Bo Nix and Oregon are GOING TO BE SCARY IN 2022

[aubiefifty 16,755]

 

[aubiefifty 16,755]

duckswire.usatoday.com

 

Questions answered: What we've learned from the first 2 days of Oregon Ducks spring football

Zachary Neel

6-7 minutes

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Going into the Oregon Ducks spring football season, there was an endless list of questions that he had about the team. A lot of them won’t be able to be answered until we get further into the summer and fall — who will win the starting QB job? Which true freshmen will have an early impact? — and a couple of others may not be answerable until the 2022 season is well underway — how good of a first-year head coach is Dan Lanning?

Related: Oregon Ducks listed as massive favorites to land 4-star WR

However, after watching a couple of days of practice, we have seen enough to answer at least a handful of questions that we had a week ago, and it’s even given us a couple of new situations where unknowns have arisen.

While the Ducks disband for the next two weeks for spring break, we want to take this opportunity to take stock of what we learned early on and see what we can learn from it. Without further ado, here are some early answers we got from Oregon’s first two spring practices:

(Photo Courtesy of Zachary Neel | USA Today Sports)

Answer: Big.

One of my biggest takeaways from the first couple of practices was the transformation we can see physically from redshirt freshman quarterback Ty Thompson. Though he came to Oregon last year with some good size on him, he has really filled out over his first collegiate offseason and looks to have put some weight on.

While that’s all well and good, I feel more confident today than I did a week ago about the fact that this is going to be a true quarterback competition. While Bo Nix has the experience and familiarity with a Kenny Dillingham-led offense, I think Thompson has a leg up when it comes to physical ability. I can’t wait to watch this competition play out over the coming weeks.

(Photo Courtesy of Zachary Neel | USA Today Sports)

Answer: Limited, but close.

After missing his second-straight season with a leg injury in 2021, we all came into spring with hopes that LB Justin Flowe could get back to full health and complete the linebacker duo that has a chance to wreak havoc over the Pac-12 next season. So far, it has been good to see him participate in practices at a limited capacity, we can see that Flowe still has some room to work when it comes to getting back to full speed. Lanning touched on this a bit earlier in the week:

“I haven’t put a timeline on anything because if it’s up to me, we had him out there yesterday,” Lanning told assembled media on Thursday. “But we got to do it the right mode and temperament. And like you said, Justin’s right out there ready to roll. We’re gonna continue to progress him and work him in as he can. And as you continue to take steps forward, we’ll keep pushing the envelope there but obviously keeping his health and safety at the front of our approach.”

At this point, it’s hard to see the Ducks getting Flowe out there in the Spring Game for live action at the end of April, but we’ll see. Right now, it’s just good to see him out there running around with the team.

AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)

Answer: Bassa will stay at ILB.

It’s funny how different coaching rooms can view things in different lights, but the decisions of one can lead to impacts on the other. We got a good dose of that when it comes to the position flexibility of Jeffrey Bassa. He came to Oregon as a highly-rated safety, but Mario Cristobal and his staff moved Bassa to the ILB spot because of a dire need after injuries. Bassa succeeded, but Cristobal said all along that they planned to move him back to the secondary after the season. Well, bring in a new staff, and the plan changed. When the Ducks released their first roster of the season this past week, Bassa was still listed as an ILB, and Lanning said this week that he will be staying there:

“He’s intelligent, smart. I think inside linebackers nowadays, there’s no such thing as a true Mike backer anymore. You have to have speed on the field and he’s a guy that can be sideline to sideline has the athleticism of a DB. He has the physicality of a linebacker and you know all good linebackers nowadays can run and you know, Jeff has that trait.”

(Photo by Zachary Neel | USA TODAY)

Answer: Apparently, yes. 

Near the end of the 2021 season, we saw Cristobal and offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead choose to split RB Seven McGee out wide quite a bit, utilizing him in a slot-receiver role more so than a running back. With the new coaching staff coming in, Lanning and OC Kenny Dillingham talked much of positional flexibility and utilizing guys at different spots. That led to the common question about where McGee would line up. On Oregon’s first roster of the year, it was notable that McGee was listed as a WR only, and even more notable that when groups broke into individual position groups on both days of practice, McGee went with the receivers, rather than the running backs. It appears that he has officially made the move to the outside, and will look to fill the shoes left by De’Anthony Thomas as the Ducks’ electric slot-receiver.

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Answer: To Be Announced.

One of the notable absences throughout the first couple of practices has been veteran center Alex Forsyth. He did not participate in warm-ups or individual drills either Thursday or Saturday and has yet to be seen with the team by myself personally, though other reporters claim to have seen him walking in with the team on Thursday morning. There of course, is still ample time for him to get healthy before the season, but a big issue could be the Ducks’ being held back in an offensive install period now without one of their most important pieces on the field.

“I think we’ll get a lot of these guys back, you know, relatively soon, but it’s certainly impacted us,” Lanning said on Saturday. “But what it’s allowed us to do is work other people at those positions and continue to improve.”

[aubiefifty 16,755]

i thought folks might want to keep up with bo at oregon so i will check their articles every week or two to see how bo is doing.

[gravejd 3,270]

I'll be watching and cheering for Bo at Oregon. Hope he does really well there. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

Will be interesting to see if he wins the starting gig. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

On 3/23/2022 at 2:41 PM, McLoofus said:

Will be interesting to see if he wins the starting gig. 

Apparently more interesting than I previously realized. 

[Gowebb11 9,314]

2 hours ago, Barnacle said:

Apparently more interesting than I previously realized. 

Agreed. I checked their QB roster when he transferred there and they had 3 highly rated 4 star QBs, including Ashford. They have serious talent on that roster.

[AUwent 3,748]

I wish we had kept him here.