Duckterritory contributor Max Williams breaks down the redshirt players at Oregon based on his observations from practice this year.
Bryan Bennett: Bennett is one play away from not being on this list anymore and being thrown into the BCS National Championship Game for his first college action. Luckily for the Ducks, he has looked fantastic and in my opinion has been the most impressive player of all the redshirting freshman. Bennett throws the prettiest pass of anyone on the team and is also probably the most athletic QB on the roster, and is the second fastest QB, just behind Daryle Hawkins. That said, he’s still adjusting a little so his accuracy and experience with the read option still needs a little bit of work.
Erick Dargan: Dargan has made a few nice plays in the secondary, but hasn’t stood out a ton to me. The scout team DB’s have been beaten a lot by Darron Thomas, but Dargan has made a pick or two that I’ve seen, and some deflections.
Marcus Davis: Davis has been maybe the best defensive player on the scout team in my opinion. Davis has given Darron Thomas a little bit of trouble and has had quite a few picks on the scout team. I have little doubt that he has the tools to be a great Duck DB. I think he has a good shot at cracking the two deep next year, and even if he doesn’t he should see some time. With his size, he should have a good career at UO, as I don’t see Chip Kelly playing the shorter CB’s on both sides in the next couple years. If he can stay out of trouble, Davis should help the ducks defense, special teams, and probably the track team given his amazing speed and his past as a junior Olympian track star.
Eric Dungy: Dungy has been the most impressive of the WR’s in my opinion. He seems like he’ll be a great replacement to Jeff Maehl and I expect him to get some playing time next year. I actually think that Dungy came really close to not redshirting this year as he was on the first team kickoff coverage a few days before Chip Kelly decided who would redshirt. Dungy doesn’t have a ton of speed, but is smart and has decent quickness which results in him getting open often and sometimes pretty deep. Also, when he gets the ball thrown his way, he doesn’t drop it.
Dane Ebanez: A walk on WR who’s 5’9” 177. I’ve noticed that he looks kind of quick for a walk on; he also was awarded for his scout team play at the end of the season banquet.
Hroniss Grasu: He hasn’t really stood out amongst the O-Linemen, but his unit has struggled against the speed of the first team DL.
Troy Hill: Hill has looked ok with the other DB’s, but I haven’t really seen him make any big plays that made him stand out to me.
Keanon Lowe: I think a lot of people have kind of forgotten about Lowe, who I think could make an impact next year. He has great speed and quickness and has made quite a few catches during the season and fall camp in practice.
Derrick Malone: Malone hasn’t really stood out to me amongst the other scout team DB’s.
Dior Mathis: I think Dior Mathis should really help the depth at CB next year as he has looked like one of the best DB’s on the scout team to me. Mathis looks like a solid coverage corner who is very tough to beat deep, he does a great job of jumping to tip balls away from receivers, a little bit like Cliff Harris. Mathis also has looked great on special teams lately and could make an impact there if given the chance.
Terrance Mitchell: Mitchell and Mathis look like the two best freshman DB’s to me, but it looks like Mathis has surpassed Mitchell by a slight margin after Mitchell looked a tad better in the spring. Mitchell has still been great and may actually play a little more due to his size. It seems to me like Mathis has had more deflections but Mitchell may have a bit more interceptions on the scout team.
Nick Rowland: I haven’t really been able to differentiate him from the other OL guys, but he looks like an intimidating dude in person. I think he’s also turned some body fat into muscle during the year.
James Scales: Scales has actually performed a bit better than I’ve expected and made some plays in the secondary. I’ve seen him get a pick or two, but I think he still needs some work, so I would expect him to be lower on the depth chart.
Lache Seastrunk: Seastrunk has struggled a lot this year as most of you probably know. His biggest problems may have come from special teams where he just couldn’t seem to catch a punt or kick early in the year. Luckily he has improved a bit on that, although he still has a ways to go. Seastrunk has been bottled up a lot by the fast DL and LB’s on the first team defense. He has improved a bit as the year has gone on and I think that he could actually be a decent RB if he was running behind Oregon’s first team OL. He still needs to dance around less, but he hasn’t had many options as he’s never really had many holes.
Blake Stanton: Another walk on WR. I think he has the best shot of being a future Rory Cavaille, Justin Hoffman, or Will Murphy. He has good size at 216 pounds, and at 5’11” 216, looks a bit like Josh Huff, but doesn’t have the speed or quickness. Stanton is also from the same high school as Bryan Bennett so there could be some nice chemistry there in a few years, as those two will have had 8-9 years of history together by the time they graduate from UO.
Tony Washington: Washington has done a great job at DE and seems to be the only guy that I remember being able to get by the first team OL with any consistency. If Washington can continue to progress he could have a shot at playing time next year. He also looks to have gained about 15 pounds since getting to Oregon.
Curtis White: White has struggled quite a bit with injury issues throughout the year but seems to have gotten back to about 100% towards the end of the season. White has looked good this year when he has been able to be full go, but looked even better during fall camp before some of the injury issues. At one point in fall camp White was above Malachi Lewis on the depth chart. If he can stay healthy, White looks to be on pace to be the starting TE starting in the 2012-2013 season. He also will provide great depth for the TE group next year and should get a little bit of significant time and a lot of mop up time.
Dontae Williams: Other than Bennett, Dontae Williams has probably been the best looking guy in this group. Williams has ran the ball great and has an amazing combination of speed and power. Williams has had some good runs against a very fast DL which has led to him hardly ever getting good running holes. At one point this year, Williams had one of the most impressive 8 yard runs I’ve ever seen, breaking or avoiding about 5 tacklers for a nice gain. With the great year he’s had, and the work ethic he appears to have, I expect some big things out of Dontae Williams in the future, but probably not too much other than mop up duty next year, although he may get to come in for some short yardage situations.
