When one goes to the litany of stories that talk about the Oregon Duck defense, two names will always stand out: Noah Sewell and Justin Flowe.
It’s for good reason as Sewell is one of the top linebackers in the country and Flowe is one of the highest-rated recruits o ever commit to the Oregon football program.
But there’s a third linebacker on the defense that if the opponent forgets to account for him, it will be to their detriment.
Junior Mase Funa has quietly become of of the top linebackers in the Pac-12 and for 2022, not only does he want to improve, he wants to be more versatile. Funa also needed to lose a little weight and he was able to lose about 10 pounds and is listed at 6-foot-3 and 255 pounds.
“I feel great. I’m out there running around like Noah Sewell,” Funa said. “Coach Tosh (Lupoi) came into the linebacker room and was telling us the average weight of an OLB (outside linebacker) is about 255-270. He keeps reminding us to lose weight or gain weight and for me, I took that as that I needed to chisel down.”
The new Oregon coaching staff wanted Funa to slim down some to gain speed in order to have the ability to cover receivers and tight ends more than he has in the past.
“Mase has some position versatility. I certainly think he can play SAM (strong-side linebacker) for us,” head coach Dan Lanning said. “But I think he can play rush end and that JACK position (defensive end/linebacker hybrid) as well in nickel situations. I think he’s a guy that is a great picture of knows his plan, has a rush plan, and is able to execute it.”
Rushing the quarterback and finding himself in the backfield isn’t anything new to Funa. For his career, he has 89 tackles, 13 for loss, and four sacks. But he hasn’t had a sack since his freshman season of 2019 when he was named to The Athletic’s All-Freshman Second Team.
Oregon is certainly hoping that changes in 2022 where Sewell, Flowe, and Funa will be fighting to see who can get to the quarterback first.
“I just love playing football and going sideline to sideline,” Funa said. “That’s the type of player I want to be.”