Oregon released a roster by position rather than a depth chart on Monday. Although the cloak and dagger secrecy is a bit much for an opening week game versus FCS Portland State the list of players, positions and numbers reveals one thing:
This is a brilliantly constructed roster.
It has tremendous balance. There are few holes. It's loaded with versatile players who can adapt to a variety of roles. Former director of player personnel Don Johnson and the coaching staff have done a tremendous job of addressing needs and filling the holes left by graduation and departures.
For example, the Ducks lost four offensive linemen to graduation. In the off season the Ducks reached into the portal for Junior Angilau of Texas (2259 career snaps, 34 starts) Rhode Island's Ajani Cornelius (1432 snaps, 22 starts) and East Carolina's Nishad Strother (2123 snaps, 33 starts). Adding these three to five star left tackle Josh Conerly, Jackson Powers Johnson, Marcus Harper and Steven Jones, the Ducks can field a starting offensive line that totals 6458 snaps and 87 starts.
During camp Will Stein said, "We can roll eight deep," meaning, this unit has the experience, talent and versatility to use eight different players effectively, withstanding the bumps and bruises of the season with no loss of cohesion.
In a similar way the secondary has both depth and physicality. Nikko Reed, Tysheem Johnson, Evan Williams, Jahlil Florence, Bryan Addison and Trikwese Bridges can all cover, come up and stop the run, hit and play the ball. Position coaches Chris Hampton and Demetrice Martin can mix and match at safety, corner, nickel and star. They can adapt to pass-heavy spread teams and smash mouth running teams. There's the depth to endure a long season and inevitable attrition.
The Ducks have speed and explosiveness on offense, and the deepest, quickest defensive line they've had since DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead wore the green and yellow.
This is going to be fun.
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