Oregon football will hold its final scrimmage of the fall camp on Thursday before taking a day off on Friday. After that, Saturday will be the only day the Ducks will practice before beginning preparations for Eastern Washington next Monday. During that time, Oregon coaches will finalize a depth chart, which will be somewhat determined by tomorrow’s scrimmage. Head coach Mark Helfrich met with the media Wednesday to discuss some of the most pressing issues in regards to the depth chart:
On the team’s overall progress in the third week of camp:
We’re getting into more situational stuff. I like where our communication is from that standpoint. Guys are becoming more aware of not just, “What’s my job? What does this word mean?,” but, “Hey, what’s the down and distance? What’s the field position?”
On how much the scrimmage will impact the quarterback battle:
Clean execution, just running the show without the coaches out there. If you have a true freshman receiver lined up wrong or somebody in the wrong place, can they run that part of it, and then just do their deal. It’s a little more tailored to [each of the team’s quarterbacks’] strengths as far as their play selection. I haven’t really thought of [making a decision] in terms of keeping anybody guessing. When and if it happens, it won’t be a secret.
On whether or not redshirt decisions have been more difficult this year:
We have more quality depth, or at least I think we do. The defensive line is a place where I like where our depth is headed. Those guys [are] just growing up and maturing. That’s a place where we’ll have some tough decisions. Everything else is just kind of normal. There’s always a couple of guys that are slam-dunk redshirts and there’s always a couple guys that you go, “Man, in five, six, seven weeks, what’s he going to look like?” Those are the hard ones.
On which specific players have made for the the toughest decisions:
The easiest one is a guy who just got here in Jonah Moi. You can see where he is headed: a big, fast, athletic guy that just doesn’t know what he’s doing yet. That’s not his fault, necessarily. Especially the young guys, you get through all of the install, all of the stuff that’s on their shoulders. Now that’s off and they’re playing freely, the rate that that happens kind of determines their fate.
On how much of the depth chart is already complete:
For the most part [we know] who’s going to play the lion’s share of where. We have a bunch of guys that’ll rotate in on a few spots, which is a good thing. There’s still a ton up for grabs on special teams. We have a lot of guys that can contribute in special teams, not necessarily true freshman, but redshirts and a few of the first year guys. We’ll definitely have that on full display tomorrow.
Follow Jack Heffernan on Twitter @JackTHeffernan