Chris Hampton Speaks Candidly On Jett Washington, Anthony 'Tank' Jones

One of the biggest offseason storylines surrounding the Oregon Ducks was the promotion of Chris Hampton and Drew Mehringer into coordinator roles.

As Hampton steps into his first season as the Ducks’ defensive coordinator, he spoke to the local media after the second day of fall camp. Hampton addressed how true freshmen (Jett Washington, Anthony 'Tank' Jones) are adapting, the state of the secondary and how the roster compares to last season’s.

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Everything Chris Hampton Said After Fall Camp Day Two

Anthony ‘Tank’ Jones Cross-Training:

“He’s playing d-line. And coach Tuioti, coach Kamran and coach Rip, all three of those guys work together. So Tank's one of those guys that's just playing – he’s a front player right now. You know, he can play a little bit of inside, a little bit outside. He's growing. He's 18 years old. You know, 18 years old, I think. So, but yeah, Tank can do a lot of different things. He's extremely talented. He made a few plays today.”

Jett Washington’s Status in the Secondary:

“I think a big part of we have young guys sometimes, you don't want to overload them and have them do too much. You want them to get good at something first before you start to cross train them as much.”

“So I think that's a big piece of it is sometimes you start to have a young guy do too much, and then he's confused, and he loses confidence. So the big part is to get Jett to play with a lot of confidence and feel good about the safety position.”

Five-Star Receiver Jalen Lott:

“I think he's got a ton of potential, man. He's got a tremendous catch radius. He can accelerate. He’s got really good hands. He can start and stop. He's got really good burst. So I think going against all of our receivers in practice, they make some plays on us. It's like, I'm glad they're on our team. And so, it's a challenge for us each and every day. And so I look forward to it. But yeah, Jalen's just good so far.”

Trey McNutt Injury Update:

“Correct. He's back healthy. He's doing everything. Trey's working extremely hard. You know he's battling with all the other guys, and we're excited about his growth.”

Difference in 2025 vs. 2026:

“I think we've got a lot of experience. Like coach Lanning said, we've got a lot of guys coming back, a lot of experience. We've also got a lot of guys who are inexperienced. We've got a lot of newcomers as well. The competition is high. It's probably similar to last season.”

“We've always got a competitive team, a lot of good players. So I think for me, it's just being a defensive coordinator and leading the unit each and every day. That's probably the biggest difference for me personally. But I think our guys are flying around. They looked energized. We like a focused group. I like we're at right now.”

How Far Ahead in IQ They Are:

“I think a big piece of it is the process and how we go about our operation. We start really installing with these guys as soon as they get on campus in January.”

“We have the analysts doing a lot of bonus meetings with the guys, and then we have time in the offseason that we can do football. The way we're set up on a quarter system, I think, is an advantage for us. Our guys are here a little bit longer than maybe some other schools.”

“Don't have as much of a break in the summertime, so we have a little bit more time to meet with them and get them acclimated. I think we do a great job in the summer and how we organize it, of having some football time, player ran practices.”

“I think our guys are ahead of the curve. You know what we've got in the amount of defense that we've got in on day two. Seven years ago, was not unheard of where I was, at least of having this much defense in and being able to do this much this early in spring, fall, I mean, fall camp.”

Nasir Wyatt Being a Three-Down Player:

“I think he's very close. He's competing extremely hard. I think camp is part of what's going to you know show his ability to do that. Or not do that, but I expect him to do that. I definitely do. He's looked great.”

“He's practicing extremely hard. He's changed his body. Obviously, I know you said that we saw him on Monday. So, he's worked extremely hard with our sports performance team. Jessie Dark and Wilson Love and the strength staff. And so. I think we're proud of his growth.”

Traits He’s Looking for at STAR:

“Yeah, it's a dynamic position. You have to have the ability to cover in the slot. You're going to cover really good guys. Like, we had Tez Johnson. Everybody kind of has that guy or someone similar to that that they want to get the ball to in space.”

“You have to be able to tackle in space, but then you all you also have to be physical enough to support the run. You know, and we've got a multitude of guys doing it. Davon Benjamin's a freshman that's doing it. We've got all of our corners really working it. We got Carl Williams. We got some packages with some other guys on the team that are doing as well.”

What the Secondary Looks Like So Far:

“The biggest thing that that I've enjoyed seeing in coaching these guys is how they work together. They're a connected group. There's not anyone in that group I think that is you know bitter about the other guys' success.”

“They all celebrate each other's success, and sometimes that's difficult to do. When you know that you all compete for playing time, but they're all rooting for each other, cheering for each other. So I think we really have a connected group, and that's been a joy to coach.”

Utilizing a Healthy Devon Jackson:

wyatt egon ducks chris hampton defensive coordinator fall camp dan lanning koi perich brandon finney secondary nasir — Jan 1, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oregon Ducks linebacker Devon Jackson (26) against the Liberty Flames during the 2024 Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

“I think we could do a lot with him. I'm really excited about Devon. I think we have a dynamic season. I really do. Man, this guy's worked extremely hard. He's got all physical traits to be a really good player for us.”

