In the college football calendar, spring is the season of opportunity.
Through the weekend, the Oregon football team has undertaken three of its 15 allotted spring practices, with two workout days and a competition day. Coaches are attempting the gauge the team’s state of being after the graduation of four starters, the suspensions of two more and a litany of offseason incidents that have plagued the Ducks.
“We’re ahead of where we were last year,” head football coach Chip Kelly said after Saturday’s practice. “I think our kids understand how we have to practice. We’ve had three good practices in a row.”
The most notable opportunity to arise is the quarterback position, which Jeremiah Masoli’s season-long suspension has opened for his experienced backups. Redshirt senior Nate Costa and redshirt sophomore Darron Thomas are splitting first-team repetitions in practice, while redshirt freshman Daryle Hawkins has worked with the third string.
Costa is seen as the more sage decision-maker with the more accurate arm, while Thomas’ zone-read and deep-ball abilities separate him in the competition.
“I think those two guys, Darron and Nate, have a good sense of urgency,” offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said. “They’re being vocal, trying to be leaders.
“They have to mentally come in confident, knowing what they’re doing. And both those guys have done that.”
Helfrich must also replace tight end Ed Dickson, a likely mid-round pick in this month’s NFL Draft. Rising junior David Paulson’s consistent hands and improved blocking skills give him an excellent shot, while Brandon Williams, a junior transfer from Joliet (Ill.) Junior College, is an impressive athlete at the position, making plays in practice with his natural gifts. Physically talented senior Malachi Lewis is also in the conversation.
“That will be a good little mix there,” Helfrich said. “David Paulson was the unsung guy in out offense last year; he did everything that we asked him to do, both at the line of scrimmage and downfield. Malachi and Brandon Williams are guys where we haven’t seen their best ball (yet).”
Starting spots are not the only prizes up for grabs, of course. Capable backups are a must-have, and no position group exemplifies this more than the Oregon secondary. Walter Thurmond III and Willie Glasper suffered season-ending injuries in 2009, and safety T.J. Ward missed five games because of injuries.
Talmadge Jackson III, who started opposite Thurmond in 2009, has seen limited practice time due to injuries, opening opportunities at cornerback. Starting safety Javes Lewis and perennial backup safety Marvin Johnson have also been limited in practice.
The need for experienced bodies in the secondary, combined with a plethora of talented linebackers, necessitated the movement of Eddie Pleasant from linebacker to safety. Pleasant had 54 tackles (eight for loss) and 4.5 sacks as a 5-foot-11-inch, 207-pound
strong-side linebacker.
“Eddie’s a natural DB. He’s an NFL-quality type defensive back,” defensive backs coach John Neal said. “I think he’ll really be able to help our defense.”
Oregon saw three freshmen enroll in time for spring practice, all secondary players — a historical rarity in both numbers and position for the Ducks. Repetitions against second-string and even first-string competition have been available for them.
Dior Mathis, James Scales and Terrance Mitchell are all candidates for redshirting — of the three, Mathis, a Detroit native, is the most likely to see the field in 2010 — but the trio have a head-start on cracking the defensive playbook.
“All three of those young kids have really, for being freshmen that just got there — I said it the other day, last Friday they were standing in the hot lunch line at their high school,” Kelly said. “All of a sudden, they’re in a college classroom playing college football and they haven’t missed (a beat). Sometimes you see kids with that deer-in-the-headlights look, being afraid, but those guys aren’t afraid.
“They won’t be freshmen when preseason camp starts next year. They’ll be a little older than those kids because of the maturity they got from this.”
Such an opportunity could only come in the spring.
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