Kam Araghi sees no cap on Oregon’s EDGE rotation, but the standard is getting clearer as the Ducks chase more havoc, Bleu Dantzler continues an unlikely rise and Trey McNutt finally gets another chance to turn a year of mental reps into football.
Eight practices into fall camp, Oregon is moving closer to the point when depth stops being something coaches talk about and starts becoming something they have to trust.
Chris Hampton has spent much of camp pushing back against the idea that Oregon’s defensive depth chart is settled. Dan Lanning has repeatedly talked about identifying players capable of playing winning football rather than simply filling out a two-deep. On Friday, outside linebackers coach Kam Araghi brought the same idea directly to one of the deepest and most experienced areas on the roster.
There is no number Araghi needs to reach with his EDGE rotation.
“I’d like to get as many guys involved,” Araghi said. “But we all know how many guys are going to be available for us based off who’s playing great football at the end of the camp.”
His evaluation is built around what the EDGE room calls its “A’s and E’s,” alignment, assignment, effort and execution. Oregon can play six, eight or potentially even more defensive front players if they demonstrate they can handle those things. The coming scrimmage gives Araghi another opportunity to find out who actually can.
“We’re really looking forward to the scrimmage tomorrow to see who’s going to show up and show out,” Araghi said. “The things I’m looking for is alignment, assignment, effort and execution.”
That is probably a good description of where the entire defense is after eight practices. Oregon knows it has talent. It knows it has depth. Now the evaluation increasingly becomes about which players can turn those things into reliable football.
Oregon wants havoc, and Araghi does not believe it suddenly appears on Saturdays
The EDGE competition matters for more than determining who backs up Matayo Uiagalelei or Teitum Tuioti. It connects directly to one of the biggest defensive questions Oregon carried into camp.
The Ducks need to create more negative plays.
Hampton said after Practice 2 that Oregon finished 96th nationally in tackles for loss last season and produced 30 sacks. He talked about needing to finish more opportunities at the quarterback, create more third-and-long situations and turn a talented defensive front into a more disruptive one. Oregon even added Rip Rowan as a pass-rush specialist to help attack the problem.
Araghi gave us an even more specific target Friday.
Oregon is tracking havoc during practice and wants a havoc rate above 20 percent. The Ducks are studying some of the most disruptive players in college football and players who became first-round NFL Draft picks, but Araghi’s larger point was that nothing Oregon studies or talks about matters if it does not begin appearing during the week.
“What shows up in practice is what’s going to show up on game day,” Araghi said. “We can’t pretend like if it doesn’t happen in practice, all of a sudden you’re going to turn it on on Saturdays. I don’t believe in gamers.”
That is a fairly direct standard.
Araghi said the players are “hungry” to understand what the best pass rushers do and that the staff will continue measuring their disruption throughout camp.
“They want it and they’re going to go hunt it,” Araghi said. “We track havoc rate and, like I said, our goal is to be 20 percent. When we’re doing it in practice, I’m confident it’s going to show up on Saturdays.”
There is plenty of experience available to chase it. Uiagalelei and Tuioti both had opportunities to leave Oregon for professional football but came back for another season, and Araghi said neither has approached that decision casually.
“They didn’t come in and dip their toe into the water for their senior year,” Araghi said. “They’ve been completely all in.”
Sometimes Araghi is trying to take repetitions away from them rather than convince them to practice harder.
“They get mad at me,” he said. “‘Put us back in. Let me go get this extra two minute. Let me go get this extra rep of six-tech, nine-tech drill.’ Just striving for greatness.”
That gives Oregon a pretty high standard at the top of the room. The more interesting August question is how many players behind those veterans can meet it.
Nasir Wyatt’s transformation is becoming a football story, not just a body transformation
Nasir Wyatt has been one of the obvious names throughout camp because the physical change is impossible to miss. He has added weight while retaining the explosiveness that made him one of Oregon’s most intriguing young pass rushers, but Araghi made it clear Friday that the development extends well beyond the weight room.
