Throughout spring practice, Oregon football players and staff constantly preach the “Oregon standard.” During the 2026 season, opposing offensive lines will see that standard bearing down on them.

Against a backdrop of roster upheaval, Matayo Uiagalelei, Teitum Tuioti and A’Mauri Washington will provide familiar faces along Oregon’s defensive line in their fourth season as Ducks. With the return of 2025 transfer Bear Alexander, Oregon’s defensive front will bring a level of talent and experience that can only be achieved by retaining NFL talent.

Each of the four could have been drafted, some in the first round. Instead, they chose to pursue unfinished business, personal growth and stability amid changes in the coaching staff, all in front of an Autzen Stadium crowd that knows them and loves them. Fans and media began scrutinizing their decisions well before they were even eligible to make them, but the four household names in Eugene could’ve saved them the breath.

“I mean, shoot, man, I already knew from the jump. I couldn’t wait to come back with these guys for one more,” Washington said. “I remember all the stuff we had last year, but now we get to take it up another notch; so I’m excited to see that.”

While Washington, Uiagalelei and Teitum have developed alongside each other since debuting in Eugene in 2023, it was the new face, Alexander, who made the crucial first announcement to return. 

Alexander announced his return on Dec. 12, just over a week before his four-tackle performance in the Ducks’ 51-34 playoff rout against James Madison University.

“Bear announcing early was helpful because a lot of these guys want to play together,” Oregon defensive line coach Tony Tuioti said.

With the newest member of the NFL draft-quality defensive front secured, the three mainstays with close relationships, which formed through navigating the highs and lows of three college football seasons together, decided to join Alexander for one more.

“(Teitum) being along with (Matayo) for another season, having a chance to play again with A’Mauri — these guys have been playing together since they were freshmen, and you don’t have those opportunities too often to start your career together and finish your career together,” Tony said.

The immediate promise the three showed as true freshmen was the first step toward their forming of an elite defensive line.

Uiagalelei had the highest peak that season, earning PAC-12 Freshman of the Week honors in Week 8 after collecting two tackles for loss, and a sack against Washington State. Despite falling behind in accolades, Teitum had the more productive season, totaling 30 tackles to Uigalelei’s 18 and tying him in sacks with two, as the two formed a close relationship in rotational roles.

“Matayo, Teitum, some of those guys that have come back, they’ve proven over time that they have a vested interest in their voices growing since they’ve been on campus,” Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said.

Washington had a more modest debut season, playing 73 snaps across eight games, but did enough to earn significantly more playing time in a backup role in 2024. 

“I think what (Washington) had to work on as he got here was his competitive stamina, the ability to go harder for longer, right?” Lanning said. “He recognized early, ‘Okay, this is going to be a limiting factor, and this is one of my strengths.’ His ability to learn our system and be extremely disruptive, be where he’s supposed to be, all those things have really paid off for A’mauri.”

That year, Uiagalelei and Teitum took off, feeding off each other’s success as defenses struggled to contain both. Uiagalelei finished with 38 total tackles and 10.5 sacks en route to an All-Big Ten selection, while Teitum finished with 58 total tackles and 5.5 sacks. 

Oregon had its edge rushers of the future, Washington’s development into a starting defensive tackle and Alexander joining him from USC to round out the formidable unit.

“Last year was definitely the time we all got the chance to get out there and pop it with each other,” Washington said. “I know they’re going to hold their stuff down on the edges, and I know our interior’s going to hold it down, too; so I’m excited to see this D-line once again.”

His excitement for 2026 is warranted after the unit anchored Division I’s No. 7 defense in yards allowed per game last season. Each of the four linemen earned All-Big Ten honors, setting up an offseason where all but Alexander had to consider going their separate ways for the NFL.

Washington and Uiagalelei both garnered first-round hype, while Teitum was rated as a later-round pick. In the end, the three couldn’t stomach ending their careers with a second straight crushing playoff loss, and decided to finalize their collegiate development in the program it began in while setting its culture for the future.

“The culture has to look a certain way, the building’s got to look a certain way, for somebody to forgo the opportunity to go to the NFL,” Tony said. “There’s got to be some connection; there’s got to be a place where they feel that they can develop.”

Despite the defense’s success last season, the defensive line’s role in the unfinished business that Oregon enters 2026 looking to rectify played into the players’ decisions to come back. The Ducks’ pass rush left sacks on the table, with Uiagalelei bearing the brunt of increased focus from offenses. Teitum finished the season ranked No. 5 in the Big Ten with 9.5 sacks, while Uiagalelei fell to No. 17 with six.

“I feel like we were definitely chipped a lot, you know, had a lot of attention, and I think just finding ways to work around that is big this year,” Uiagalelei said. “Of course, good pass rushers are going to get chipped, and people are going to run max pro.”

Uiagalelei’s dissatisfaction on a personal and team level made his decision to return an easy one.

“At the end of the season, that wasn’t the way I wanted it to end. I feel like there’s so much more on the table for me here, so that’s really all it was,” Uiagalelei said.

The other common factor in the players’ decisions was applying the feedback they had received in the draft process within the program that had developed them to that level. While Teitum has a clear motivation to improve his draft stock, Washington and Uiagalelei’s first-round grades made their decisions more intriguing. 

Uiagalelei returned in pursuit of goals in the weight room, while Washington saw potential in finishing plays better before facing elite tackle-breakers in the NFL. 

“You’ve got to be a legit pro before you become a pro, so once I’m there, it’s already set and go; it’s not just trying to figure out how to be good.”

Lanning, who formed visions for the players in his first full season of recruiting, sold them on the final steps they could take with one more year in the program. While Lanning’s deep connections with the players certainly helped, Tony credited his honesty with bringing them back.

“Coach Lanning’s been great with the process with everybody, not forcing them or tricking them to come back, like, ‘These are the reasons for you to come back, this is how we can help your game develop to put you in a better situation next year’,” Tony said.

With their decisions made and spring practices underway, Oregon’s star-studded defensive line will need to push their developmental goals aside to focus on the primary goal of winning the College Football Playoff that has eluded them the past two seasons. 

It starts with getting to know play-caller Chris Hampton in his new role after Tosh Lupoi, the only defensive coordinator they’ve known, left to become head coach at Cal. Despite Hampton’s two years of experience within the program, the change in leadership amplifies the returners’ roles in upholding the Oregon standard.

“I love coach (Hampton). I love his fieriness. He’s never going to sugarcoat anything to you, and I think he really believes in his players,” Uiagalelei said. “You’ve got a coach you can trust, and that’s really all you can ask for.”

“They all have individual goals to improve themselves as players, so our job as coaches is to help them get to where they want to go; and their job is helping us reach our goals and aspirations as a team,” Hampton said.

For Uiagalelei and Teitum, helping the team begins with the culmination of the leadership roles they had pursued since they arrived in Eugene. In the spring season, that manifests in full-circle moments as seniors mentoring true freshmen — an opportunity they would’ve passed up had they entered the NFL Draft.

“I remember the first day Prince (Tavizon) came in here; we just went straight to Teitum’s house, and it’s like me, Teitum, Dutch (Horisk) and some of the other guys just connecting their first time out here. I feel like this is a program that’s really connected,” Uiagalelei said.

That connectedness, a consistent theme in discussions of the elusive “Oregon standard,” is best represented in the experienced defensive line that will lead the Ducks into the 2026 season and beyond.