It’s been a long 11 months, but finally the Ducks have an actual football game this week.
Head Coach Mario Cristobal released Oregon’s organizational chart for Week 1 of the 2020 season. It’s the first look behind the curtain for those not directly associated with the Ducks football program at what Oregon might look like when they take the field Saturday against Stanford.
The biggest question, however, remains unanswered as Cristobal won’t name a starting quarterback. Either sophomore Tyler Shough or senior transfer Anthony Brown will lead the Duck offense for that first snap.
“There’s no validity for a team to give up what they’re doing, so I’ll respectively decline to give out who’s starting at certain positions because we would rather have the opponent figure that out,” Cristobal said.
The tailback CJ Verdell with receivers and tight ends are about to be expected with Mycah Pittman, Johnny Johnson III and Jaylon Redd all starting with tight ends Hunter Kampmoyer, Spencer Webb, and/or Cam McCormick being in the mix. The tight end position is going to be fun to watch as all three of those players could be all-conference talents. Even backups DJ Johnson and Patrick Herbert would most likely start for any other Pac-12 team.
Cristobal said the offensive line is most likely nine-deep and any combination of those nine would be good enough to be a championship-caliber team. As for now, the starting five listed are left tackle George Moore, left guard TJ Bass or Sam Poutasi, center Alex Forsyth or Ryan Walk, right guard Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu to go along with right tackle Steven Jones.
Photo courtesy of Oregon Media Services.
On the defensive side of the ball, there aren’t any surprises upfront with Kayvon Thibodeaux at defensive end, Jordon Scott at nose tackle, Austin Faoliu at defensive tackle, and Mase Funa as the STUD, or a player that can be a down lineman or up like a linebacker.
Oregon may start a true freshman at middle linebacker as five-star Noah Sewell might start. If not, Dru Mathis will take that spot with Isaac Slade-Matautia. True freshman and five-star recruit Justin Flowe is also listed on the two-deep at linebacker. It’s very possible the Ducks will have two true freshmen on the field at linebacker.
Thibodeaux is actually listed as the other starting linebacker, which shows his flexibility within this defense.
“He’s a pretty versatile guy and he has a firm grasp and understanding of our defense,” Cristobal said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to develop a lot of guys on defense, so our depth has increased and we want to get a lot of guys on the field. (Kayvon) has had plenty of reps and we expect him to do well at both positions.”
Photo courtesy of Oregon Media Services.
Mykael Wright and Deommodore Lenoir will be the two cornerbacks with Verone McKinley and Nick Pickett playing the safety spots.
Camden Lewis will still be the starting kicker and newcomer Tom Snee will be the punter. The role of kick returner is certainly up for grabs as Pittman, Travis Dye, Kris Hutson, and Josh Delgado listed as candidates.