“I cannot begin to tell you guys how proud I am of Nasir Wyatt,” Araghi said.
He credited Wyatt, his family, Oregon’s strength and nutrition staffs and the large network of people involved in his development. More importantly, Araghi described a player who has been actively seeking information from Uiagalelei and Tuioti whenever opportunities present themselves.
“When I’m on the road, he’s stealing ops to go work with these guys and take any ounce of information he can get from them,” Araghi said. “Guys, it’s been a complete 180.”
That echoes one of the larger themes we have heard throughout camp. Lanning talked earlier this week about young players from last season absorbing the work necessary to understand more football, allowing Oregon’s defense to take complicated concepts and make them simpler. Wyatt appears to be one of the clearest examples.
Araghi called him a “Swiss Army knife,” but what stood out in his explanation was why Wyatt is becoming more versatile.
“I think the biggest thing he’s done is he’s really enhanced his football intelligence,” Araghi said. “He’s wanting to know the ins and outs of every single defense. What’s the strength? What’s the stressor of each call? Where can I take my shot in pass rush? When can I not? When do I got to really be conscious of level rushing?”
The result, Araghi said, is more disruption.
“That’s helped his game go to the next level,” he said. “And in result, he’s making more havoc plays and having more havoc. And it’s a product of the work that he’s put in.”
That development potentially changes Wyatt’s role considerably. A year ago, it was easy to see him primarily through the lens of a young pass rusher. If his body now allows him to hold up in more situations and his understanding allows Oregon to move him around without simplifying the defense, his path toward becoming an every-down player becomes much more realistic.
Tank Jones is refusing to let a position label limit him
Anthony “Tank” Jones presents Oregon with another version of versatility.
Hampton said earlier in camp that Jones was functioning as a front player rather than being confined entirely to EDGE, and Araghi explained Friday why the Ducks have been comfortable moving the freshman around.
The first thing that impressed him was Jones’ willingness to accept it.
“Tank’s done an unbelievable job, number one, of being a sponge,” Araghi said. “Sometimes with these edge rushers, ‘I only want to play edge and I don’t want to play inside.’ And Tank’s like, ‘I want to do what’s best for the team and where you guys think is the best spot for me to be able to go produce.’”
That attitude matters because Araghi believes Jones has legitimate traits for both places.
“He’s twitchy and quick enough to be able to play on the edge, but he’s also physical enough and does a great job of playing with power from ground to the man and translating it to his hands to play inside as well,” Araghi said.
Rather than forcing Oregon to decide immediately whether Jones is an EDGE or an interior defensive lineman, the freshman is giving the staff an opportunity to keep evaluating both.
“I think he’s done an amazing job of giving himself the position versatility to play across the whole D-line,” Araghi said, “which is going to give him an opportunity to crack your rotation.”
That last part is the important one. Versatility only matters if a player becomes good enough somewhere to get onto the field. Hampton has previously cautioned against giving young defenders too much before they have mastered something, and Jones is still only 18. But every position he proves capable of handling creates another potential route into a very competitive rotation.
Dutch Horisk is trying to make effort impossible to ignore
There are players whose recruiting rankings naturally create attention and others who force people to notice them through repetition.
Dutch Horisk increasingly sounds like the second kind.
Hampton identified him early in camp as one of the defensive linemen pushing the more established players. When Araghi was asked about Horisk on Friday, he did not begin with a pass-rush move, testing number or physical trait.
“He’s relentless,” Araghi said. “That young man will not be denied.”
Apparently that relentlessness can become a problem when Horisk needs to sleep.
Araghi described arriving at the facility early enough that he and Horisk occasionally joke about who beat whom into the building. Then there are the nights.
