Oregon Doesn't Anticipate More Opt Outs Ahead of Alamo Bowl
The name of the game in college football around this time of season is NFL-bound players declaring shortly before their team's bowl game and opting out to preserve their draft stock.
Oregon has already seen three players announce that they will skip the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29 to begin preparing for their professional career. Defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, wide receiver Devon Williams, and cornerback Mykael Wright will not suit up for the Ducks in San Antonio against Oklahoma and will turn their attention toward the NFL.
Interim Head Coach Bryan McClendon said Monday that the team is not expecting any more opt outs with the Alamo Bowl just eight days away. Thankfully, according to McClendon, the decisions made by the three players, Williams and Wright in particular, didn't blindside the coaching staff.
"The big blessing about that is both of those guys [Williams and Wright], that had kind of been in the works before any practices started," McClendon said. "So we've been able to plan and be able to move forward accordingly before practice had even started at that point in time. I knew it was going to get released a little bit later on, but we had known that had been in the works, and we planned accordingly."
Certainly, the Ducks have some big shoes to fill with those three players heading to the draft, and the defensive line, wide receiver and cornerback positions will definitely dig into the depth for the Alamo Bowl.
The Ducks were already pretty thin at wide receiver with the transfer of Mycah Pittman and season-ending injuries to Johnny Johnson III and Jaylon Redd, but now it's time for the young talent at the position to shine on the big stage.
"At receiver, you still got a lot of young guys that have played a lot of ball," McClendon said of how Williams' departure affects his position group. "You got Dont'e [Thornton], Kris [Hutson], Seven McGee stepping in and playing in the slot and obviously has played a bunch of ball over the past few weeks, Isaah Crocker and all those guys. They've had extremely, extremely good bowl practice to this point in time."
At cornerback, it's a bit thinner as Wright is off to the NFL and DJ James has entered the transfer portal. McClendon said some of the younger guys will have to step up and make an impact there as well, and they'll have to face an extremely talented Oklahoma offense, albeit without some key players due to similar attrition in Norman.
"It does make you a little bit thin at the corner position," McClendon said. "All you have right there is Dontae Manning and Trikweze Bridges. Both of those guys right now are going in there to start at their respective sides, and then Avante Dickerson and Darren Barkins are gonna have to play a lot of ball, and Jaylin Davies. You're going into your depth a little bit, and that's what college football is right now at this point in time in the year."
Speaking to the depth in the secondary, Steve Stephens IV also has not practiced and is questionable, while Bennett Williams remains the closest player battling back from injury who may be able to play in the upcoming game, according to McClendon, but even so it might be a long shot to see him on the field.
Up front on the defense, Thibodeaux is a player that is virtually irreplaceable. Jayson Jones also entered the transfer portal and won't be available in the bowl game, so the Ducks will have to rely on players like Kristian Williams, Bradyn Swinson and Sua'ava Poti to step in and help out along the defensive line.
The Alamo Bowl will be a bit of an audition for many of the freshmen and sophomores looking to make their case for a spot in the rotation in 2022, and it's time for those young studs to show out in primetime and show why major programs like Oregon were calling on them as recruits.
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