Oregon
Everything Oregon Ducks’ Dan Lanning Said On Last Day Of Fall Football Practice
It is the last week without college football on the television until January. Today, the University of Oregon football team wrapped up their final day of fall camp. For some, the feeling of anticipation for the season is like that of Christmas Eve or the day before a trip. For the Oregon Ducks, there’s still work to be done.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning spoke on this topic during the last fall camp media availability on Wednesday.
“Our goal is to improve every single day,” Lanning said. “Did we improve this fall camp? Absolutely. Are we where we want to be yet? No. Definitely not. We’re taking steps, there hasn’t been a day where we come out here and I didn’t feel like our guys didn’t want to work. So, I appreciate that.”
One area that Oregon needs to iron out is their interior offensive line. Currently, there’s no official announcements for starters at center and right guard. This is a total contrast to the exterior spots, as the starting right tackle job for Oregon is claimed by senior and Associated Press preseason All-American Ajani Cornelius and starting left tackle is claimed by junior Josh Connerly Jr.
Lanning’s response on the potential depth for the line was also not very illuminating.
“What our best group is. Which goes out there and has the most efficiency and performs the best. Whoever performs the best – that’s who’s going to be out there,” Lanning said.
Looking to center, it seems junior walk-on Charlie Pickard has taken the most reps for the position. According to a previous interview with senior offensive lineman Nishad Strother, Pickard has become a leader in the o-line room. He also spoke to the other linemen taking reps for the position.
“Charlie Pickard, Iapani “Poncho” Laloulu, Kanen Rossi even. Yeah, I’m comfortable with all those guys [who] are really smart. Know the playbook in and out. So I think we’re solid at center as well,” Strother said.
Laloulu played the most snaps out of the three last year playing in all fourteen games with one start during the VRBO Fiesta Bowl versus Liberty. The now Sophomore played 111 snaps at center with a little over 300 snaps at both guard positions as well in 2023.
Lanning spoke specifically on Pickard attending the O-Line Masterminds camp in Frisco, Texas during the first weekend in July. Typically, athletes that have attended the camp on behalf of Oregon go on to play significant roles in the trenches. Though he didn’t decide for Pickard to attend, he spoke to the work ethic Pickard has displayed throughout his tenure with Oregon.
“I don’t really decide who goes there and doesn’t go there,” Lanning said. “But Charlie is a guy that does absolutely everything right in our program. He’s worked his tail off for every opportunity he’s gotten.”
“I think Charlie’s the leader of our room, honestly,” Strother said. “He’s been here for a long time. He runs a lot of our player-led stuff. I love Charlie to death. I think he’s really the backbone of our room. So Charlie is that guy for me, for sure. He’s a walk on, you know? So, I mean, he deserves everything he’s getting now. the recognition, you know, the rotations, Charlie, deserves it all.”
There’s also the question of who will pick up the right guard position left open by senior starter Matthew Bedford who suffered a left knee injury with no return time stated and back-up junior Dave Iuli undergoing toe surgery during the off season. Senior Marcus Harper II seems like the go-to for left guard, as he started all fourteen games last season at the position. He’s also gone through a physical transformation over the off-season, something Lanning spoke on.
“I just think ultimately what our players are recognizing is at the end of the day you don’t want to get ready for the combine three months out from the combine,” Lanning said. “Your best resume is your film. What’s your film say about you as a player and you’ve got this window of opportunity to put yourself in the best position to be a great player now. Why wait? It’s your film that’s going to determine your success at the next level.”
Given Oregon’s tendency to prep their offensive linemen in several different positions, it’s not irregular for athletes to shift to different positions based on team need. That means other candidates in the offensive line room have yet to be confirmed for the right guard spot. A few weeks ago before Bedford’s injury, we reported on Duck offensive line coach A’lique Terry’s thoughts regarding the position battle.
“You still got Matthew Bedford, you still got Nishad Strother, you still got Iapani Laloulu. You got even Gernorris Wilson. So a ton of guys there that are still competing for that right guard spot. And the beautiful part is that we still got two weeks left in camp. Those guys compete their tail off, may the best man win,” Terry said.
Though right guard and center are still two question marks for the Ducks, one of Lanning’s quotes from this last fall camp media availability gave some perspective to the team as a whole.
“Still evaluating who we are,” Lanning said.
That includes still evaluating the inside offensive line, as the Ducks hope to improve on the previous season, where only five sacks were allowed.
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The Jets, with their 16th pick of Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft, might have been tempted to move up to grab one of the set of hands that appealed to them in this draft class. But the Green & White remained patient and stayed put at 16 and were rewarded by being able to select Kenyon Sadiq, the draft’s top tight end out of Oregon.
“It’s unreal, man. Need to be the Jets. It’s special,” said Sadiq of being selected 16th overall and by the Green & White. “My sister currently lives in New York, so I’m happy to get down there. But great interactions with all the staff, in meetings and everything. So I’m beyond excited, super grateful.
