In 2025, the Oregon Ducks were predicted to take a step back in football after losing so many veterans. But what has become a trend at this point is that HC Dan Lanning doesn’t need to rebuild but reload. After 2025, Lanning has managed to preserve most of his roster, which is a major advantage as he will have a ...

Offensive Wish List for the 2026 Ducks

Great article David, as I am predicting that this is the year where the balance of the offense shifts to the passing game. Mehringer has hinted that we have the personnel to go deep often, and we saw him take shots in the Spring Game...even when our defense knew it was coming. We also have a 5-Star freshman receiver coming in, so this group is loaded.

Between Dante Moore's passing ability and upgraded understanding of the position, and some receivers who want to break out--this is the year where we truly show an NFL passing offense, as Drew Mehringer alluded to. We have ALL the tools and weapons...

Jeremiah McClellan Hauls in an Incredible Touchdown Catch

David, thank you for another spot on article. Appreciate all the writers and posters on this one of a kind Forum.

My optimism for the Ducks in 2026 is very high. The schedule will be challenging with at least 3 or 4 teams with CFP potential on the schedule.

My wish is for a balanced offense that can run or pass with lethal execution.

The 2025 Oline could plow the road for the run game. This forced the opposing D to crowd the line of scrimmage.......

This repeatedly opened the Duck offense up to take the top off of the defense. And it worked. On replays we could see Duck tightends and WR's wide open, past the defenders.......

However, as you mentioned David, pass protection broke down often and Dante was sacked or scrambling and the opportunity was missed.

Hopefully, the 2026 Duck Oline can deliver when called upon. If they do, the skilled position players will light up the scoreboard.

How the Oline delivers will be the difference between 12-0 and 10-2.

Can't wait! Go Ducks.....

It always starts with the O-line. The tackles were not at the level that you need to win a national championship last year. Harkey and World were okay, but they struggled against the elite defenses. World in particular was a disappointment honestly with how much people were talking about his potential. Harkey was always going to be a player who was fine but wasn't what you would expect from a truly great offense.

The hope obviously is that Crader and Bennett provide better protection. Crader in particular has the potential to be very good in pass-pro.

It wouldn't hurt if Pancho and Iuli take the next step as well.

Our WRs could be special, Johnson is a very good TE, Olesh was a extremely highly recruited TE coming into the year last year, Harrison could be special. The RBs have the best power/speed combo that we've had in a long time. The QB has the tools (I'm more down on him than most, but I can see what others see). It's all there for a championship caliber offense, only question is really the tackles in my opinion.

Edited May 6May 6 by spartan2785

I wish for a significant step forward for Dante Moore. Yes, O-Line struggled against elite defenders and elite schemes last year, but Dante has got to have better recognition of where the pressure is coming from or where his guy is struggling.

I wish for more audibles at the line of scrimmage.

I wish for reduced average time to get the ball out.

I wish for more throws over the middle of the field and up the seams.

And I wish for perfect health across the board, so we are finally at full strength throughout the playoffs.

15 minutes ago, mikethehiker said:

I wish for a significant step forward for Dante Moore. Yes, O-Line struggled against elite defenders and elite schemes last year, but Dante has got to have better recognition of where the pressure is coming from or where his guy is struggling.

I wish for more audibles at the line of scrimmage.

I wish for reduced average time to get the ball out.

I wish for more throws over the middle of the field and up the seams.

And I wish for perfect health across the board, so we are finally at full strength throughout the playoffs.

That's where I am with him. The arm, the mechanics, the anticipation, all of that is there for him, but let's be honest, he panicked multiple times against the best defenses we faced. To his credit he also stood strong at times when he was needed (Penn St. and Iowa).

Hopefully we get the O line comes together because great teams start at the O line.

Edited May 6May 6 by 1Ducker1
add

I wish for Emmanueal Iheanacho to play a significant number of snaps. He obviously won't start this year. But I think he is good enough to play this season despite being a true freshman. Take a look at his HS videos if you have time.....he is a monster in the making!

