Junior Jeffrey Bassa takes ownership as the new leader in the middle of the Oregon defense

 

In grainy YouTube videos of old NFL highlights, inside linebackers were burly guys with teeth missing, massive shoulder pads, violent hitters, paint chipped from the front of their helmets. Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke played in cold, snowy places, savagely intense, grappling and spearing as if they got paid by the collision. They were weapons of mass destruction. Their main job was to stop the run.

Butkus played at 6-3, 245. He lumbered and prowled like a grizzly as the angry heart of the Monsters of the Midway, the old Chicago Bears. Nitschke played 15 years for the five-time champion Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi's middle linebacker.

The thick, lumbering, smash-mouth style of that era has passed like gas-guzzling cars with fins. In the modern college game, offenses spread the field and throw 40-50 times a game. Most use one running back and three wide receivers, and only a few teams huddle between plays. An inside linebacker has to be faster and more versatile, able to play at speed and cover more ground.

For the Ducks, junior Jeffrey Bassa has blossomed into a modern inside linebacker. Over two seasons he's played in all 27 games with 16 starts, and he's gotten increasingly better, more productive and consistent with every game at the position.

Bassa came to the Ducks in 2021 as a safety and wide receiver from Kearns High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tall and lean at 6-2, 200, he caught 51 passes for 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns, even returned a pair of kickoffs for touchdowns, covering 85 and 95 yards. On defense he intercepted four passes, the number one-rated safety in the state.

He began his Oregon career at safety before moving down to inside linebacker, filling out to 212 pounds for his new assignment. The ball skills he learned as a two-way player have translated into a quick learning curve: Jeffrey just keeps getting better and better for the Ducks. 

Initially the switch began out of necessity. In his freshman year the team ran short of inside linebackers after injuries to Justin Flowe and Dru Mathis. Bassa adapted quickly and the coaches liked his potential in the new spot.

By spring practice 2022 it became permanent. Head coach Dan Lanning explained why. "Intelligence. He's smart," he said. "Nowadays, there's no such thing as a true MIKE backer anymore. You have to have speed on the field."

Last season in the month of November he picked off Washington's Michael Penix to end a drive for a touchdown and recorded eight tackles. Two weeks later against Oregon State he tallied five tackles, picking off another pass and returning it 33 yards. In the Holiday Bowl win over North Carolina he paced an Oregon comeback with six solo tackles and a sack. For the season, he finished second on the team with 62 total tackles, 31 solo.

With Noah Sewell moved on to the NFL Bassa is now a leader on the Oregon defense. He's visibly more confident and stronger, taking charge of communication in a group with several new players. "It all comes down to studying and knowing your body," he said.