“He’s calling me at 9:30 at night when meetings are over,” Araghi said. “‘Hey, can I come back up?’ Dutch is a guy I’m telling, ‘No, you got to go home and get your sleep.’ He wants to know every detail, wants to be able to get any sort of edge so he can find a way on the field.”
Araghi’s conclusion was simple.
“The guy just finds a way.”
We saw some of that during the spring game when Horisk’s motor continued showing up late and he recorded a sack that forced a punt. The more interesting question now is whether that effort can produce enough consistent execution to get him onto the field when Oregon already has this many options.
There is also a cultural piece to what Araghi described. On one of Oregon’s recovery days, Horisk bought ice cream for the entire front. Uiagalelei later talked with Araghi about enjoying a room filled with players willing to accept their roles and still contribute to the group.
“We got a room of a bunch of great humans,” Araghi recalled Uiagalelei saying, “guys that want to accept their role and want to be a part of this thing, however which way they can to help the team go have success.”
In a room this crowded, that may be almost as important as the depth itself. Oregon wants competition fierce enough to improve everybody without creating a collection of players who become disconnected when the rotation does not go exactly as they hoped.
Bleu Dantzler took a bet on himself, but Oregon already knew who it was betting on
Bleu Dantzler may be the most interesting player in the EDGE conversation because his path to Oregon looks considerably different from the others.
He spent one season at Oregon State, appeared in one game and recorded a single tackle. There was not much college tape for Oregon to study when Dantzler entered the portal, but Araghi had something else.
History.
“Bleu is somebody that we had our eye on in high school from Basha, Arizona, in Chandler,” Araghi said. “We actually had him at camp as well, and it was somebody that we were monitoring.”
So when Dantzler entered the portal after the Oregon State coaching change, Oregon did not see an anonymous player with one career tackle. Araghi already knew the high school version and had watched enough of him to know what traits might still be there.
“We loved everything about his mindset, his attitude,” Araghi said. “We kind of knew what his tape was going to be just watching his high school tape. He’s really been a fantastic addition to our program.”
Dantzler remembers that first Oregon camp for a different reason.
He was not very good.
“In high school, I was really just a five-tech, three-point stance defensive end,” Dantzler said. “When I came up here for this camp, they kind of wanted to see me as an inside linebacker role.”
He was undersized for a traditional defensive end and had almost no background handling what Oregon asked him to do that day.
“I wasn’t the tallest. I was kind of short-stocked,” Dantzler said. “So I didn’t really just have much experience in that field.”
Oregon State eventually moved him toward the hybrid role that probably suits him much better.
“Now I’m not necessarily a four-down D-end, but I’m not an inside linebacker,” Dantzler said. “I’m kind of that hybrid outside linebacker that I can tie in both of those aspects of my game.”
When the coaching staff changed in Corvallis, Dantzler decided to leave.
“I really just took a bet on myself, entered the portal,” he said.
Araghi was one of the first coaches to call. Dantzler said the decision moved quickly from there and that no other program became seriously involved.
“I thought it was a no-brainer kind of off the rip,” Dantzler said. “I mean, like Oregon.”
The transition itself was not quite as simple. Dantzler described his freshman season and coaching change at Oregon State as “a roller coaster of emotions,” then said arriving in Eugene brought a new set of expectations.
“I got up here and it was a grind from there to be held to a different standard,” he said, “just to really rep Oregon and learn what this school is all about.”
That standard is something he says fits him.
“I hold myself to a high standard,” Dantzler said. “So I think coming here and having coaches that were going to hold me to that high of a standard as well was a perfect match.”
Dantzler’s spring-game sacks were a start, not the end of the evaluation
The public has seen very little of Dantzler, but what it has seen has been difficult to ignore.
During Oregon’s spring game, Dantzler recorded multiple sacks, including one late in the first half and another that created a third-and-17 in the second half. Those plays stood out because there was almost no college production attached to his name entering the spring.
Dantzler does not think the pass rush itself is particularly mysterious.
