Best Oregon safety

[duckfan96]

My friend and I were talking about Oregon safeties. He mentioned ward(hard hitting but would probably be ejected a lot in today’s game). I mentioned Boyett.

In y’all’s opinion who was the best all around Oregon safety? Chung?

Sorry work is slow

[Duck07]

Probably Keith Lewis, Pat Chung and Jevon Holland.

[StevensTechU]

At the pro level, it's unquestionably Jairus Byrd.

[Phalanx]

Not sure if the OP means best safety from the state of Oregon, best safety while at U of O, or best safety in the pros. The best safety in the pros is probably Mel Renfro, and he also grew up in Oregon. There was a guy who played high school ball down in Winston who was pretty good too, but he didn't go to Oregon, sadly. Coach Lanning would have snagged him.

[Alan]

No doubt not the best but one I always enjoyed watching his skills was John Boyett

[StevensTechU]

I've only been an Oregon fan for the last 20 years, so my opinion is limited to that timeframe. But in that time, I would say that that best ballhawk we've had is Erick Dargan. In the two years he got to play full seasons (2012 and 2014), he had 12 INTs. Boyett's two best seasons combine for 8, TJ Ward's best two he had 2 INTs, and Jevon Holland's best two he had 9.

Best overall safety - Holland
Best ballhawk - Dargan
2nd best overall - Boyett
Most underrated - Dargan or Avery Patterson

[dd10snoop28]

Tier 1:
-Chung
-Keith Lewis
-Boyett

Tier 2:
-TJ Ward
-Jairus Byrd

Tier 3:
-JD Nelson
-Jevon Holland

[OregonFan4Life]

I've only been an Oregon fan for the last 20 years, so my opinion is limited to that timeframe. But in that time, I would say that that best ballhawk we've had is Erick Dargan. In the two years he got to play full seasons (2012 and 2014), he had 12 INTs. Boyett's two best seasons combine for 8, TJ Ward's best two he had 2 INTs, and Jevon Holland's best two he had 9.

Best overall safety - Holland
Best ballhawk - Dargan
2nd best overall - Boyett
Most underrated - Dargan or Avery Patterson

Glad to see you mentioned Avery Patterson, he was the best Oregon defender I’ve seen at getting a pick six. He had a pick six in 3 straight weeks in 2012 and was a yard short from having a pick six for the fourth straight week against ASU. He definitely isn’t the best but was underrated and should honorable mention when discussing the great safeties in Oregon history.


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[Alan]

Can’t forget Chad Cota and Anthony Newman

[buckmarkduck]

Holland

Lewis

Chung.

Ward

Most overrated by duck fans. Dargan. Guy was so bad at tackling. Just rewatch our loss to Arizona in 2014, he cave up at least 75 extra yards that game to ball carriers, because he wouldn’t take the right angle. And he was completely scarred to tackle Zeke

[rockthief]

The best have been mentioned. My favorite is Avery Patterson. He made some magical tackles. I loved watching him.

John Boyett was the most dedicated. He sacrificed his body and he paid for that.

[DmoneyDuck]

Holland and I'm not sure it's very close. It's really too bad the 2020 season was cut short, because we had a lot of heavy hitters on that defense, especially in the secondary. Jevon just always seemed to be in the right place at the right time ... total ballhawk.

[bdkipe]

WHAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!??! No love for Michael Fletcher or Chad Cota? Granted, they are names from my childhood but I remember how badass they both were.

College "all-time player” votes are always hard for me because of recency bias and trying to compartmentalize what the players then went on to do in the pros.

If we are going with Safety play while at Oregon it’s hard to argue with StevensTech’s post, so I’ll have what he is having.

TO BE FAAAAAAAAAAIIIIRRRR thank you Squirrely Dan, Wayne, Katie and Dairy), I personally would opine that it should be broken down into 3 completely separate eras based on how the game has evolved over the years. to wit:

- 2005 - present Era (Spread / Air Raid)
- 1985 - 2005 Era (West Coast / Pro Style)
- Pre-1985 Era

For fun:

Best Overall Award: J. Holland
2nd Best Overall Award: P. Chung
3rd Best Overall Award: J. Byrd
Highest Football IQ Award: V. Mck III (can we please bring him back as a coach, please…the guy is a savant, his Dad was a coach and VMck III is a total X-O nerd)
Best Ballhawk Award: E. Dargan
Please Do Better At Tackling & Filling Gaps Award: also E. Dargan (like any of us could do any better, we still love ya Erick)
A Starter In the Secondary On The All-Time UofO Criminally Underrated Team 2005-2025 Era: A. Patterson
Hardest Hitter Award: TJ Ward (that Robinson wasn’t LifeFlighted off the Holiday Bowl turf after that hit is a blessed miracle)
Heart and Soul 100% Man of Oregon Award: J. Boyett
Best Talker of s***/Anatagonizer Of Opponents: K. Lewis
Won't Appreciate His Absolute Greatness Unless You Are Over 40 Award: C. Cota
A Starter In the Secondary On The All-Time UofO Criminally Underrated Team 1985-2005 Era: M. Fletcher
Won't Appreciate His Absolute Greatness Unless You Are Over 50 Award: A. Newman