Oregon Ducks Breakout Player #4: Dontae Manning
Is it his time? It appears it might be, but competition remains. Still, nearly 20 months after he committed to Oregon, Dontae Manning will play. He’ll play a lot.
And, if all reports from camp are to believed, he’ll play quite well.
Now it’s a matter of identifying his exact role.
“It’s been a great competition,” Cristobal said when addressing the competition between Manning and Trikweze Bridges for the second cornerback position. “Those guys have been really, really good. Right now, if we’re playing today, both those guys are playing.”
When DJ James — the projected starter — was suspended from the team in early August, panic naturally set in amongst the fanbase. An already thin unit became even more perilous. But Manning, a former 5-star out of Missouri, and Bridges, a lengthy 3-star from Alabama, have surpassed even the most pessimistic expectations.
As the season opener approaches, it’s becoming easier to envision Manning grabbing ahold of that spot with his natural athleticism and talent.
And after missing almost all of 2020 due to injury, Manning is ready for the opportunity to step foot in Autzen in front of fans.
“A good season for me is staying healthy because I battled with that in my high school days and then last year,” Manning said recently. “So if I can make it through this season healthy and make plays for the team, that’ll be a successful season. … This fall camp, I want to become the best version of myself and stay healthy; that’s the main key.”
His position coach, Rod Chance, sees firsthand how Bridges and Manning have pushed each other. Even when James returns to the team, perhaps as early as next week, nothing will change. Both Manning and Bridges bring something unique to the table.
“Anytime you get competition in camp, it’s going to be a back-and-forth deal. Both of those guys are battling day-in and day-out, sometimes by the period,” Chance said. “Sometimes one guy has a better period when the competition is coming, and the next guy picks it up the next period. I think both of them are such different players. You’ve got one guy who’s really long; has a long lever, a press coverage guy. And the other guy is tightly wound and has a lot of twitch, a lot of explosiveness about him.”
Mykael Wright is CB1, one of the best in the country. The byproduct of that is that teams will avoid throwing against him as much as possible. Therefore, whether it’s James or Bridges or Manning, whoever locks up the second spot is assured of seeing a lot of action.
They’re all ready, but Manning’s time might very well be now.
“In my mind, he’s a true freshman. He hasn’t had that full opportunity to get the training and the grinding or the fundamentals of what we’re doing,” Chance continued. “So it’s leaps and bounds from where he was last year just because he’s getting those reps, but he’s a phenomenal athlete, and we’re just trying to continue to hone in on his consistency and his process.”
