It’s been practically two full months since the 2019 season ended for the Oregon Ducks; a season that will be long remembered as a year of resurgence for the Oregon football program.
A Pac-12 Championship. A Rose Bowl victory. A second consecutive star-studded recruiting class signed, sealed, and all but delivered. Those types of accomplishments simultaneously restore the integrity of a proud program while also serving as an emphatic launch point for a new era under the direction of Mario Cristobal.
Yet, as strange as it may seem, the time for reminiscing and the savoring of moments from the recent past is over – at least insofar as it relates to Cristobal and his coaching staff. The countdown to spring practice can be marked by days, if not hours, and with it marks the first tangible signs that preparations for the upcoming 2020 season are underway.
With spring football set to begin in earnest for the Ducks on March 5, culminating with the annual spring game on April 18, WFOD is taking the time between now and then to examine the prevailing storylines at each position group.
Today, our Spring Storylines series continues with a look at linebacker.
What might 2020 have in store for Oregon’s young guns at linebacker?
It’s not often that you lose three senior starters that were the emotional heartbeat of your defense and expect to be better the following season, but that’s more or less the position that the Ducks find themselves in at linebacker entering the 2020 season.
And that’s no disrespect to Troy Dye, La’Mar Winston, and Bryson Young; three players who experienced some of the highest of highs and lowest of lows one can experience over the course of a four-year college career. From their time as true freshmen on a 2016 team that fielded a defense that was among the very worst in college football, to a 2019 team that won a Pac-12 title and a Rose Bowl in large part because of the dominance of the defense, Dye, Winston, and Young were models of perseverance and dedication during their time in Eugene. With their departure, they leave behind enormous shoes to fill for the next wave of linebackers at Oregon.
The good news for Duck fans is that the next wave of linebackers at Oregon could wind up being the best collection of talent assembled at the position in the history of the program.
The elder statesman of next year’s group is redshirt junior Isaac Slade-Matautia. Largely playing in the shadow of Dye, who graduates as one of the most productive linebackers in school history, Slade-Matautia quietly established himself last season as a leader in his own right. Widely regarded as the on-field air traffic controller of the Oregon defense, Slade-Matautia enjoyed a breakout season in 2019, finishing the tied for fourth on the team in tackles (62) and fourth in tackles for loss (6.5), while leading the team in passes broken up (11) and quarterback hurries (6). With the talented youth around him, expect his leadership role to expand even more in 2020.
Flanking Slade-Matautia at the outside linebacker positions are a pair of uber talented sophomores in Mase Funa and Adrian Jackson. After missing his entire senior season of high school football following a knee injury, Funa hit the ground running as true freshman with the Ducks last season, particularly in the early portion of the year. Expected to take over full-time for Young at STUD linebacker, Funa finished his debut season third on the team in tackles for loss (8.5) and second in sacks (4.0). Of all the players set to return for the Ducks on the defensive side of the ball, Funa – formerly ranked as fourth-best inside linebacker in the country from the 2019 class – may be the player most primed for an even bigger breakout season this fall.
Pushing Funa as a potential breakout star next season is Jackson. After flashing enormous potential as a true freshman in 2018, the Denver native missed all of last season with a foot injury that forced him to utilize his redshirt. Expected to be fully healthy by the time spring drills kick off, Jackson is a popular pick to take over for Winston at SAM linebacker, where his athletic 6-foot-2, 232-pound frame offers tremendous utility as a blitzer, run-stuffer, or defender in coverage.
The return of those players alone provides defensive coordinator Andy Avalos and linebackers coach Ken Wilson with a terrific foundation to build upon in a post-Dye/Winston/Young world, but the process of re-jiggering the linebacker corp should only be hastened by the addition of the top two inside linebackers in the country from the 2020 class in Justin Flowe and Noah Sewell.
In Flowe and Sewell, the Ducks have two bona fide generational talents entering the program at the linebacker position. In fact, Flowe and Sewell rank as the second and fifth highest-rated prospects, respectively, to ever sign with Oregon, combining with Kayvon Thibodeaux (the highest-rated recruit in program history) to give the Ducks perhaps the best young core of defensive talent in the entire country. Expected to arrive on campus later this spring, Flowe is a 6-foot-2, 226-pound heat-seeking missile who has been on the radar of recruiting analysts and SoCal recruiters since arriving on the scene as a high school freshman. Nicknamed “Baby Man,” Flowe’s mature build and violent style of play belies his youth, as the nation’s top-rated linebacker could easily find himself taking over the starting spot vacated by Dye his first day at practice.
Not to be outdone by Flowe, is Sewell. As the younger brother of Oregon star left tackle Penei Sewell, Noah Sewell arrived on campus in January ready to blaze his own trail as a Duck. Regarded as perhaps the best all-around football player in the Sewell family, Noah is a freakishly-skilled 6-foot-2, 266-pound athlete. The speed and agility he plays with for an athlete of his size is one-of-one, as he could legitimately play anywhere in the front seven of a defense, and perhaps even as a safety if Avalos wanted to get especially creative. A star running back in high school to boot, Sewell figures to make his home at linebacker, as his versatility could have him sliding into any one of the linebacker positions in Oregon’s defense.
Spring Storylines: Is Tyler Shough ready to ascend to true QB1 status?
Spring Storylines: How much might Sean Dollars’ role expand in 2020?
Spring Storylines: What can be expected from Devon Williams in year one?
Spring Storylines: Who steps up at tight end?
Spring Storylines: How does Oregon go about replacing four starters along the offensive line?
Spring Storylines: What is the next evolution in Kayvon Thibodeaux’s game?
Top Photo: Oregon LB Mase Funa (GoDucks.com)