Aydin Breland Eager for Snaps Along Oregon Defensive Line: 'Your playing time is in your hands now'

The defensive line is another position group where Oregon is facing some turnover after Derrick Harmon, Jordan Burch and Ja’Maree Caldwell were all selected in this year’s NFL Draft. Redshirt freshman Aydin Breland appeared in four games last season and Tony Tuioti is working to get him to that next level.

Breland met with reporters in Eugene on Friday in his first media availability as a Duck. Below are his key quotes.

On getting an opportunity in the Rose Bowl, applying pressure on Will Howard

Breland: “For my confidence I’d say it really just showed me that I can do it on the big stage. And just showed that I can play on the collegiate level in a big game.”

On his approach this offseason with an opportunity this season

Breland: “I think it’s just about realizing that there are spots open and that your playing time is in your hands now. And you have opportunity to go play and it’s up to you.”

On how much he’s moving around on the defensive line

Breland: “Right now they have me going to the 6 to about the 3-tech. So I play some big end and—I would go from the 6 to the 3-tech so 6, 5, 3, 2i sometimes in some calls. That’s about it. I like playing it all. The D-line is the D-line. I feel like the 2i and the 4i and the 6 is all the same. 3-tech, 5-tech, and the 1 it’s all the same. It just matters about the bigger bodies when you get in there on the inside.”

On how last year made him better

Breland: “Last year made me better I’d say, kind of being in the same environment as what I came from. Coming from Mater Dei you have guys that were just as good as you at practice every day. For example Brandon Baker, I know he’s at Texas now, but practice against him and other big guys that were getting just as nationally recruited as you, just as big as you, just as strong as you, just as fast as you. It’s kind of the similar environment. Same guys here, everybody here was recruited. Everybody here was the best guy where they came from. So it’s just about the competition every day and knowing that winning a rep isn’t gonna be easy.”

On athletic feats he can do outside of football

Breland: “I feel like the list can go on ’cause my Mom had me in a lot of sports growing up. I’ve done taekwondo, I’ve done jiu jitsu, I’ve done wrestling, played baseball my whole life. Baseball was my first sport before football, not a lot of people know that. Swim was also in the back burner since I was a kid. I actually played a lot of soccer. I enjoy the trampoline, I like flipping around and doing all that stuff. If there’s a pool I’m gonna backflip into it. I like diving.”

On what he’s seen from A’Mauri Washington

Breland: “What you just said. A breakout season. That guy is the definition of freak, because he’s damn near as fast as any defensive end. He’s strong as all get-out, strong as an ox.”

On what he learned from last year’s defensive line veterans like Burch, Caldwell, Harmon

Breland: “I feel like the biggest things I learned from them was probably just little nuggets within the defense. I feel like last year, that was my biggest thing, understanding the defense and understanding pass rush games and stuff like that. So I feel like Derrick Harmon was definitely like big brother, took me under his wing. He really just took me under (his wing), showed me what I could do. What I was capable of.”

On what made Oregon the place to be

Breland: “It was just the perfect fit. I got offered by (Mario) Cristobal and I was super excited. To be honest when he offered me at Miami he kind of still had that first impression on me because he gave me my first offer. I’d say when I came here and I saw the defensive head coaching staff, the perfect lifestyle in Eugene—because I’m not really a going out type of kid. I’m from California but I kind of stay inside. I love the nature, I love snowboarding out here. I love hiking. They got all the extracurricular activities that I like doing, so it’s perfect fit here. It’s really calm, not too much to get into. Then you got Dan Lanning, who coached at Georgia, defensive coordinator now he’s a head coach. Coach Tosh, DC at Alabama and they just brought the SEC over here, so it just made no sense to try to go out there when you have everything you need to play right here.”