The Ducks remain stacked on the defensive line coming into the 2025 season.
After losing some of the team’s most prolific producers up front, Oregon reloads with a healthy mix of young talent and returning leaders.
In 2024, Oregon’s defensive line was led by highly touted NFL prospects such as Derrick Harmon, Jamaree Caldwell and Jordan Burch, and all played a major role in leading the team emotionally as well.
The Ducks finished third in the Big Ten in sacks with 40.0 in 2024 behind just Penn State and Ohio State, who each played two more games than Oregon.
Defensive line coach Tony Tuioti does not worry about this 2025 D-line’s ability to take on the challenge of matching that.
“Pressure is a privilege and all our guys come to Oregon because of that. We don’t shy away from pressure,” Tuioti said to GoDucks. “We understand that to be great we have to work hard and every single day we strive to do that in practice.”
The leader of the group this season will be a familiar face.
The Ducks have one of the finest defensive ends in the country returning for his junior season in Matayo Uiagalelei. Uiagalelei finished the season with 10.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss, which ranked him as third and eighth in the Big Ten, respectively.
Uiagalelei will step into a new role as a team leader, and one which he has never had to take on in his career.
“Leadership is new for me. I was never a vocal guy in high school; I always just led by example, but I’ve definitely been pushed outside my comfort zone this year to talk more and express more to the team,” Uiagalelei said to GoDucks. “It started in (the defensive line) room and we got some young guys in there, so it’s kind of easy to lead and that transfers over to the defense and in the team.”
Alongside Uiagalelei, Oregon added one of the most sought-after defensive players in the transfer portal, which was made much sweeter by the fact that he left the USC Trojans.
Bear Alexander — who is aptly named — adds power and size that the Ducks desperately needed to replace with the loss of Harmon and Caldwell.
“Adding Bear, he’s so twitchy, he’s powerful, he’s strong and he adds another layer for us to be able to have a player that can create havoc,” Tuioti said. “You want to have big bodies that can take on double teams and be able to play combination blocks”
Alexander redshirted last season, but returns to the field with a reinvigorated energy in Eugene.
Along with experience, the Ducks hope to gain much needed production from underclassmen. Elijah Rushing, a former five-star recruit and the No. 26 ranked prospect in the class of 2024, will see more opportunities this season, according to Tuioti.
Tuioti also mentioned another class of 2024 prospect as a key player going into the 2025 season.
“By the end of the season, Aydin Breland was our best interior pass rusher. He’s really coming along and I’m excited about what he’s able to do for us,” Tuioti said.
Breland was a four-star recruit, and created chaos in his own right as a big 6’5” 295-pound wrecking ball in the middle. The redshirt freshman didn’t fill up the stat sheet in his limited number of snaps last season, but Breland will have the opportunity to make his presence felt in 2025.
The Ducks lost a good portion of one of their best units in 2024, but going into 2025, they show no signs of slowing down. As per usual, head coach Dan Lanning and his staff simply need to reload and continue the great work this unit has demonstrated over the past few seasons.
