Bridges and Manning in Battle for Ducks Starting Cornerback Job as Fall Camp Winds Down
There aren’t too many major questions remaining for Oregon football as camp wraps up. One of course is who will be the starting quarterback. It appeared that Anthony Brown would be the surefire No. 1 guy in the spring, but now the spot seems a bit more open.
But the other question is who will be the starting boundary corner alongside Mykael Wright?
Cornerbacks Coach Rod Chance spoke to the media this week and discussed this position battle at length and what it looks like it as camp ends and Fresno State becomes the main focus. Trikweze Bridges and Dontae Manning are the two main competitors for this job and both have had their moments in camp.
“Both of them are different players," said Chance. "One of them is long-levered, press coverage guy, and you got another guy that's tightly wound, a lot of twitch, a lot of explosiveness about 'em. Both those guys are battling day in and day out, sometimes by the period."
Manning is a former 5-star recruit who is lightning fast and played briefly last season before injuries ended his season early. Bridges on the other hand, is massive for a corner.
Standing 6'3", he's very physical at the line of scrimmage. Mario Cristobal talked about both of these guys and has a lot of confidence in each player heading into the first game of the season.
“It’s been a great competition.” Cristobal said. “Those guys have been really really good. Right now, if we’re playing today, both those guys are playing."
But those two aren't the only players that are helping bolster the depth of the group. Younger players, some that have just stepped on campus, are also stepping up to the plate.
"I feel really good about the way a couple other guys have played. Avante Dickerson really popped today," Cristobal told reporters this week. "He made a really big play in one of our good-on-good periods. One of our more competitive drills, two-minute, playing some fastball, playing some mixed down stuff. He’s just really active around the football and did a nice job.”
So when will this competition get resolved? That’s yet to be determined, but Chance said they haven’t determined it yet. Based on what we've seen and what we've heard, there might not be an announcement until next week before Fresno State.
"I think camp is one part of it,” Chance said. “As we transition out of camp, kind of what is going to be evaluated is how you handle game preparation as well. How you handle a game plan, how do you take the coaching, and the adjustments in our seasonal rules into a particular game. That is going to be evaluated as well."
Looking deeper into the cornerback room, Chance has been pleased with what he's seen out of the freshmen corners Avante Dickerson and Jaylin Davies among others. Regardless of who wins the competition between Bridges and Manning, the cornerbacks should be another strong unit for this defense.
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