)
- Bucky Irving (Kick Return)
- Byron Cardwell (Kick Return)
- Noah Whittington (Kick Return)
- Chase Cota (Punt Return)
- Josh Delgado (Punt Return)
The rotation of these players could be sporadic as well. Lorig clarified that he could foresee multiple players fielding kicks and punts in a single game, and it won’t always change on a week-by-week basis.
“Even within the game, whatever, who’s the most fresh? Who’s hot that day?” Lorig said. “You know, that kind of thing. I really feel like we have a number of guys in both those areas that are that can be pretty effective, depending on the situation.”
One has to wonder if that list will get trimmed down as the season goes on and the team finds a select number of players they feel comfortable with. To start, though, as a new coach on the staff, Lorig wanted to get a wide range of guys who could bring something to the table.
“I didn’t look at anything that anybody had done before,” Lorig said. “You just kind of know by the position that they play. And then talk to him. You know, do you guys want to return kicks, you wanna return punts?”
That question of ‘Do you want to return kicks?’ is often dangerous though, and Lorig may need to be careful of who is in earshot when he asks it. If a group of defensive linemen is nearby, the answer is going to be an emphatic yes.
“I’m pestered every day by all the defensive linemen, all the linebackers, everybody wants to be the kick returner and punt returner. So, yeah, most of them are just joking around but yeah, everybody wants to do it. But we’re gonna put people on the field that, number one we trust are gonna own the ball and put us in good situations and then number two that can make plays for us.”
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=none image=https://duckswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=27612]