When Vernon Adams was without a team this offseason, training on his own in Cheney, Wash., his goal was to start against Eastern Washington – the school where he starred at quarterback for the last three seasons.
On Friday afternoon, Adams’ new head coach, Mark Helfrich, made that a reality.
Oregon released a depth chart for its week one matchup against Eastern Washington, and Adams was slated ahead of incumbent senior backup Jeff Lockie as the team’s starting quarterback.
After Thursday’s scrimmage, offensive coordinator Scott Frost wouldn’t commit to a timeline for naming a starting quarterback. A day later, the team named Adams as its man to replace former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota.
While Adams was waiting to complete his graduate transfer responsibilities to Oregon, Lockie acted as the team’s starter. In the spring game, with Adams watching from the sideline, Lockie was perfect, completing all nine of his passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns.
After Adams’ second practice with the team on Aug. 15., Lockie had “his best practice of spring and fall camp,” according to Helfrich.
“My mindset is going to stay the same,” Lockie said in regard to the competition with Adams. “I can only do what I’m capable of and I’m just gonna do that to the best I can and see where that gets me.”
Adams had a prolific three-year career at Eastern Washington. He threw for 10,438 yards and 110 touchdowns in contrast to just 31 interceptions. Adams also did well against Oregon’s two major Pac-12 foes. He led Eastern Washington to an upset win over then-ranked Oregon State in 2013 and threw for 475 yards and seven touchdowns against Washington last year.
While backing up Mariota at Oregon, Lockie completed 29 of 41 passes for 264 yards and one touchdown.
Adams will have one year of eligibility with Oregon.
Here are some more highlights from Oregon’s first depth chart:
- Adams wasn’t the only graduate transfer to earn a starting job in fall camp. Former Notre Dame center Matt Hegarty was named Oregon’s starting center over sophomore Doug Brenner. Hegarty overcame a stroke and heart surgery in 2012 to start a combined 13 games for Notre Dame over the past two seasons.
- Freshman five-star running back Taj Griffin was not listed on the team’s depth chart. Griffin suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee almost a year to the day. Oregon can redshirt Griffin for this season if they choose.
- Redshirt sophomore running back Kani Benoit was named as the team’s No. 2 running back behind sophomore starter Royce Freeman. Thomas Tyner was Freeman’s backup last year, but was ruled out for the season on Aug. 9 after having shoulder surgery. Tony Brooks-James is slated as the No. 3 running back heading into week one.
- Byron Marshall, the team’s leading receiver from a year ago (74 receptions, 1003 yards and six touchdowns), is joined by Charles Nelson and Dwayne Stanford as Oregon’s three-starting receivers. Bralon Addison, returning from missing all of last season with a torn ACL, is listed as the backup to Stanford. Freshman Kirk Merritt and Jalen Brown are listed as the other two backups.
- Senior Christian French, who led the team in sacks with 6.5 a season ago, was named as the starting outside linebacker opposite of veteran Tyson Coleman.
- Sophomore cornerbacks Arrion Springs and Chris Seisay were named as the two starters in the Oregon secondary. True freshman Ugo Amadi and quarterback convert Ty Griffin are the team’s backups at corner.
- Evan Baylis won the starting tight end job for week one over Johnny Mundt.
- Sophomore Aidan Schneider, who made 11 of 12 field goal attempts last season, beat out junior Matt Wogan as the team’s starting kicker. Ian Wheeler will start at punter for the second year in a row. Also, the tandem of long snapper Tanner Carew and holder Taylor Alie will stay intact for its second straight season.
- Addison is slated as the starter on both punt returns and kick returns. Marshall will join him on the field as the other returner during kickoffs.
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @JoeJHoyt