The anticipation in the air can only mean one thing: The onset of fall camp is upon us!
August 3 is the date circled on the calendars of Duck fans near and far, as that is the day fall camp officially opens at the University of Oregon. The month of practices that follow will not only give coaches, members of the media, and fans a sneak peek at the team for the upcoming season, but it will also serve as an opportunity to simultaneously answer and facilitate a litany of questions surrounding position battles and movement along the depth chart.
More importantly, it means we’re only one month away from the start of football season.
As we countdown the days, WFOD will preview each position group, providing an early snapshot of the depth chart, as well as handout a few superlatives to help set expectations for the season.
Today, WFOD’s Preseason Superlatives series kicks off with the quarterbacks.
Quarterback:
The Projected Depth Chart:
Justin Herbert (Jr.)/Braxton Burmeister (So.)/Tyler Shough (Fr.)/Mike Irwin (RFr.)
The Duke: Justin Herbert
There may not be a more obvious choice on the roster for this designation than Herbert. Though his sophomore season was marred by a broken collarbone that sidelined him for five games, Herbert still managed to throw for 1,983 yards and 15 touchdowns (against only five interceptions) while completing 67.5 percent of his pass attempts, finishing the season on a healthy note. With that, he enters 2018 as a possible Heisman Trophy candidate and a likely first-round draft pick in the 2019 NFL Draft if he can build off the impressive numbers he posted in only eight games a year ago. Herbert won’t have Royce Freeman to take the pressure off in the run game, but one could argue he has a better, more seasoned group of receivers this year opposed to last. There are no sacred cows in the game of football, but Herbert is as close as they get. As long as he’s upright, No. 10 gives the Ducks a chance to have a potentially special season in Mario Cristobal’s first year as head coach.
The X-factor: Braxton Burmeister
Outside of the 41-20 win over Utah last season, the 2017 season was more or less one to forget for sophomore Braxton Burmeister. That game marked the Ducks’ only win with Burmeister as the starter, though in his defense, the Oregon coaching staff had no real expectation to play him last season. However, after Herbert and former walk-on Taylor Alie went down with injuries in a costly victory versus Cal last September, Burmeister was thrust into action and forced to right a ship that was quickly taking on water. Still, the San Diego area native did little over the course of five starts to inspire much confidence in his quarterbacking abilities moving forward. The question now is how much progress has Burmeister made from last season to this season? He’s at his best scrambling and making plays on the run, but struggled mightily when he was confined to the pocket and forced to dissect opposing defenses. If Burmeister has improved in this area, he may be the wild card in the competition to backup Herbert in 2018. If not, he may quickly find himself buried on the depth chart.
The Upstart: Tyler Shough
After what has felt like years of skating by without reliable backup quarterback play dating all the way back to Marcus Mariota, Oregon may finally have a true heir apparent to Justin Herbert whenever he makes his departure from Eugene. Ranked as the 7th-best pro-style quarterback in the 2018 class per 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, as well as the top overall prospect in the state of Arizona, true freshman Tyler Shough is poised to be Oregon’s quarterback of the future. Though he reportedly experienced growing pains typical of a freshman during his first spring on campus, Shough shined in the spring game when the focus on him was at its peak. In the scrimmage, Shough completed 5-of-8 passes for 103 yards, exhibiting impressive pocket presence, arm strength, and touch on the two scoring strikes he was responsible for. Having already earned a reputation over the offseason as a hard worker, Shough has the ability and momentum to overtake Burmeister on the depth chart by the time fall camp concludes.