With practice three of the spring in the books, Oregon draws one day closer to the regular season.
A new look on defense with the addition of former Cal defensive coordinator, Tim DeRuyter could take the Oregon defense to the next level. DeRuyter is responsible for turning around a defense that ranked second-to-last nationally. With 20 years of defensive coordinator experience under his belt, DeRuyter looks to bring his success to Oregon.
The defensive front won’t only have a new look from a coaching standpoint, but also from a personnel standpoint. The Ducks will lose tackles Austin Faoliu and two-time Pac-12 all-conference honorable mention Jordan Scott who both played all four years and are currently preparing for the NFL draft.
Announcing on Tuesday that he is taking on a new role in outside linebacker, Kayvon Thibodeaux will be one of the leaders not only of the team, but the line as well. In his sophomore season he won the Morris trophy as well as becoming the first Oregon defensive lineman to be All-America since NFLs DeForest Buckner did in 2015. Thibodeaux will play a hybrid of rushing from the edge and dropping into coverage.
“Coach DeRuyter has a great plan in place,” Thibodeaux said. “One of my goals is to try to win the Heisman.”
With high expectations for the upcoming season, now is the time for players to prove themselves and earn a starting spot.
Brandon Dorlus has been in the program since 2019. Since then, he has 17 solo tackles and four tackles for loss (TFL). The No. 65 defensive end in the country is able to cause some notable disruption in the offense.
Keyon Ware-Hudson and Kristian Williams are both four-star recruits who redshirted in 2019. The duo hasn’t seen much action in their first few years, but are expected to fill a big role come fall.
Returning for his junior season, Popo Aumavae is a force to be reckoned with. In his 25 career games played, Aumavae has 30 total tackles along with six TFLs. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound product from Stockton, California will be a large contributor to the defense and huge presence at tackle.
“What we do in our system is we teach a lot of job swapping,” DeRuyter said. “We’re going to have outside linebackers that are going to play defensive line.”
Oregon’s new defensive line recruits such as Maceal Afaese, Jayson Jones, Jake Shipley, and Keanu Williams will continue to prepare for what everyone hopes will be a normal season.
With a dynamic defensive line and new coordinator, DeRuyter’s addition to the defense could be what the Ducks need to elevate their game to the next level.