“I feel like I have a natural pass rush ability,” he said. “So when I’m given that chance, especially with the play-call menu shortened down, I feel like I have to take advantage of it.”
The spring game also helped him after several months spent simply trying to understand Oregon’s daily operation.
“Winter, spring, it was all, I won’t say it was tough because I love being here, but it was a learning process, to say the least,” Dantzler said. “There was a lot of mistakes on my part that were made, just trying to get a daily schedule, daily habits, kind of trying to learn this system.”
Once the spring-game call sheet became smaller, the game simplified.
“I was able to just go out there and play,” Dantzler said. “I think that gave me a lot of confidence going into the summer window and up until fall camp.”
Araghi sees legitimate traits behind those sacks.
“Blue’s going to bring it every single day,” he said. “The young man cares.”
He praised Dantzler’s get-off in the pass rush but was equally interested in how he handles the run despite lacking ideal EDGE length.
“Even with his stature not being the biggest guy, he’s strong,” Araghi said. “He does a really good job of striking and being powerful in the C-gap and being able to win.”
The challenge now is repetition.
“I’m looking forward for him to bring more consistency each day,” Araghi said. “That’s what I’m challenging him with. And what I love about Blue, he accepts the challenge.”
Dantzler knows the same thing. He said playing in space is probably the area that has improved most since he arrived, particularly coverage responsibilities that he rarely handled in high school.
“Working in space, being a true outside linebacker, coverage downs, dropping back, that’s something I kind of did at Oregon State,” Dantzler said. “In high school, didn’t do much of that. But in terms of that aspect, I think that’s what’s gotten the best for me.”
He also understands where his build creates limitations and where technique has to compensate.
“Being a shorter outside linebacker, edge, I think it is a priority for me to be able to set hard edges because I don’t have the length to really cover as much ground,” Dantzler said. “I’m young, so really just trying to, even in pass rush, improve my game in every way I can.”
That kind of self-awareness probably helps explain why Oregon continues giving him opportunities.
And there is another part of the story that makes the move particularly meaningful.
“Going back to middle school days, this was my dream school,” Dantzler said. “It’s just to be here. I mean, they’ve met every expectation.”
For a player who originally came to an Oregon camp without finding a natural fit, then spent one season at Oregon State before entering the portal, the path back to Eugene has been considerably less direct than the dream itself.
Trey McNutt spent last season learning football he could not play
If Dantzler is trying to turn a small college résumé into a role, Trey McNutt is trying to restart a career that barely had a chance to begin.
McNutt arrived with enormous expectations last year before breaking his leg during camp. He was making a play in the back of the end zone, dove for the football and collided with a teammate.
“And it broke,” McNutt said.
The recovery lasted long enough that McNutt did not return to practice until Oregon’s playoff run. He watched as several other members of his freshman class became important parts of one of the best teams in the country.
McNutt admitted the first reaction was difficult.
“Right after I broke it, I was down,” he said. “But right away I snapped back.”
Eventually, the year became an extended classroom.
“I learned a lot last year just being able to sit on the sideline and just learn from the guys that was in there, the lead players like Dillon Thieneman,” McNutt said. “It was interesting sitting on the sideline and being able to listen.”
When he could not take physical repetitions, McNutt accumulated mental ones.
“After the injury, I was just focused on my mental, focused on mentally getting strong and learning the plays and learning the defense, schemes of offenses and stuff like that,” he said. “Going into this year, just a lot of mental reps and not being able to put it to the field has been good.”
Now he gets to put them onto the field.
“This year is definitely easier,” McNutt said. “Like I said, I got mental reps last year, and being able to put it to the field and really get those true reps on the field has been good. I’ve been able to play faster.”
Hampton confirmed earlier in camp that McNutt is healthy, practicing fully and competing for a role. That matters because the secondary waiting for him is considerably different from the one he entered before the injury. Koi Perich is now in Eugene, Oregon has veteran experience throughout the back end and there are talented young players pushing from behind.