3 hours ago, Bizzle2002 said:

I wish for Emmanueal Iheanacho to play a significant number of snaps. He obviously won't start this year. But I think he is good enough to play this season despite being a true freshman. Take a look at his HS videos if you have time.....he is a monster in the making!

He'll get some time, but it will be a lot to ask for him to start. If he does I think it will be at RT instead of Moore's blindside.

8 minutes ago, spartan2785 said:

He'll get some time, but it will be a lot to ask for him to start. If he does I think it will be at RT instead of Moore's blindside.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see something like the 14J (1 runningback 4 Tight Ends) show up this season. In 2022 that formation was named after Josh Connerly and it was built to get him on the field.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see something like a 14E or 14I or 14-Nacho show up this season to get him on the field.

Id like to see DMoore and EStew become stay healthy and break out in a big way. Also, have a slot receiver threat emerge.

My wish is twofold:

First and foremost, I hope the words MAX PROTECT become a major aspect of pass blocking when it is necessary. There are plenty of conflict routes, checkdown options and deep threats available if only Dante Moore gets 4 seconds.

Secondly, I want to see 45-50 passing touchdowns this year. And at least 1 explosive 30 yard plus TD a GAME. Yes folks, I am calling for an aggressive approach to put fear in teams this year. Much like the dreaded Fuskies in 2023. People need to be scared of our explosive pass game. Which leads right back to my first request.

We KNOW how well we run the ball. No team will stop a dominant running game if they fear a dominant passing game. Indiana figured out we wanted to win the LOS by running the ball. Then they T'd off against our 'suspect' tackles, and Moore didn't develop the kind of composure to light them up despite the havoc IU came with.

I want teams backing out of the box. So we can run at will. But I want teams KNOWING THEY CAN'T STOP US WHEN WE PASS THE BALL.

We need to score 40 plus on the elite team folks. As I have said enough, no team is going to run roughshod on elite defenses. You need an explosive passing game to force them to cover the entire field.

Will we see it? I doubt it. That's why I am buying College Football 26 this year. I can go deep to my heart's content.

It will be interesting to see.

I've been thinking about it and I think it comes down a bit to Dan, at his core, being a (relatively) conservative coach on both sides of the ball (not unlike Kirby).

I think Dan being young, coming from that 2021 Georgia team with its dominant high havoc/pressure rate defense, and going for it on 4th down a lot early at Oregon has led, in part, to a greater perception of Dan as a risk-taker.

Instead, the "Oregon Offense" Mehringer references is largely an efficiency offense that runs the ball, distributes the ball to its players in space, tries to limit TOs, and tries to beat people with overall talent. Dan still does the 4th down thing a fair amount; but, I've always though it was more about a calculation of which side of the ball he trusts more, than a desire to play risky.

Early on, he trusted his offense more than his defense and probably felt getting 2 yards on 4th down was a better bet than his defense holding up. Against Texas Tech, maybe it was more the opposite, he saw he could trust his defense enough that going for it to land the knockout score wasn't really a huge risk. I'm yelling at the TV "punt the damn ball they obviously aren't driving 80 yards for a score today" while Dan is thinking, if I go for it and score, the game is going to be out of reach, so the rest won't matter, and if we fail, our defense still is likely to hold.

The defense IMO has always been heavily "bend-but-don't-break", five DBs, mixing cover 2 and cover 3, 6 man boxes, limited traditional blitzing. That 2021 Georgia defense was just so loaded with guys beating people up one-on-one with superior talent, it looked like the product of an aggressive scheme when it was at its core a pretty safe scheme with a bunch of future NFL guys winning their battles.

With the talent at QB and WR, there is almost no way there won't be more explosives from the passing game. I think it likely won't be scheme change but having a bunch of future NFL guys making more plays in the passing game than abandoning the base philosophy. Plus, I think deep down Dante's wired with a bit of that gunslinger in him.

It's interesting to see how Indiana does this year because I see Cignetti as a bit more of a calculated risk taker. Compared to the early 2010s, I think overall college football coaching is back to being more conservative (so Dan isn't alone).

Edited May 8May 8 by AnotherOD