Fall camp is in its final stretch, meaning the agonizing offseason wait for football is in its final throes. Believe it or not, only nine days separate us from Oregon’s season opener vs. Bowling Green on September 1, and HOO BOY are we ready for kickoff.
As we grit our teeth and power through these final days, WFOD will be taking a look at the top five newcomers most likely to make an impact on both offense and defense once the season begins in earnest.
Today we examine the five defensive newcomers we expect to make waves in their debut season in Eugene.
5. Steve Stephens
Before the February signing period additions of Penei Sewell and Jalen Hall, as well as the late summer addition of Bryan Addison, four-star safety Steve Stephens was once the Ducks’ top-rated recruit, holding rank as the nation’s 11th-best safety prospect per 247Sports’ Composite Rankings. After signing his letter of intent with Oregon in December, Stephens was on hand for winter conditioning in January, before donning an Oregon practice uniform in March during the onset of spring drills. Since then, Stephens has been a factor for playing time at a position that is neither short on experience or talent, displaying the coverage skills that made him so highly coveted coming out of Fresno’s Edison High School – the same school that produced former Oregon cornerback and consensus All-American Cliff Harris.
Carrying over his steady play from spring to fall camp, Stephens has reportedly positioned himself for regular reps in the Ducks’ safety rotation. However, where he may see the most action this season is on special teams, where the true freshman has been spotted participating as a starter on Oregon’s kickoff, kickoff return, and punt return teams. As the season wears on, keep an eye on Stephens as a player who slowly but surely begins commanding more and more playing time on both special teams and defense, due in large part to his well-rounded talents.
4. Kahlef Hailassie
He may have been a last minute addition to the Ducks’ 2018 recruiting class, but don’t let that for one second fool you into thinking that true freshman Kahlef Hailassie is an afterthought when it comes to Oregon’s rotation at cornerback this season. Under-rated and lightly recruited coming out of Cosumnes High School in Elk Grove, Calif., the former three-star prospect was thought to be headed to Washington State before an offer from Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal the night before the start of the February signing period swayed his decision.
Having gone through the prep ranks playing against and alongside fellow Oregon true freshmen Spencer Webb and Isaah Crocker, Hailassie has proved over the course of a very short period of time that he is without a doubt on a similar, if not higher, level than his more highly-touted teammates from the Sacramento area. Through fall camp, the 6-foot-2, 188-pound Hailassie has reportedly shown that he’s not only skilled cover guy, but that he’s also a physical presence who doesn’t shy away from making the big hit; a skill he demonstrated with tremendous proficiency as a high schooler. The Ducks may be thin at corner this upcoming season, but Hailassie’s impressive play has shown that he will command playing time this season opposed to receiving it out of pure necessity.
3. Verone McKinley
Like Stephens, McKinley signed his letter of intent with the Ducks in December before enrolling in January and participating in spring drills this past March. And since arriving in Eugene, the former three-star recruit has made tremendous use of his head start on the upcoming season, taking his lumps early before turning a corner just before the spring game and carrying over the positive momentum into fall camp.
At 5-foot-10 and 183 pounds, McKinley isn’t necessarily the most physically imposing cornerback you’ll come across, but he’s a terrific competitor with great cover skills who is currently pushing hard for playing time behind sophomores Thomas Graham and Deommodore Lenoir. Similar to Hailassie, the playing time that McKinley is in line for has little to do with Oregon’s clear need for bodies at corner, and more so to do with his ultra encouraging play throughout the offseason. Though Graham and Lenoir have all but locked up their starting positions, expect McKinley to be featured regularly as an extra corner in nickel and dime packages for Ducks defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt this season.
2. Adrian Jackson
As a group, the newcomers in Oregon’s secondary have been all the rage this August, but no player has generated more buzz based on physical appearance than true freshman linebacker Adrian Jackson. If you were none the wiser, one look at the Denver native would leave you to reasonably assume that he had been in the program for two to three years, as Jackson possesses the chiseled body of a veteran player. But alas, he’s a precocious rookie who arrived on campus mere months ago, who has already caught the attention of fellow linebacker and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year candidate Troy Dye, who recently described Jackson as a “phenomenal beast.”
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 218 pounds, Jackson is blessed with an exciting blend of size, speed, and athleticism that’s been seldom found in Duck linebackers over the years. Though he originally started out fall camp running with Oregon’s inside linebackers, Jackson has made a transition to outside linebacker in recent weeks, presumably to address the glaring depth concerns which has led the Ducks to experiment with a handful of players at the position, most notably senior star defensive end Jalen Jelks. Though his position may not be completely defined at the present moment, there’s no question that Jackson’s physical stature and encouraging play during fall camp will have him seeing plenty of action on Saturdays this fall.
1. Jevon Holland
Along with Stephens, true freshman Jevon Holland comes to Oregon as one of the most highly-touted players to ever sign with the Ducks at the safety position. And through three weeks of fall camp, you could make the argument that no player has lived up to the hype more than the Pleasanton (Calif.) native. Rated as a four-star recruit from NorCal powerhouse Bishop O’Dowd High School, Holland has been an absolute tour de force at a loaded and veteran-laded safety position for the Ducks since the start of fall camp.
In fact, through the first four preseason practices, Holland was responsible for at least one turnover in each of those sessions, and has quickly earned a reputation as a turnover-generating machine over the course of the past few weeks. At 6-foot-1 and 192 pounds, Holland is physically mature for a freshman and is perhaps the most athletically gifted player the Ducks have at the safety position. A few weeks ago, WFOD toyed with the idea of Holland staking a claim to a starting position. And while it still remains to be seen whether or not that will happen, it would come as no surprise to see Holland slotted in as the starting safety opposite senior Ugo Amadi come September 1.