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By Travis Rooke-Ley, Thursday May 8th
Ducks Rising: The Inside Look
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Spring Practice Takeaways + Roster

 

With spring practice in the books, we’ve gathered a bunch of team information over the last couple weeks so here goes by position. 

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QB: I fully expect Dante Moore will be the guy come August 30th, but Austin Novosad can win games as our starter. I think our depth is up there with anyone in the country when you consider the room as a whole. With Dante specifically, expect a bit more variance when it comes to his performance relative to Nix and Gabriel. I think you will see him hit throws that we haven’t seen an Oregon QB do in a long time, and they’ll also probably be a few growing pains in terms of pocket presence and putting the ball in harm's way. I think Luke Moga has made some really nice strides, becoming more of a quarterback than an athlete back there. Looking forward to fall camp and giving Coach Stein another chunk of time to help these guys develop. 

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RB: Love the depth here. We almost lost Noah to the portal, and convinced him that the opportunity here beats start opportunities elsewhere. Big win there as having a true three-headed monster at RB is something we haven’t had in a bit. I think Hughes and Whittington are known commodities at this point, but Dink Riggs is going to be a good player soon. His run skills have come up a lot in conversations and I think he will become a popular name amongst duck fans soon enough. 

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WR: With Evan Stewart missing most of the spring, there were lots of opportunities for others to step up. I expect Dak Moore to start from day one, but honestly I think there’s a lot of opportunity to be had otherwise. Between McClellan, Kasper, Benson, Lowe, Perry, Dickey and Gresham, each had moments of brilliance this spring. Personally, I’ve heard Perry, McClellan and Benson’s names come up the most. I’m going to be really interested in how fall camp shakes out when it comes to this group. My projected depth chart is below.

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TE: Really love the combination of Sadiq and Johnson and believe they are going to cause a lot of issues out of 12 personnel. Sadiq is ready to become a national name, but Johnson isn’t getting enough credit for the mismatches he can provide at his size and speed. I’m a bit worried about the depth if one of them get dinged up, but clearly the staff feels comfortable moving forward despite Saleapaga’s injury. From conversations internally, there’s a lot of trust that guys like Zach Grace and Kade Caton can get the job done.

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OL: My starting OL prediction is the same as it’s been since the winter: World, Pregnon, Poncho, Iuli, Harkey. And, I continue to say it’s a realistic world that we upgrade at 4 of 5 spots in 2025. Positively, there’s been a ton of competition at Guard and I could see a lot of different options playing out. Iuli, Rogers, Bedford and Utu all took first team reps at different points this spring, and I’m really excited about the development and future of Utu and Addison. My prediction is still BARELY Iuli at RG, but I could honestly see any of those four guys starting games this fall. The interior battle and flexibility will be a big asset, and I know Iuli has been working in at Center this spring as well. With Harkey an upgrade at RT, and this amount of playable depth inside, I like how this group is setting up going into the fall.

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DL: Aydin Breland is a bit dinged and missed some time, but should be full go by the fall. I’m really happy we were able to redshirt and hold onto Blake Purchase as he had a lot of offers to jump in the portal. Instead he returns to a loaded group but with a skill-set we badly need. While Matayo, Tuioti, Porter, Rushing will all beat you with power, technique, and size, Purchase provides the true speed pop off the edge we need. I’m super excited to watch him come the fall. Amauri Washington has a chance to follow in the footsteps of Derrick Harmon and take a huge leap to 1st round NFL consideration. He was unblockable at times last year and has only gotten better. I think we’ll see both Breland and Rushing on the field in non-garbage time. We need at least oen of Green/Gray to step up inside behind Bear and Washington.

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LB: Fair to assume Jackson and Boettcher are the starters as of today. Jackson also has battled some injuries this spring and missed time. He’s going to be down for a bit. Knowing that, the fact that Dan and Marshall didn’t portal in a LB should inspire some confidence. Some people I trust really like what they’ve seen from Jerry Mixon and feel he will contribute from snap one in the fall. Of the trio of Williams/Mothudi/Platt, I’ve heard Platt is farthest ahead followed closely by Mothudi. We will need one if not both. Also, super promising things coming out of the HDC on Gavin Nix.

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DB: Fun group. Theineman is a given and I’m starting to think of Kingston Lopa the same way. I think those two start at Safety, while Flowers and Woodyard will battle it out for next up. Theineman is that guy, both as a leader and player. Every single person around him is super effusive in their praise. He’s likely one and done. CB is interesting. Jahlil Florence battled some more injuries this spring but will head into fall camp the healthiest he’s been in a long time. I think Ify has locked down one CB spot honestly. I think CB2 comes down to a battle between Florence, Laulea and Johnson to begin, but these young studs could push. Offord and McNutt are insane athletes and make plays in practice that look like NFL stuff. I bet one of those two is in the rotation come November.

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Projected Post-Spring Depth Chart:

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Early Depth Chart Look Ahead:

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QB: Moore, Novosad 

RB: Hughes, Whittington, Riggs 

TE: Sadiq, Johnson, Saleapaga

X: Moore, Dickey

Slot: Stewart, Lowe/Perry/Gresham 

Z: Kasper/J-Mac/Benson

LT: World, Wilson/Addison

LG: Pregnon, Iuli/Rogers/Bedford/Utu

C: Poncho, Iuli

RG: Iuli/Bedford/Rogers, Utu

RT: Harkey, Ferguson/Crader

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Edge: Matayo, Rushing 

DT: Washington, Gray 

DT: Alexander, Breland 

Edge: Tuioti/Purchase, Porter 

ILB: Boettcher, Platt/Mothudi 

ILB: Jackson, Mixon, Nix

Star: Austin, Canady 

S: Theineman, Flowers/Woodyard 

S: Lopa, Flowers/Woodyard, McNutt 

CB: Johnson/Sione/Florence 

CB: Ify, Offord

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DR 2.0

 

With the launch of Ducks Rising 2.0, we have now completed a full revamp of the Ducks Rising website, and also built and released the web version of the Ducks Rising Community. Our intention with web is to give members a chance to access our community via desktop, second monitor or whatever is your setup of choice! Hopefully this makes engagement and discussion easier.

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Also, we have built the livestream to be accessed via the same web portal.

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As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated so continue to send in your preferences, thoughts and things you’d like to see. ​

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Your $$ at Work​​

It was amazing meeting so many of you at the DR tailgate for the Spring Game. We hope that our continued growth will lead to more memberships and more athletes joining the team. Right now, we are focused on finalizing our referral program, and also building the Players Lounge Channel with former athletes.

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What’s to Come at DR​​

Look for us to announce our next set of Live Interviews and Q&As over the next couple weeks. If you haven’t had an opportunity to check out our live pieces with Tyler Dean and Bryce Boettcher, do so now under exclusive content.

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How You Can Support​​

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