“I think he is really driven right now. He's worked extremely hard in the offseason. We've had a lot of one-on-one meetings, and I like where he's at right now. He's playing physical. He's playing fast, and I expect him to have a great season.”

Drawing Off Previous Role and Defensive Coordinator Experience at Tulane:

“I think so. Just from more of an aspect of understanding how to control a group, but I mean, the game has changed, and I think that it's probably a little bit different than what it was in 2022. The biggest piece is the helmet communication is different than what it was then.”

“So just coloring the game, and I've watched a lot of games this summer, and just putting myself in a position of what would I call in this situation? What would I do? Watching some of our games, watching some of my future opponents, and I need practice just like the players do."

"So, we do a lot of what we call it periods at practice, where coach Drew and myself, both call plays, and get opportunities to react, and we don't understand. We don't know what the situation.”

“It's not predetermined what the situation is going to be. We've got to react. Is it first down? Is it third down? Is it fourth down? Is it second and 10? Was it second and one? Those are completely different downs. And so, I think that's been good by coach Lanning.”

Bleu Dantzler’s Potential:

“Bleu's a great kid. Works extremely hard. He's been a welcome addition to our program. I didn't know a lot about before we got him when he got in the portal. But I'm happy we got Bleu, and like you said, he had a great spring game. He works extremely hard. He's had a great offseason, and I think he's really going to help the Ducks.”

If It’s Too Early to Know Where Safety Koi Perich Stands in the System:

“Yeah, I think it's a little bit early to know that. We're kind of installing a lot of stuff now, and then we'll figure out what are we the best at. That's kind of how it goes. You put everything in that's really in your menu, everything that's in your package, and then you kind of figure out, okay, who is that? Who are our best players?”

“What are we the best at right now? We'll evaluate, do what we call self-scout, look at ourselves and say, okay, what are we efficient at right now? And that's what we need to major in. Whatever we do the best.”

Identifying Versatile Players and Moving Brandon Finney Jr. Around:

“I think the more you know, the more valuable you are to the team. The more you can do. And Brandon's a guy that's infatuated with the details. He's extremely smart. He's driven. We all know he had a great season last season as a true freshman.”

“And so I think you know, and obviously having other good players at his position, at corner, those guys can play multiple positions, and we do a lot of meeting all together as a secondary, and so the guys get to hear what the STAR’s doing, what the safety is doing, what the corners doing, and we try as much as possible to teach the concept and not just the play, not just learn.”

“Hey, this is what taco means, this is what burrito means, or no, this is what a Mexican food means. Does that make sense? The whole concept, and you understand that it's X's on the page, and it may be you on this play, it may be Matayo on that play doing it.”

Diagraming “Burrito”:

“We don’t have a call burrito, but I wouldn't tell you what the real call is because somebody's probably watching it that that would like to dissect it. So I just made up burrito, taco, nacho. That means absolutely nothing.”

Ify Obidegwu and Na’eem Offord’s Progress:

“It's been healthy competition. I mean, they both look really, really good, and I think we have to find a way to use all three of those guys, as well as Aaron Scott.”

“Aaron Scott's a new guy to our program, but he's got a bunch of talent as well. So I think we need to get these guys roles as much as possible, and as much as they show us they can do it. And right now they're going in that direction that we've got to find roles to play these guys.”

Importance of Raising Nationally Sack Total:

“Yeah, right. You must been sitting in our meeting. We talked about that. We've got to do a much better job. I think we were 96 in tackles for loss in the country. We've got four defensive line returns, so that's a big piece that we've got to improve and create havoc and getting tackles, getting sacked. So yeah, you're right.”

“We've talked about that. What can we do? Sack the quarterback, finish. Maybe we can call the game a little bit differently. But I think it's more of just an emphasis and getting to third and long. That's a big piece. Third and mediums, third and shorts gonna be hard to sack the quarterback. But if you give him the third and long, you've got a better chance.”

“And then we've got to finish better. I think is what the players have to do. We hired coach Rip as a pass rush specialist, so we're trying to improve in the area."

Defensive Line Depth:

“They're good, you know. They are. We've got a good second group and I'm not sure that the second group they're competing with the first group, whoever got the first group. Those guys are competing. Nobody has a starting spot. Nobody owns it.”

“We've got to go out and compete each and every day. So we've got, you know, Matt Johnson, D’Antre Robinson, Aydin Breeland, Nas Wyatt. You guys talk about Dutch. A lot of you guys may not know about, but we've got some really good players.”

Improving Red Zone Defense and Importance of Pass Rush:

“Yeah, we were 127 in the country in red zone defense. We're trying to attack that each and every day. It's probably the number one emphasis that we say as a defense we've got to improve on is in the red zone and getting red zone stops.”

“And so it's how we call the game. It's our awareness of it. It's how we practice. So it's going to be a big emphasis this year for us to improve.”

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