Obidegwu Ready to Compete for Starting Cornerback Position

Ify Obidegwu met with the media following the sixth practice of fall camp adding his own reflections of his growth in the last year and the Ducks efforts to replace both cornerback positions. With a high level of talent and competition at the position, he had an important takeaway, “you have to bring it every day.”

Here are his quotes from the session.

Biggest personal growth

“Biggest growth I would say just definitely the playbook. Learn the playbook, learn all the plays, the checks, the formations, the different motions and stuff like that. Getting to know the team’s route concepts and route recognition. I would say that for sure.”

Redshirting last year

“It was a good growth improvement for me, you know, just sitting behind those guys. Nikko Reed, Jabbar Muhammad, Dontae Manning, you know, guys like that. Just NFL guys, you know, just learning from them. It was a big growing moment for me last year just sitting behind them soaking up all the knowledge, seeing what they (were) doing at practice, seeing how they (were) going about their business and just soaking up all the information.” 

Thoughts on Jamari Johnson

“Jamari Johnson? Yeah, I think he’s going to be real nice for us this year. He’s a big guy, athletic, makes good great catches. Good big red zone target, too. Great blocker, too. So, I think he’s going to be a real great player for us for sure.”

Competing for a starting spot

“Yeah, it’s been great, It’s been great competition. You know, just those guys in that room, all those guys, they’re all can make plays. They’re all great NFL (caliber) players. Like you, you got Sione Laulea, you got Jahlil Florence, Theran Johnson, even the freshman guys, we got Brandon Finney, Na’eem Offord, Dorian Brew. All those guys, we’re all elite guys. So, you know, the competition is very high. You know, you got to bring it every day. You’re going to get left behind. So, you know, it’s great. It’s great being with those guys for sure.”

More on the competition

“Yeah, it’s been great. You know, the energy is high. You got to bring high energy. You got to be on point. Got to be on point. In practice, we (are) going against great receivers every day. They (are) giving us great looks. So, we (are) just competing every day. Just 1% better. Everybody’s hungry, so it’s just a dog fight.”

On the transition from high school to college football

“Yeah, it’s definitely different levels, high school to college, definitely different levels, but it’s still the same game you’ve been playing since I was young. So, just having (and) bringing that same energy, having fun, like just coming out and just having fun. You’re always going (to) want football to be fun. So, just bringing that every day. Just never let myself think it’s just business or you’re not going to enjoy, you’re going to hate it.” 

Thoughts on the receiver room

“We got some real explosive guys in the receiver room. Real explosive guys. Our quarterbacks (are) great, too. Receivers, yeah, I think those guys, they’re going to emerge. They’re going to be a surprise. We got some great, we got some guys for sure.”

Top takeaway from the coaches

“Coach Hampton and Wadood, they just want you to be the best. They want you to be on every day. There’s always room for improvement. You can never get comfortable no matter what you did in the past, no matter who you (are). You know they tell us about the NFL guys, (they) can be here (one) day and be gone the next day. Like you’re here one day gone the next day. So you got to be on your stuff every day. No matter how you (are) feeling, no matter what’s going on in your life, you got to bring it every day.”