Three observations, two questions and one early prediction after a week that took the Ducks from Media Day into their first three practices.
Oregon spent much of the offseason talking about what this team could become. Media Day gave us the players’ perspective on that process, then three practices finally gave Dan Lanning, Chris Hampton and Drew Mehringer an opportunity to begin testing those ideas on the field.
The first week did not answer every question, and in some cases it probably created a few more. But between what we heard before camp, what players told us Monday and what the coaches revealed after the first three practices, several themes are already beginning to move beyond offseason talking points.
Here is my first 3-2-1 of fall camp.
THREE OBSERVATIONS
1. Oregon’s experience matters because the Ducks are asking experienced players to do more
For months, we have talked about how different this roster looks from the one Oregon took into last season. A year ago, Dierre Hill Jr., Jordon Davison, Brandon Finney Jr., Nasir Wyatt and Dakorien Moore were among the young players whose responsibilities expanded rapidly. This summer, Lanning has consistently framed their development around the difference between playing on ability and playing with the knowledge that comes from a year inside the program.
We began seeing what that distinction could mean almost immediately in camp. Lanning revealed after Practice 1 that Hill had already handled responsibilities beyond what Oregon traditionally asked him to do at running back, and two days later Mehringer explained why. A year ago, the Ducks were still discovering what Hill could provide before his explosiveness forced them to find ways to use him.
“You see this burst down the field, and it’s like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to do something with this guy,’” Mehringer said.
Oregon begins this season already knowing what it has, which allows the coaching staff to build more around him. Mehringer also praised Hill and Davison for their work ethic while acknowledging that expanded roles inevitably bring additional mistakes because both players are being asked to process more football. That same progression is happening elsewhere, with Finney talking at Media Day about knowing the defense well enough to move between positions and Dakorien Moore describing how lessons learned from veteran players have changed his approach to treatment and recovery.
The significance of Year 2, then, is not simply that Oregon’s young stars are one year older. The Ducks can give them more responsibility because they have demonstrated that they can handle more, and that may ultimately become one of the defining differences between the 2025 and 2026 teams.
2. Oregon’s competition sounds intense without becoming individual
One phrase from Mehringer’s Practice 3 press conference captured something we have heard throughout the roster.
“It’s a meritocracy. You’ve got to go out and earn it.”
Mehringer was discussing a wide receiver room where no role will be awarded simply because of recruiting ranking, age or previous production. He even invoked the story of Wally Pipp and Lou Gehrig as a reminder that giving another talented player an opportunity can sometimes mean never getting the job back.
What makes Oregon’s version of that meritocracy interesting is that the Ducks do not want competition to create an every-man-for-himself roster. A’Mauri Washington explained it well at Media Day while discussing an offensive line trying to replace three starters.
“I want to come in and make these dudes work,” Washington said. “They want to come in and make me work.”
He then took the idea a step further.
“If they say we got the best D-line, we should be making our offensive line look like the best offensive line.”
Ify Obidegwu described the depth in Oregon’s secondary with the same competitive edge, saying, “If you don’t go hard, if you don’t go 100%, you’re going to get left.” Yet Hampton has praised the connection within that room, and players such as Koi Perich have talked about veterans and newcomers actively learning from one another.
That is the balance Oregon is trying to establish. The Ducks want competition intense enough that nobody becomes comfortable, while remaining connected enough that another player’s development is viewed as something that strengthens the team rather than something that threatens the individual.
3. Oregon’s two new coordinators appear to be building from the same philosophy
The most interesting schematic development of the opening week may not be a particular formation or personnel package. It is how similarly Hampton and Mehringer describe what they want from their respective sides of the ball.
Hampton explained after Practice 2 that Oregon’s returning knowledge has allowed the Ducks to install substantially more defense earlier in camp. That does not mean the objective is simply carrying more calls. Oregon will eventually determine what its players execute best and build the defense around those strengths.
Mehringer made almost exactly the same point one day later.