McNutt is not approaching the competition as if a former recruiting ranking guarantees him anything.
“Really wherever the coaches see me best at, whether that’s special teams, safety, dime, anywhere,” McNutt said. “Wherever I could fit out on the field.”
McNutt learned from Thieneman before he could replace any of what Thieneman did
One of the more useful things McNutt did while injured was watch Thieneman.
The former Purdue transfer became an All-American during his lone season at Oregon, but McNutt did not focus only on what happened on Saturdays. He watched what Thieneman did to prepare for them.
“Learning from Dillon, like he was just always taking a lot of notes, always in the facility,” McNutt said. “Just learning how he did his routine, his fall camp and stuff like that. Learning the small, the little details really is what I’ve taken out of it, being around these older guys.”
That is an interesting layer to Oregon’s safety competition. McNutt spent a year watching one of the players whose departure now helps create opportunity for him. He did not get the freshman season anyone expected, but the injury gave him access to a different kind of development.
It also forced him to rebuild trust in his body.
“Being able to come back and play on it again, I’ve got confidence in my leg,” McNutt said. “I feel like it doesn’t hinder me in any type of way.”
That confidence matters heading into another scrimmage because there is a difference between being medically cleared and playing without thinking about the injury. McNutt sounds increasingly like he is operating in the second category.
Oregon’s best receivers are becoming part of McNutt’s development
McNutt has also been using Oregon’s receiver room as an extension of defensive back practice.
He talked Friday about working outside the facility with teammates on both sides of the ball and described the extra work as an opportunity to refine the smallest elements of technique.
“We all work out with each other outside of the facility, get extra time after practice,” McNutt said. “Really just seeing how we all grow together off the field and on the field is the best part about it. Just learning the little things about football, the little techniques. We all are becoming like little technicians with our craft.”
That work includes dealing with players such as Evan Stewart and De’Corian Moore.
“We’ve been sharpening each other every single day,” McNutt said. “We expose each other on the field. So going back to the meeting rooms, we always talk about it after the practices, get to work with each other.”
McNutt said the conversations continued throughout the offseason because the players recognized how much talent was available to challenge one another.
“I’ve told them all, man, we need to work this offseason,” McNutt said. “We need to be in the lab together because it’s serious.”
His conclusion probably fits the entire camp.
“We got the best here,” McNutt said. “So taking advantage of it.”
The scrimmage should begin separating good stories from real roles
There are plenty of good stories on Oregon’s defense right now.
Wyatt transformed his body and then his understanding of the defense. Jones is willing to play wherever Oregon believes he can create problems. Horisk seems determined to work until somebody orders him to leave the building. Dantzler transferred from Oregon State to a childhood dream school and has already flashed the pass-rush ability Oregon remembered from high school. McNutt lost almost an entire season and spent that time learning from the sideline.
Those stories matter, but they will not determine Oregon’s rotation.
Football will.
Araghi keeps bringing the conversation back to alignment, assignment, execution and effort. Hampton has talked about turning a good defense into an elite one by doing the simple things exceptionally well. Lanning has spent camp watching players make mistakes, correct them and prove they can handle more.
Now the Ducks get another scrimmage to test all of it.
For the EDGE room, the number of available spots remains intentionally undefined. Araghi will play as many people as prove they belong. But his 20-percent havoc goal makes it clear that simply being dependable is not the entire standard. Oregon wants players who can disrupt games while still doing their jobs within the defense.
Dantzler probably summarized the opportunity best when discussing what he wants from his second chance at college football.
“My true goal has been to just get on the field and help the team in any way I can,” he said.
McNutt described his own return in almost the same terms.
“I’ve been given the opportunity to be back on the field,” he said, “and that’s all I can do is take advantage of the opportunity.”
Eight practices into camp, Oregon has no shortage of players with opportunities.
The next part is finding out which ones are ready to take them.