The Oregon Ducks will at long last get back onto the football field this afternoon with the 2023 fall camp officially getting underway.
Dan Lanning will kick off his second year as the Ducks’ head coach, this time with a nice, lucrative new contract under his belt that will keep him in Eugene for the foreseeable future. Alongside Lanning will be over 50 new faces on the roster, all of whom came to Oregon either as high school recruits or via the transfer portal.
After a successful 10-3 season that ended in a Holiday Bowl victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels a year ago, the Ducks have high expectations going into this new season. With veteran QB Bo Nix returning for another year of college and looking like an early Heisman Trophy favorite, the offense projects to be one of the best in the nation once again. On the other side of the ball, the defense has some questions to answer, but based on the talent acquisition and the coaching, fans largely feel confident about where things stand.
So as we get rolling into fall camp and start heading towards the start of the season on September 2 against the Portland State Vikings, what are some of the biggest questions that Oregon needs to answer when it comes to their roster and the overall outlook of the program?
Here are a few:
Transfers Translating
The Question: Which transfer portal additions will have the biggest immediate impacts?
The Oregon Ducks certainly classify as a new-look roster under year two with Dan Lanning after bringing in a long list of transfer portal players this offseason. Lanning has long said that their goal when adding transfers is to find plays that can impact the team right away and potentially earn starting spots on the team.
So who will those players be this year? The top candidates are EDGE Jordan Burch, WR Tez Johnson, S Evan Williams, and LB Jestin Jacobs, arguably. There’s also a great chance we see great things from OT Ajani Cornelius, WR Traeshon Holden, WR Gary Bryant Jr., and S Tysheem Johnson.
Will any of them instantly show that they can be among the best players on the team? I have a feeling that more than a few will.
Will Stein Offensive Wrinkles
Question: What differences will there be in a Will Stein offense, if any?
After a glorious and exciting offensive season under Kenny Dillingham, the Ducks once again go into the fall with a new offensive coordinator calling plays. One of the main points that Dan Lanning and players have made over the offseason and throughout the duration of spring practice is that the offense under Will Stein — the former OC at UTSA — is not all that different from the Dillingham offense, though there are a few wrinkles here or there.
So what do those wrinkles look like? Will we be able to see any of those wrinkles play out during fall camp, or will the Oregon fanbase have to wait until September 2 against Portland State to get a sense of what Stein brings to the table?
Old Faces, New Places
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The Question: How much position flexibility will we see, and who are some sophomores or redshirt freshmen who are primed to step into a contributing role?
We already know that former safety Jamal Hill is going to make the move to linebacker this year, and there is a chance that we see some defensive backs move around in the secondary throughout camp as well. It will be interesting to see if there are any new players moving around the field that we didn’t expect to see.
On a similar note, it will be fun to see which year two players can step into new roles. After either getting limited playing time or redshirting in 2022, are there guys on the roster who will have major impacts this season? We all expect to see great things from OT Josh Conerly, but what about LB Devon Jackson or CB Jahlil Florence? Is WR Kyler Kasper going to have an impact on the receiver rotation? We could start to see the beginning of that in fall camp.
The Offensive Line Shuffle
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The Question: The offensive line will look completely different than it did last year, so who will slot into which position up front?
The Ducks are being forced to replace four of the five starters on the offensive line from last year, and there’s a chance that one of the returners — LG Marcus Harper — doesn’t get his starting job back either. So what is the offensive front going to look like across the board? I can’t wait to see.
I have projected that it will be Josh Conerly at LT, Junior Angilau at LG, Jackson Powers Johnson at C, Steven Jones at RG, and Ajani Cornelius at RT. However, things could look totally different after fall camp begins. That could be one of the most important aspects of the team makeup this season.
Welcome to College, Freshman
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The Question: The Ducks signed a massive class in 2023, which ranked in the top 10 nationally. With all of them now in Eugene, which players will stand out the most?
Dan Lanning has always said that “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.”
Now it’s time to figure out who is good enough.
The spring gave us a good glimpse at a few players, such as DB Cole Martin, EDGE Matayo Uiagalelei, RB Dante Dowdell, and several others. But can any of those true freshmen step up enough this fall to carve out significant roles in 2023? Is 5-star WR Jurrion Dickey going to live up to the hype? Time will tell.
Oh Defense, Where Art Thou?
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The Question: The defense was arguably Oregon’s ultimate downfall in 2022. Will they be championship worthy in 2023?
It may have been unfair to believe that in year one with the Ducks, Dan Lanning could produce an elite defense along the lines of what he had with the Georgia Bulldogs. However, if he doesn’t show a bit of improvement with his unit in year two, then frustrations might start to grow.
There are a ton of transfers on that side of the ball that have been brought in, and the belief is that Lanning finally has a roster that he constructed himself at his fingertips. Will that be enough for Oregon’s defense to be elite in 2023? We will start to see this fall.
Health Check
The Question: Injuries popped up at unfortunate times in 2022, and some players were forced to sit out during the spring. What is the overall health of the program going into the fall?
Starting TE Terrance Ferguson missed the latter half of spring camp due to an injury, and OL Junior Angilau missed the entirety of the spring season while rehabbing a knee injury. Both said at media day on Monday that they would be ready to go for fall camp, but it’s fair to question if there will be any offseason injuries that pop up or linger heading into August.
The Ducks’ season was derailed by a Bo Nix ankle injury a year ago, so the health of this team does not need to be overstated.