Oregon Football Notebook: Spring Practice No. 6
As Oregon football prepares for its first scrimmage of spring ball coaches and players addressed the media after Tuesday's practice.
Here are some of my top takeaways.
Will Stein’s Offense will look similar to Kenny Dillingham’s
Although Kenny Dillingham won't be calling plays for the Ducks after taking the head coaching job at Arizona State, his successor Will Stein plans for his offense to be equally as exciting.
“It’s still the same offense,” Wide Receivers coach Junior Adams said. “We’re going to cater to the best 11 players and the strength of the personnel.”
Thankfully for Stein, Adams and the rest of the Oregon coaching staff, the personnel largely consists of familiar faces. Quarterback Bo Nix returns to Eugene following a season in which his name floated around Heisman conversations before a late season ankle injury and subsequent losses dashed his award and Playoff hopes.
Bo Nix has weapons around him
Nix’s top target Troy Franklin finished last season with 891 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, which tied for the most of any receiver in the Pac-12. His production will be imperative to the Ducks’ success on offense and he seems ready to take the next step as he enters his junior year.
“As soon as the season was over and he got back from break he was like ‘Okay coach what do I need to do to get better?” Adams said. “I always tell him like a basketball player, you got to be a walking bucket, anytime you got a man we gotta be able to go to you.”
It’s a tough task, but one that shows just how much confidence the coaches have in Franklin’s hands and route running ability.
Joining Franklin in the receiver room is Alabama transfer Traeshon Holden, who received praise from both Lanning and Adams following Tuesday’s practice.
“His big body gives him a big catch radius,” Lanning said. “We’ll see his play go up to another level but he’s had some big-body catches inside where he’s able to get big in the paint.”
At 6'3", 214 pounds Holden’s powerful stature should be a fun compliment to Franklin’s mixture of pure athleticism and length at receiver.
Expect no drop off at linebacker
Although the Ducks lose Justin Flowe to the transfer portal and Noah Sewell to the draft, Lanning made it clear that he still has high expectations for his linebacker group, which has been the heart of the Oregon defense the past few seasons.
“I think we got a really strong group,” Lanning said. “It’s really comparable from top to bottom. There isn’t really a bottom group, there’s really level play.”
With Jeffery Bassa, Keith Brown and Harrison Taggart all returning, along with the addition of Jestin Jacobs from Iowa, there's a lot to be excited about with this group.
Steve Stephens IV is prepared to take the next step.
“I feel like I left a lot of money on the table last year,” Stephens said. “If I have more than 43 tackles and three or four picks, I’ll be happy.”
Stephens noted that more responsibility falls on him as a sixth-year veteran. However, he embraces the challenge as he's learned the nuances of both boundary and free safety to keep himself on the field as much as possible and help him become more of a vocal leader for the rest of the defense.
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