Jay, here.
A couple of weeks ago, a thread (”DuckD’s In-Depth Pre-Spring Depth Chart”) from one of the eDuck message boards came across my desk here at Duck Sports News and caught my attention.
So, I decided to shoot an email to DuckD to see I could share his analysis with other Duck fans through Duck Sports News. Upon completing his preview, he was more than happy to email his entire entry (Thank you, DuckD).
Instead of publishing the entire entry here, I’ve decided to break it up into more bite-size parts over the course of several days. Here’s a look at the schedule:
Offense
Friday, March 21st: Quarterback
Saturday, March 22nd: Running Back
Sunday, March 23rd: Wide Receiver
Monday, March 24th: Tight End, Half Back
Tuesday, March 25th: Offensive Line
Defense
Wednesday, March 26th: Defensive End
Thursday, March 27th: Defensive Tackle
Friday, March 28th: Linebacker
Saturday, March 29th: Cornerback
Sunday, March 30th: Safety
Here’s DuckD’s preview of the Offensive Line:
DuckD’s Spring Preview: OFFENSIVE LINE
Photography courtesy of Oregon Duckcast Network & Cameron Resnick.
Probable Starter: Fenuki Tupou sr., Jordan Holmes so., Max Unger sr., Mark Lewis sr., Jacob Hucko sr.
Depth: Jeff “Freaking” Kendall sr., Jon Teague sr., C.E. Kaiser so., Bo Thran so., Darrion Weems fr., Charlie Carmichael fr., Mark Asper fr., Carson York fr.
Incoming: Nick Cody fr., Hamani Stevens fr.
Analysis: Max Unger is an absolute stud. He is an animal anywhere on the line and has the quicks to be a pulling center in a spread offense! There has been talk of possibly moving him to guard or back to tackle, but I think we will be best served by having Max stay at center. In this offense especially, the ability to consistently snap to the QB cleanly can never be understated, and Max was very consistent last fall. And when you add in Max’s tenacity and blocking ability, it is a match made in heaven.
Fenuki Tupou performed brilliantly in his first season as starting left tackle. He is a very large individual at 6′6″ 322, but is still very mobile. His talents are what allowed us the luxury of moving Unger to center last year, and those talents are going to serve our offense very well this fall. He could very easily have a future at the next level. Remember, Tupou dominated All-American George Selvie in only his 13 D1 game. With a full year of D1 football under his belt, as well as another off-season of workouts and conditioning, I expect Tupou to be even better this year.
Mark Lewis finally grabbed a starting spot this past fall after a couple of years of being a key reserve at every position on the offensive line. He has put a lot of time in learning multiple positions but has finally found a home at guard I am interested to see how much he improves with more time at one spot. Mark has always been a very solid contributor, with good skills, and he should have a terrific senior year.
It is finally Jacob Hucko’s time to shine. Jacob has been toiling behind the mammoth Geoff Schwartz since their freshman years at the UO, and it is finally his time to emerge from that rather large shadow. Hucko has comparable height to Schwartz but not quite the same girth, making him slightly lacking (in comparison) with his run blocking but his agility should make him a slightly better pass protector. Not a bad trade off, and with our offensive style and play makers, he doesn’t necessarily have to bulldoze his man everytime as much as get in the way of his man at times. Hucko is fully capable of having a very solid season.
Jordan Holmes may very well be the heir apparent to Max Unger, but I think he is too good to keep out of the starting line up. He gained quite a bit of experience last fall, including 29 snaps at Michigan. In fact, if you have the Michigan game on video still, go back and watch Dixon’s Fake Statue-of-Liberty play: I’m about 99% certain that Holmes was in on that play (my main question is if he was a guard or center on the play). Jordan should step in and be a solid starter from day 1.
Jeff “Freaking” Kendall (after the rant on Jim Rome’s radio show, I will refer to him that way as often as possible!) has had a history of injury problems, but last fall was probably the healthiest he has been as a Duck. If he remains healthy he could push for a starting spot, either at center (pushing Unger to yet another spot) or even at guard. He deserves a healthy year.
Jon Teague is a walk on who has earned playing time over the past few years including a few starts, and with the departure of Josh Tshirgi, will have an opportunity to try to secure a starting spot in his final season of eligibility. He has a good amount of playing time over the past couple seasons and has a very good grasp of the offense.
C.E. Kaiser has experience at both guard and tackle. He is likely to be heavily in the mix at the right tackle position, and if I remember correctly he is actually the one that Geoff Schwartz has picked as his likely successor. That says a lot about the talent, and potential, that this young man possesses. If he doesn’t start this fall, he should be a key backup and is very likely to start in ‘09.
Bo Thran was injured most of last fall, but he made great progress as a redshirt freshman. If he continues to develop he could make a serious push at right tackle and to be Tupou’s backup on the left side.
Darrion Weems has all the potential to be our next great left tackle. The coaches rave about the quickness of his feet, and if he continues to develop and get bigger/stronger he can be very good. It will be interesting to see how far he has come along since last fall. I will definitely be watching him this spring as his future is very bright.
Charlie Carmichael, like Bo Thran, was injured last fall necessitating a redshirt year. He likely would have redshirted his first fall anyway, as most freshmen linemen do, but he has the potential to make an impact this year. I believe he is in line to be a guard, but may get a shot at tackle as well (much like DBs are usually tried at corner first). I saw him recently, and I admit he didn’t seem very “big” (relative term, I know), but he is young and coming off an injury. With more time in the weight room he should be very good.
Mark Asper is big in the mold of Geoff Schwartz (6′7″ 320 as a redshirt freshman). He redshirted last year after returning from his mission and may still need to “knock some rust off”. He will be intriguing to watch as he is physically more “mature” than the other youngsters due to his time away, but needs as much (or possibly more) practice time to really get the most of his abilities.
Carson York had surgery last summer and decided to greyshirt, enrolling this winter in order to retain his year of eligibility as well as participate in winter conditioning in preparation for this coming year. He will be one to watch as he was one of the top rated tackles in high school in ‘06. He is probably a year away from being a regular in the rotation due to his surgery, but I wouldn’t put it past him to make his presence felt this fall.
Nick Cody is already one of my favorite Ducks. He put in a lot of time “on the recruiting trail” this past season, trying to help “recruit” his fellow highly touted seniors to be Ducks. He is already a die-hard Duck, bleeds green and yellow, and has the work ethic to really put his skills to good use.
Hamani Stevens was probably our last “big get” of the recruiting class. He will battle Jordan Holmes to be the guy to take over for Max Unger after this coming fall, assuming he doesn’t make the rotation this year. Hamani is immensely talented and could put himself in the mix as soon as this fall if he can learn the offense and allow his talents to shine early.
I am very excited about the young talent we have been stockpiling on the offensive line and I will be watching to see how quickly that talent starts to shine through.
Tomorrow: DEFENSIVE END
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