On the day of Oregon’s Spring Game, the man who has defined its linebacker room for the last two years will be hosting his NFL Draft party. That celebration, too, will be in Eugene — the city is practically Bryce Boettcher’s second surname by now.

But at Autzen Stadium, the focus will be on how to move on from the Ducks’ graduating green-dot backer. Jerry Mixon Jr., last year’s starter alongside Boettcher, returns to lead a group that includes fifth-year senior Devon Jackson, Dylan Williams, Gavin Nix, Brayden Platt, Braylon Hodge, Tristan Phillips, Will Straton and Jay Harden. Several have worked with helmet communication through the spring as the Ducks search for their next starters, but Oregon has to find two who can lead and communicate effectively. That takes another kind of voice, they say, and the brand of leadership that position coach Brian Michalowski preaches.

Mixon broke out in 2025 with a 57-tackle, two-interception season highlighted by a pick-six against Oklahoma State University in Week 2. His elite instincts bred a linebacker who jumped passing lanes almost before the quarterback knew he was throwing there, and resulted in seven passes defensed. This spring, that extra playing time has had an impact.

“It carried over a lot,” Mixon said after a spring practice. “Just being more confident out there really slowed the game down, seeing what the offense likes to do, so I feel like that played a big part in it.”

His next step is taking over the primary role. Mixon looped in on the helmet-to-helmet communication in practice last season alongside Boettcher, and now stands as the likely candidate to take over in game. Some of the development in that role comes down to literal voice training — the room will unleash a Jon Gruden-esque “White 80! White 80!” in meetings to practice — and Mixon’s pitch is a different sound to discern on the field for the defensive line and secondary than Boettcher’s was.

Leadership, though, is the other half of the equation.

“He’s always been a very connected guy on our team with other teammates,” Michalowski said. “The season he put together last year, that’s him walking the walk. Now he’s talking the talk. And it’s really the joy that he goes out on the field with — cheering other people on, just energy.”

There’s plenty of experience in the room he’s expected to lead, even if several parts of it haven’t seen consistent snaps. Mixon, Jackson, Williams, Platt, Nix and Straton all have at least three years in the system despite sharing just one year of true starting experience between them.

“We’re really not as young as people may think we are,” Jackson said. “We’ve been here for a while. It’s just now it’s time for new faces to rise to the top.”

Jackson, a redshirt senior who posted back-to-back 40-plus tackle seasons in 2024 and 2025, was largely a tertiary option to Mixon and Boettcher last year and the third option behind Boettcher and Jeffrey Bassa in 2024. He’s one of the fastest athletes that the Ducks have, but missed spring football last season with an unspecified injury. 

Now healthy, Jackson is leading the Ducks in an in-house stat they call K-E-B: knock-em-back plays where a linebacker gets downhill and reverses a ballcarrier’s direction. He’s facing what’s likely his last season of college football with what Michalowski called a “prove-it mentality.”

“It’s do or die,” Jackson said. “It’s my last one. There’s nothing left to hold back. If I don’t make it happen this year, then I’m just going to be a regular guy, and I feel like I’m too talented to be that.”

While Mixon and Jackson project as likely starters, Michalowski isn’t making choices yet. Nix and Williams are fluent in his emphasis on communication. Platt is, too, plus he stepped into last season’s Peach Bowl prep as a last-minute running back option, which Michalowski said, “says he’s an unbelievable team player.”

Saturday, they’ll all have a chance to step into that role. It’s about making their name, new Oregon defensive coordinator Chris Hampton thinks.

“If you would have asked anyone in 2024 preseason about Bryce Boettcher, nobody would have said Bryce Boettcher would’ve been Bryce Boettcher. He became Bryce Boettcher,” Hampton said. “So Gavin Nix has to become Gavin Nix. So does Dylan Williams…and Brayden Platt. So, we’ve got a bunch of guys that can fill that role. I think they have a lot of talent. They have a lot of ability. Now, it’s just their time.”