Oregon Football: Five Breakout Candidates on Offense
Football is heating up. And I couldn’t be any more excited for it.
And I’m going to bet you feel the same way.
Dan Lanning inherits a solid team. A good team but with a few question marks. And some really good youth at his disposal.
Kenny Dillingham is expected to ‘rejuvenate’ the Oregon offense after some stagnant seasons. Which means there should be some breakout candidates this season.
Who though? That’s what we want to know.
Here’s my five picks ahead of Fall camp. For the sake of the article and just to make it interesting, I won’t be listing Bo Nix (or any QB) as that feels rather obvious.
RB – Mar’Keise Irving – Someone from the RB room is going to have a big season. I think while most expect Byron Cardwell to be a big part of that, I’m betting Irving has a really big part of the season’s rush yards. He comes in with experience and is a really hard runner. I’ll be keeping an eye on him.
WR – Chase Cota – I don’t know that Cota will have a massive 1,000 yard year or 10 touchdown type season. But when the quarterback needs a catch and 5 yards, Cota will be his guy. He’ll make a number of big plays this year and his experience is really going to steady that room.
OL – Marcus Harper – This room is going to need some of the younger guys to step up. Harper might not crack the starting five, but even then, I’m expecting him to see a lot of snaps. He’s shown some flashes here and there but has yet to put it all together. Oregon will need him to this season.
OL – Josh Conerly Jr. – When your top-ranked commit comes in, he typically plans on playing. Maybe not starting, but at least playing. And I think there is a need for Conerly to be ahead of the curve and able to give the starters a break. I don’t expect him to come in ready to start, but I do think we’ll see him out there early in the season playing meaningful snaps.
ATH – Seven McGee – I think we’re all excited for this one. Seven should have opportunities in the offense and on special teams to show off that elite speed. The best part is he’s so versatile he can be used in a number of different ways. Short passing game, handoffs, sweeps, you get the point. I’m expecting a big year from Seven.
