Do the Ducks have another gear?
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2025 5:41 am
This is a fluff post. Just optimistic musings this early season.
Heading into week four, to my eye, Oregon looks good enough to potentially beat Penn State in a few weeks if they can avoid mistakes but not good enough to win a natty if the playoffs were to start soon. To my eye, the defense still looks like it's behind Texas and tOSU (and maybe LSU & Miami), and if we had to win 3-4 times in a row against elite teams, I just don't think we'd survive.
But you would have said the same thing about tOSU early last season. You would have said Notre Dame would have no chance of making it to the championship game if you watched them early in the year. So Oregon can get there, but they have to grow in order to be a national championship caliber club, and I think they still have another gear.
1. Defensive backs still aren't healthy, and young guys will get better. I've seen enough to say that Na'eem Offord still needs some seasoning, and I would expect Theran Johnson to be the guy who gets called on in clutch moments in important games. Sione will also get healthy, and between Sione, Ify, Finney Jr. and Austin, I would expect all those young guys to be better at the end of the year than they are now so long as they can keep their confidence up.
2. Jerry Mixon is emerging as LB2. I've said elsewhere that Devon Jackson hasn't taken the step forward that I would have hoped given his incredible measurables, but when I think about clutch moments and needing your best guys on the field, I feel comfortable with Lupoi having both Boettcher and Mixon out there. We still need to see that they can stop opposing rushing attacks, but I think they aren't as good now as they will be late in the season, especially if they'll get Brayden Platt back who plays more of a downhill style.
3. Young defensive linemen will get better with reps. Terrance Green, Aydin Breland, Tionne Gray and others are capable of more than they've shown so far. You need to play a lot of 4th and shorts before you get to be a savvy vet that knows how to create an immovable pile. While the DBs won't get tested as much by playing in the Big Ten compared to the old Pac-12, the defensive linemen and linebackers perhaps benefit the most in their development by seeing more traditional schemes.
4. If they stay healthy, the offensive line can only get better. Given the number of transfers on the squad, I have a hard time believing they're anywhere near their peak as a unit, so the longer they can stay healthy, the better they should become. They're already doing a phenomenal job in pass protection, but the run game will be aided by better timing, chipping and double teams, as well as Will Stein recognizing what their strengths and weaknesses as players are.
5. The pass game still has under-utilized weapons. We started to see Jamari Johnson make some plays as a receiver against Northwestern, but he has the talent to be a go-to type of player in the redzone. Dillon Gresham will hopefully get healthy, and we could perhaps see Roger Saleapaga emerge, as well.
Heading into week four, to my eye, Oregon looks good enough to potentially beat Penn State in a few weeks if they can avoid mistakes but not good enough to win a natty if the playoffs were to start soon. To my eye, the defense still looks like it's behind Texas and tOSU (and maybe LSU & Miami), and if we had to win 3-4 times in a row against elite teams, I just don't think we'd survive.
But you would have said the same thing about tOSU early last season. You would have said Notre Dame would have no chance of making it to the championship game if you watched them early in the year. So Oregon can get there, but they have to grow in order to be a national championship caliber club, and I think they still have another gear.
1. Defensive backs still aren't healthy, and young guys will get better. I've seen enough to say that Na'eem Offord still needs some seasoning, and I would expect Theran Johnson to be the guy who gets called on in clutch moments in important games. Sione will also get healthy, and between Sione, Ify, Finney Jr. and Austin, I would expect all those young guys to be better at the end of the year than they are now so long as they can keep their confidence up.
2. Jerry Mixon is emerging as LB2. I've said elsewhere that Devon Jackson hasn't taken the step forward that I would have hoped given his incredible measurables, but when I think about clutch moments and needing your best guys on the field, I feel comfortable with Lupoi having both Boettcher and Mixon out there. We still need to see that they can stop opposing rushing attacks, but I think they aren't as good now as they will be late in the season, especially if they'll get Brayden Platt back who plays more of a downhill style.
3. Young defensive linemen will get better with reps. Terrance Green, Aydin Breland, Tionne Gray and others are capable of more than they've shown so far. You need to play a lot of 4th and shorts before you get to be a savvy vet that knows how to create an immovable pile. While the DBs won't get tested as much by playing in the Big Ten compared to the old Pac-12, the defensive linemen and linebackers perhaps benefit the most in their development by seeing more traditional schemes.
4. If they stay healthy, the offensive line can only get better. Given the number of transfers on the squad, I have a hard time believing they're anywhere near their peak as a unit, so the longer they can stay healthy, the better they should become. They're already doing a phenomenal job in pass protection, but the run game will be aided by better timing, chipping and double teams, as well as Will Stein recognizing what their strengths and weaknesses as players are.
5. The pass game still has under-utilized weapons. We started to see Jamari Johnson make some plays as a receiver against Northwestern, but he has the talent to be a go-to type of player in the redzone. Dillon Gresham will hopefully get healthy, and we could perhaps see Roger Saleapaga emerge, as well.