Rewatching the game really brought that out, as I felt going into this season--that it would be the more experienced defense ever to return at Oregon. That has turned out to NOT be the case, and I'll share my observations, and if you have more to add--please do.

The secondary has been playing much better, but it leaves me breathless with the amount of young players in there. Davon Benjamin (No. 5) plays a lot giving Finney a break at nickel back, and he has made some great plays as a true freshman. Speaking of a true freshman--Devin Jackson, (No. 22) has been playing safety, and while he has made some mistakes, he has also made some great plays and is clearly a talent on the rise.

Then we look at little-used sophomore Na' eem Offord, who is now a starting corner! There were times last year that when he played a little--he got burned. Yet the coaches let his 5-Star talent get playing time to improve, and he has. Some notable plays recently, and yet he hardly has much experience at all.

When Benjamin is in for Finney....we have three of the five defensive backs who are either a little-used sophomore in the past, or they are true freshmen! This is pretty extraordinary considering the story that it appeared to be. We recruited some semi-experienced portal DBs who have been passed by these underclassmen, and thus portends good defenses in the future.

We have had a ton if youth playing at Linebacker too. Little used sophomore (Last year) Nasir Wyatt (No. 31) is getting an expanded role, and we see Jr. No. 11, Dyan Williams in there often. We also got a great tackle-for-loss by No. 13, Gavin Nix, as he played some LB moments.

Much more youth playing on defense that most realize!

Portends well for the future in the back 7 at least. The line will need to develop the younger guys, and I suspect the portal will be a big race this year for us on the D line. Not to mention the O line?

We've got a great thing going with Ify, Offord and Finney. They are the best group of cover DBs in the country.

54 minutes ago, Charles Fischer said:

Rewatching the game really brought that out, as I felt going into this season--that it would be the more experienced defense ever to return at Oregon. That has turned out to NOT be the case, and I'll share my observations, and if you have more to add--please do.

The secondary has been playing much better, but it leaves me breathless with the amount of young players in there. Davon Benjamin (No. 5) plays a lot giving Finney a break at nickel back, and he has made some great plays as a true freshman. Speaking of a true freshman--Devin Jackson, (No. 22) has been playing safety, and while he has made some mistakes, he has also made some great plays and is clearly a talent on the rise.

Then we look at little-used sophomore Na' eem Offord, who is now a starting corner! There were times last year that when he played a little--he got burned. Yet the coaches let his 5-Star talent get playing time to improve, and he has. Some notable plays recently, and yet he hardly has much experience at all.

When Benjamin is in for Finney....we have three of the five defensive backs who are either a little-used sophomore in the past, or they are true freshmen! This is pretty extraordinary considering the story that it appeared to be. We recruited some semi-experienced portal DBs who have been passed by these underclassmen, and thus portends good defenses in the future.

We have had a ton if youth playing at Linebacker too. Little used sophomore (Last year) Nasir Wyatt (No. 31) is getting an expanded role, and we see Jr. No. 11, Dyan Williams in there often. We also got a great tackle-for-loss by No. 13, Gavin Nix, as he played some LB moments.

Much more youth playing on defense that most realize!

Thank you for this timely update.

We all hope Dante will be able to play again this season. If not, it's the D that carries OBD PO hopes.

Hope Oregon can keep the talented young players on board.

"Portends well for the future in the back 7 at least." Not a criticism of this comment, just a reality check: the Ducks like so many programs seem to lose guys who want to enter the portal. Hope all those guys are still in Eugene in 2027.

As a positive, the wealth of youth on defensive is definitely a compliment to Chris Hampton's development as a Defensive Coordinator. The one internal hire Lanning got right!