“Complexity is a little bit of a double-edged sword,” he said.
An offense can theoretically carry an enormous number of answers, but every additional play reduces the number of repetitions available for something else. Mehringer’s challenge is giving Oregon enough multiplicity to stress a defense without becoming so complicated that execution deteriorates.
The two coordinators are also helping each other discover where those boundaries belong. Mehringer said he and Hampton review their own practice mistakes and exchange information about what caused each side problems.
“We can challenge each other to have better answers,” Mehringer said.
Hampton has described the same process from the defensive side, even acknowledging that he needs practice calling the game just as his players need practice executing it. Three practices into camp, Oregon’s coordinators seem less interested in demonstrating how much scheme they know than determining how much their players can execute at an elite level.
That may become one of the most important developments of camp.
TWO QUESTIONS
1. How quickly does Oregon have to turn offensive-line competition into continuity?
I continue to believe the offensive line may be the most misunderstood competition in camp. There is understandable attention on the three starters Oregon lost, but Lanning has repeatedly pushed back against the idea that he should already want a settled five because his goal is to identify six, seven or even eight players capable of winning football.
Oregon has developed linemen through this process before. Josh Conerly Jr., Jackson Powers-Johnson and Iapani “Poncho” Laloulu all gained meaningful experience through rotations before becoming established starters, and Lanning sees similar developmental value in keeping this competition open.
“I don’t necessarily want a clear five yet,” Lanning said.
That makes perfect sense in early August, but continuity will eventually matter. The question is not whether Oregon should stop developing its sixth, seventh and eighth linemen. It is when A’lique Terry needs to identify the combination that gives the Ducks their best five and begin accumulating enough repetitions together for that group to function as a cohesive unit.
Laloulu gives Oregon some flexibility in reaching that point because the Ducks already know what they have at center. Mehringer called him “the rock, the apex” of the offensive line and praised how readily a veteran with his experience still accepts coaching. His presence gives Oregon time to continue experimenting around him, and the next couple of weeks should tell us how the Ducks use it.
2. Can Oregon turn “finish” from an offseason lesson into an on-field identity?
There may not have been a more important word during the opening week than finish. Uiagalelei used it when discussing sacks that escaped Oregon last season, Hampton emphasized it while explaining the defense’s need for more havoc, and Obidegwu connected it with fourth-quarter performance and red-zone defense.
The statistics Hampton cited after Practice 2 gave the conversation weight. Oregon finished 96th nationally in tackles for loss, produced 30 sacks and ranked 127th in red-zone defense.
“We have to get red-zone stops,” Hampton said.
The offense has its own version of the same issue. Mehringer identified red-zone execution as an area where Oregon can improve while also emphasizing explosive plays, ball security and the ability to run the football when the situation requires it.
That creates an ideal training-camp collision because one side needs to become better at finishing drives while the other needs to become better at ending them. Those red-zone periods may ultimately tell us considerably more about Oregon’s progress than which side claims it “won” an August practice.
ONE PREDICTION
Dierre Hill Jr. becomes much more than a running back in this offense
I am not predicting that Oregon suddenly stops giving Hill carries. I am predicting that the position listed beside his name becomes increasingly inadequate for describing everything Mehringer asks him to do.
Lanning gave us the first clue after Practice 1 when he revealed that Hill was already working outside his traditional running back responsibilities. Mehringer reinforced it after Practice 3 by talking about finding additional ways to put a dynamic player in space.
If Oregon wants to become more difficult to diagnose without creating unnecessary schematic complexity, players capable of changing alignment without substituting become enormously valuable. Hill appears to be one of those pieces because the defense has to account for his explosiveness regardless of whether he begins the snap in the backfield, moves outside or is put in motion.
By the time September arrives, one of the most interesting elements of Oregon’s offense may be discovering where No. 6 is before the snap rather than simply whether he is on the field.
Three practices have not given Oregon a finished product, nor should they. They have given us the first meaningful look at how the Ducks intend to build one.