It wasn’t supposed to play out like this. None of it was supposed to play out like this.
In many ways, those words can be a reflection of life, particularly so in 2020.
Entering the calendar year, the Ducks and head coach Mario Cristobal were riding high coming off a Pac-12 Championship and a victory over top 10-ranked Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Even more, they had signed a stellar 2020 recruiting class highlighted by some of the nation’s best talent in December, and looked primed to enter this fall as a serious contender for the College Football Playoff.
Indeed, things were turning up rather rosy for Cristobal, Oregon, and the rest of the country roughly nine months ago – until they weren’t. COVID-19, social unrest from coast-to-coast, wildfires throughout the state of Oregon (and up and down the West Coast), and a laundry list of other unimaginable things served as the preamble to the postponement of the Pac-12 season, otherwise dimming the sunny outlook that was present at the beginning of the year.
The fallout of all this (COVID-19, primarily) has pushed a number of college football’s top players to opt out of the 2020 season altogether. The Ducks have felt the brunt of that impact in recent weeks, as Penei Sewell, Deommodore Lenoir, Thomas Graham, and Jevon Holland have each officially declared that they would be foregoing the opportunity to play in 2020 in order to begin preparation for the 2021 NFL Draft.
Sewell’s decision was largely a foregone conclusion once the Pac-12 season was initially postponed in August, as the immensely talented junior left tackle is widely expected to be a top five pick next April. However, the decisions by Lenoir, Graham, and Holland weren’t as much of a guarantee.
Though each member of the power trio in Oregon’s secondary is expected to be selected in next year’s draft, none are necessarily the early round lock that Sewell is. Of the three, Holland is lone player with true first round potential, though during these uncertain times, it’s easy to see why any player with a real opportunity to get drafted would make the decision to preserve their health and skip an already disjointed 2020 campaign.
The question now is, where does this leave Oregon’s defensive backfield?
In fairness, pre-COVID, none of these players were expected to be on the roster in the fall of 2021, so any fan disappointment surrounding a decision not to play in what will be a dramatically watered down season feels misguided. All the decisions from Sewell, Holland, Lenoir, and Graham have done is provide coaches, fans, and media members with an early preview of the future at these respective positions.
With that, Duck fans can expect to see sophomores Mykael Wright and DJ James take over for Lenoir and Graham at the starting boundary and field cornerback positions. As true freshmen in 2019, both players saw extensive action, as Wright appeared in 14 games, while James appeared in 13. It was Wright, however, who made the biggest splash, registering 21 tackles, four pass break-ups, one interception, and two electrifying kickoff returns for touchdowns en route to earning Freshman All-American honors. He boldly emerges as the new face of the Oregon secondary once the Ducks return to the field, as redshirt freshman Trikweze Bridges and highly-touted true freshman Dontae Manning look to provide immediate depth behind both players.
The task of replacing Holland at nickel appears to be a bit more uncertain. Any number of players could factor into the mix at Holland’s old position, but the most likely bets are redshirt sophomore Verone McKinley and sophomore Jamal Hill. Like Wright, McKinley was also a Freshman All-American in 2019, tying for the Pac-12 and team lead in interceptions (4) while also tallying 46 tackles. With the versatility to play both safety and corner, he seems like the most logical candidate to replace Holland, but don’t count out Hill, who flashed on special teams as freshman and has the athleticism and versatility to excel as a nickel defender.
Top Photo: Oregon DB Jevon Holland (Truong Nguyen/FishDuck.com)