“David Bailey said it already,” Sadiq added about Bailey, the Texas Tech edge taken second overall. “This organization is trending in the right direction. And I’m just a piece that can help and I’m ready to help. Whatever the team needs me to do, I’m going to do it.”
Sadiq, known by some as “Sadiq the Freak,” put his athleticism and receiving skills on full display last season with an Oregon single-season tight ends record of 51 catches for 560 yards and 8 receiving touchdowns, which led all FBS tight ends. He was named a second-team All-American and the Big Ten TE of the Year and was a finalist for the John Mackey Award, which goes to the nation’s top tight.
After the season’s end, Sadiq went to the NFL Combine in February and demonstrated some of that freakishness in dominating his position. He turned in a 4.39-second 40, best among TEs not only this year but for the past 14 Combines. He also notched a 43.5-inch vertical leap, an 11-1 broad jump and 26 reps in the bench press, all second at his position.
“I’ve got all the attributes,” he told the Jets media Thursday. “I mean, the Combine showed that.”
Sadiq joins a tight ends room that is now brimming with talent. Mason Taylor, last year’s second-rounder (42nd overall) out of LSU and Jeremy Ruckert, their 2022 third-rounder (101st) are already there and the group will be helpful not only to new/old veteran starting QB Geno Smith but also the Breece Hall-lead running game.
What exactly will Sadiq add to the room, the offense and the ’26 Green & White?
“I think it’s versatility, speed and toughness, bro, seriously,” he said. “I think I can help in the running and passing game on top of that. I’m sure I’m on special teams as well. That’s what I did at Oregon, and that’s what I’ll continue to do. I can create separation, but I can also go hit someone. Obviously, the NFL is different. I’m going to have to clean some things up. But, man, I’m going to go hit somebody. I’m not going to be scared.”
Sadiq is only the fourth Oregon player to be drafted by the Jets and the first in 20 years, since QB Kellen Clemens came to the Green & White in 2006 in Round 2. Other Ducks to become Jets through the draft were DB Reggie Grant in Round 9 of the 1978 draft and TE Blake Spence in the fifth round in 1998.
And the choice may well extend the Green & White’s track record of taking good to very good TEs in Round 1. Johnny Mitchell got the ball rolling in 1992 and was followed by Kyle Brady in 1996, Anthony Becht in 2000 and Dustin Keller in 2008.
The good times keep on rolling for the Oregon Ducks in the recruiting world. Dan Lanning and the Ducks scored a massive commitment from five-star quarterback Will Mencl out of Chandler, Arizona.
Oregon had been rumored to be leading the race for Mencl’s services for months, but the No. 1 quarterback in the country, per Rivals, cleared the air and committed to the Ducks on Wednesday evening. Mencl chose the Ducks over Auburn and Penn State, both of which battled hard for him down the stretch.
However, Mencl has been connected to Oregon for a long time. While he was offered last fall before breaking out in his junior season, Mencl has been a fan of the program long before he popped up on the Ducks’ recruiting radar. In a post shared by Rivals recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong, Mencl was announced as a quarterback for the Ducks when he was a kid at the 2019 NFL Draft fan experience in 2019.
Now, Mencl is ready to don the green and yellow for real and make his childhood dreams come true. The Ducks have made a point to get Mencl on campus as often as possible and as recently as last week. The continued connection between both sides is ultimately what made the decision easy for the nation’s top passer. Mencl said he told Lanning and the Oregon staff about his decision on Sunday.
“The biggest thing was the relationship with the staff,” Mencl said after committing. “I feel like that continued to grow over time, especially when I first got there last spring. Being able to sit down with Coach Koa, really being an underlooked guy at that time, and kind of blowing up my junior season. And then, the path to the NFL. You can’t deny what they do with quarterbacks and the type of scheme they run. I felt like that was the best fit for me and my family to get to the next level.”
Koa Ka’ai, Oregon’s new quarterback coach, made waves earlier in the offseason after his recruiting test about ice cream flavors went viral, but that doesn’t appear to have scared Mencl off. In fact, the two have a close connection that Oregon hopes will translate to success on the field in the near future.
“My relationship with Coach Koa, I feel like that is super, super strong,” Mencl told Rivals. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with Coach Lanning about the culture there and how they’re going to continue to sustain greatness throughout the program.”
Mencl exploded onto the national recruiting scene with a massive junior season for Chandler. He completed more than 70% of his passes for 3,815 yards and 33 touchdowns against five interceptions in his junior season, leading Chandler to a state title berth. He also rushed for 741 yards and an additional 17 touchdowns.
The Ducks expect to have some competition for Mencl to compete with when he joins the team for the 2027 season, with Dylan Raiola and Akili Smith Jr. already on the roster and competing for a role as the backup. Oregon has gone to the transfer portal as well in recent seasons, finding success with Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, and now Dante Moore.
Oregon has recruited well at quarterback in the past, establishing an NFL pedigree that attracted Mencl. Maybe he will be the one to buck the trend and give the Ducks a true, homegrown product under center.
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