Dan Lanning shares thoughts on Oregon's quarterbacks after Ducks' first spring scrimmage
Dan Lanning didn’t necessarily provide many details on how his quarterbacks performed during the Ducks’ first spring scrimmage on Saturday.
But it sounds as though, like the rest of Oregon’s players, the signal-callers are beginning to find their footing in offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham’s scheme.
Jay Butterfield, Bo Nix, and Ty Thompson all mixed in with Oregon’s first and second units on Saturday, as they have done throughout the spring. Dillingham said last weekend that will continue to be the case for the remainder of April, and that all three quarterbacks will have every chance to compete for the starting job.
Lanning reiterated that sentiment on Saturday.
“A lot of guys got a lot of reps — really, every guy was working with every group,” Lanning said.
Lanning was asked specifically about Butterfield. While Thompson and Nix have received plenty of attention this spring, Butterfield has flown relatively under the radar.
“I think Jay is a savvy player,” Lanning said. “I think Jay will tell you, just like Bo and Ty will tell you, there’s a lot of things he can improve on and get better at. But the more these guys get comfortable in the system — I thought today was a great example of the guys understanding what coach Dillingham’s goal is on offense and where he wanted the ball distributed and how we’re gonna take care of it.
“But there’s something about a scrimmage that creates a little bit of a sense of urgency between all three of those guys, and I thought we saw some of that today.”
Lanning said the Ducks’ first and second units ran somewhere in the range of 90-100 reps during the scrimmage. He said there won’t necessarily be more emphasis based on players’ performance from Saturday than there will be from any other spring practice, but did note that he and his staff do a write-up after scrimmages — just as they would after a game — where they identify areas that need to be improved.
Oregon will scrimmage again next Saturday before holding its spring game on April 23.
“It was a really good day of work — excited,” Lanning said. “Obviously beautiful weather, great conditions for our guys to get out here and compete. Obviously, the biggest thing you’re looking for is guys who go out there and execute at a high level. We wanted to keep it simple on offense and defense and just let our guys go.
“Certainly a lot of things to improve on coming away with. Gotta do a better job with ball security, but we had a lot of explosive plays on offense.”
