The dog days of summer have arrived. And while there’s little cause for celebration during this portion of the calendar, there is good news to report:

WFOD’s 2019 Fall Camp Preview has arrived as well!

As fall camp fast approaches, WFOD will be rolling out an in-depth series of position-by-position previews to help you fully prepare for the upcoming season.

Our Fall Camp Preview series continues Tuesday with a breakdown of Oregon’s safeties.

As always, you can find the most up-to-date look at the Oregon depth chart by visiting our Living Depth Chart page.

The Headliner

It didn’t take long for Jevon Holland to announce his arrival during his first fall camp as a Duck last August. From the jump, Holland turned heads with his veteran-like approach to practice and preternatural sense for making plays. In many respects, he proved early on that he was worthy of his billing as one of the highest-rated safeties to ever commit to Oregon. That notion was only emboldened as the 2018 season wore on, as Holland led the Ducks in interception (5) while also tallying 44 total tackles and registering six pass breakups en route to earning the Len Casanova Award, which is annually awarded to the team’s top freshman as voted on by the team. In fact, Holland’s interception totals were the most by an Oregon defender since Erick Dargan (7) in 2014 and the most by an Oregon freshman since Jairus Byrd in 2006.

Now a sophomore, Holland enters the upcoming season looking to improve upon those impressive freshman numbers while also taking on a new role as one of the leader’s of Oregon’s talented defense. Filling the shoes of graduated Lombardi Award winner Ugo Amadi won’t be easy, but lucky for the Ducks, Holland appears well suited to assume the role – and then some – for years to come.

The Supporting Ensemble

Despite the ups and downs of the past few seasons, if there’s been one thing you can hang your hat on with regard to this defense, it’s been the largely failproof play of Oregon’s safeties. Much of this has do with the fact that the Ducks have always seemed to have experience in the back end, which is precisely the case once again for this unit in 2019. The player expected to pair with Holland in the starting lineup at safety is junior Nick Pickett; a steady player who fiercely staked his claim to a starting job as a freshman and has yet to surrender it despite the presence of multiple challengers. Pickett’s strong suit is providing support against the run, which is backed by the 59 tackles he made a year ago – a mark that ranked him fourth in the category among all Oregon defenders.

Redshirt junior Brady Breeze returns for what feels like his 12th season in a Duck uniform to once again provide stiff competition for Pickett in the starting lineup. A Portland native who is the nephew of former Oregon great Chad Cota, Breeze has been a mainstay on special teams for most of this career but has proven to be a capable replacement when pressed into action. August serves as a major opportunity for sophomore Kahlef Hailassie and redshirt freshman Steve Stephens, who could prove to be the wild cards in a potential position battle that breaks out at safety during fall camp. After appearing in 13 games last season, Hailassie is a versatile player who carved out a role mostly on special teams, but has the ability to play virtually any position in the defensive backfield. Similar things can be said of Stephens, who before 2020 verbal commit Avantae Williams, held the title as the highest-rated safety to ever commit to the Ducks. Though he appeared in three games last season, Stephens was able to preserve his redshirt and continue developing his game. How far he’s come over the course of a year will be something worth paying close attention to as fall camp gets underway.

The Intriguing New Cast Member

When you sign a top ten recruiting class, it’s difficult to peg any one player as underrated. It’s even more difficult when the player you have identified as such set an Alabama state record for career interceptions (36) and garnered offers from the likes of Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and a host of others. But it’s kind of the case when you consider Trikweze Bridges, a former three-star prospect who spurned the pressures to stay close to home and instead headed west to chart a new course for himself in Pac-12 country. Long and lanky, Bridges looks like a player who would be better suited on the hardwood than the gridiron, but once the film starts, it’s evident that football is his calling. A ballhawking master who knows what to do with the ball once he turns the offense over, Bridges has his work cut out for him if he’s to earn considerable playing time as a freshman. But given time to develop and fill out his lithe frame, Bridges could wind up as one of the more remarkable members of this celebrated 2019 recruiting class.

The Stirring Subplot

Jevon Holland is a star, but is there another safety capable of being his flashy sidekick?

Depth at safety is not an issue in the present, nor will it be an issue for the Ducks in the future provided they hold on to their stellar class of recruits at the position. But one does wonder if the Ducks have another true star at safety on the current roster beyond super sophomore Jevon Holland.

Pickett has been the definition of a stabilizing force for Oregon the past two seasons, but has yet to demonstrate much in the way of being a dynamic, game-changing player. Breeze has been similar in this regard, while Hailassie and Stephens have had few opportunities to exhibit difference making qualities in live game action despite displaying momentary flashes in practice settings. Bridges and fellow true freshman Jamal Hill could be players who fill that role eventually, but no one truly knows what either brings to the table until the rubber meets the road beginning next month.

Perhaps it’s a moot question at the end of the day, as the Ducks have survived quite well at safety the past few seasons despite not having two high-profile names with high-profile games patrolling the deep secondary. But with Oregon’s defense trending in an undeniably positive direction, one can’t help but consider the possibilities should the Ducks discover an additional playmaker opposite Holland in the starting lineup.

WFOD’s 2019 Fall Camp Preview – The Quarterbacks
WFOD’s 2019 Fall Camp Preview – The Running Backs
WFOD’s 2019 Fall Camp Preview – The Wide Receivers
WFOD’s 2019 Fall Camp Preview – The Tight Ends
WFOD’s 2019 Fall Camp Preview – The Offensive Line
WFOD’s 2019 Fall Camp Preview – The Defensive Line
WFOD’s 2019 Fall Camp Preview – The Linebackers
WFOD’s 2019 Fall Camp Preview – The Cornerbacks