As the spring football season begins to wind down, there are three things known for certain regarding Oregon’s special teams play.
First: sophomore punter Jackson Rice will bring his powerful leg back to the Ducks’ kicking game with a full year of experience under his belt.
Second: Oregon features a stable of talented return men poised to challenge the Stanford Cardinal as the top returning unit in the Pacific-10 Conference.
And lastly, the consistency of redshirt sophomore kicker Rob Beard is a major question mark.
For Rice and Beard, the spring season focuses much more on individual techniques, with the pair only seeing live action in weekly scrimmages. The Ducks worked heavily on the punt and punt return games during last Wednesday’s scrimmage, and will switch the focus to kicking and kick returns for this week’s scrimmage.
“Jackson’s done really well in practice, but he didn’t do so well in the scrimmage,” special teams coach Tom Osborne said. “That’s the worst day he’s had the whole spring.”
Jackson punted 61 times for the Ducks as a true freshman last season, averaging 40.5 yards per kick, with 23 of his boots landing inside the 20-yard line. Although he’s capable of pounding the ball 60 yards or more, the biggest question surrounding Jackson this spring is also consistency. Osborne said Jackson performed so poorly in the scrimmage because he hadn’t seen a live rush in months, and his timing and rhythm both took a hit as a result.
Beard, on the other hand, was solely used as a kickoff man for Oregon during the regular season, but with the departure of senior placekicker Morgan Flint, he has begun working at the position this spring. Beard averaged 63 yards per kickoff on his 87 kicks in 2009, though he often showed some signs of trouble with consistency — something the Ducks can’t afford to have late in the game.
“Consistency is the goal for any one of those guys,” Osborne said. “He’s never kicked field goals before, so we’re trying to teach him and train him with the field goals.”
 
Beard appears to have recovered fully from his facial surgery earlier in the year, an injury sustained following a late-night brawl back in January. He will serve a one-game suspension against New Mexico on Sept. 4 for his part in the fight, leaving the door open for Oregon signee Alejandro Maldonado to pick up at least one start as a true freshman. Maldonado, who originally committed to the University of Washington, is ranked the No. 7 kicker in the nation according to Scout.com, with accuracy and leg strength listed as his top assets.
The return game, however, is one of the best in the conference with redshirt sophomore running back Kenjon Barner leading a group of talented young athletes. After filling in for the injured Walter Thurmond III against California in late September, Barner returned 41 kicks for 1,020 yards and one touchdown on the season. He also fielded 13 punts for 137 yards.
“Right now, we’re just getting guys reps back there,” Oregon head coach Chip Kelly said. “There’s not a depth chart at all with the returners. We know we’ve got a proven one in Kenjon. LaMichael’s a proven one — we don’t want to use him back there if we don’t have to.”
In addition to Barner, sophomore cornerback Cliff Harris and true freshman Dior Mathis have both been in the mix to compete for a backup role, as will the highly touted Lache Seastrunk, once he arrives for summer camp.
On the other side of the ball, Oregon took a sizeable hit to the kickoff coverage with senior contributors Willie Glasper, T.J. Ward, and Thurmond III graduating, while junior Garrett Embry (dismissal) and redshirt sophomore Kiko Alonso (suspension) will also leave holes to be filled.
Ultimately, Oregon is stacked with enough strong athletes that special teams coverage will be toward the bottom of the list of Kelly’s top priorities. But persisting kicking issues could prove to be an area in need of reevaluation come summer camp.
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