Dan Lanning addresses Jahlil Florence's status with Oregon

The Oregon Ducks were without defensive back Jahlil Florence their last time out against Penn State. The timing of that, following four games this season, raised some eyebrows around the program, but head coach Dan Lanning recently shared that he’s still with the team.

“Yeah, he’s still practicing with us,” Dan Lanning said. “Working every single day.”

That four-game mark is, of course, important for the redshirt rule. Players can play in four games over the course of a season and still use a redshirt. In recent years, that’s seen players opt out around this point in the season to save a year. That’s particularly true if they’re planning on transferring out of the program. However, as Lanning seemed to confirm, that isn’t the situation for Florence.

Jahlil Florence has been with Oregon for his entire college career. A four-star recruit in the Class of 2022 out of Lincoln High School in San Diego, California, Florence was the 120th-ranked prospect overall and the 15th-ranked cornerback in his recruiting cycle.

At one point, it looked like Jahlil Florence would be a key member of the secondary for Dan Lanning. He played in 19 games over his first two seasons in college and was largely starting as a sophomore. In that time, he made 35 total tackles, 3.0 tackles for a loss, and 1.0 sack. He also had two interceptions, a pass defended, and a forced fumble. However, it’s been a difficult time for Florence since that hot start to his career.

A right-knee injury that Jahlil Florence suffered at the end of the 2023 season cost him the entire 2024 season. That was a long rehab and one that he’s struggled to get back on the field after.

“It was a sad year for me mentally,” Florence said of the injury. “Coming back right now I’m looking at it different. Every single day, not taking it for granted, knowing that it can be taken from you at any time. I got to go out there and take each day by each day. I feel like I still got a lot to show these coaches. What I did in the past, I feel like that really is so long ago and college football has changed so much. I feel like I still got to prove myself to these coaches again.”

So far in 2025, Jahlil Florence has only appeared in two games for the Ducks. Both of those came in early season blowout wins over Montana State and Oklahoma State, respectively. He also notably didn’t travel to Happy Valley two weeks ago.

Still, as Lanning noted, Florence is still working to improve daily and earn more playing time. At the very least, he will continue to provide depth to the Oregon secondary this season.