How Oregon Football Recruits the Edge Position

One of the most unique positions on the Ducks' defense requires a special type of player.

The Ducks are about to enter the 2021 season with a whole lot of hype. One of the main reasons Oregon is generating a lot of buzz is Kayvon Thibdeaux, who is widely viewed as the most dominant defensive player in all of college football.

It feels like he just signed as ESPN's No. 1 overall recruit in the 2019 class and proceeded to take the country by storm. We may not have known it at the time, but he would become a truly program-changing talent. 

In his freshman season, he flashed a lightning fast first step, an elite ability to bend around offensive linemen, and get after the quarterback. 

But now it’s 2021 and Oregon the staff is already busy searching for his replacement on the recruiting trail with his expected departure looming. Names like Cyrus Moss, SI All-American’s No. 13 edge defender from Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman, are at the top of the recruiting wish list. 

As one of the best players in his state, and effectively the entire country, Moss has garnered national attention as a recruit, and is working from a select group of schools that includes Oregon, Arizona State, Notre Dame, Florida, and Alabama. Ohio State is getting into the picture as well. 

With Oregon's 2022 recruiting class starting to fill up, the staff can get more selective in their search for specific types of players. Mario Cristobal recently shed some light on what goes into the evaluation process when looking for his next edge defender--a player with potential to wreak havoc and disrupt a lot of plays.  

"The way that we recruit, particularly that position, we're looking for size and growth potential, as well as range, explosiveness, flexibility," Cristobal told reporters following Oregon first scrimmage of fall camp. "Guys gotta be very hip and ankle flexible. They gotta be able to bend at their knees, they gotta be able to come out of their hips."

Moss checks all of those boxes, but the heir apparent to Oregon's edge position may already be with the Ducks in Eugene. 

Bradyn Swinson, a 6-foot-4, 244-pound freshman defensive end, has received a lot of praise from Cristobal in fall camp. The head coach wound back the clock and took us inside his evaluation process of the Doulgasville (Ga.) Chapel Hill High School standout.

"He did all that (in high school). He was I believe the region and state defensive player of the year," Cristobal said of Swinson. "And you saw all that potential on film, but when you get to college you gotta learn a lot of stuff."

Since signing with the Ducks in 2020, he's a player that sounds like he's taken the next step in his development, and it starts with honing in on his physical gifts as an athlete.

"He's an exceptional athlete for a large guy. He's explosive, he's long, he's got a lotta range," Cristobal said. "The guy can bend, I mean--tremendous flexibility."

His pass-rushing ability certainly sounds like it's coming along, but in Cristobal's eyes, that's not the most demanding area of the game when making the jump from high school to college.

"He did it in the run game setting edges," Cristobal said of his growth in the last week of practice. "He did it in the run game taking on double teams--when you're a freshman and you're an edge player that's one of the most difficult things that you have to do. He did a great job with that. And then as a pass rusher he just continues to progress more and more and more."

What perhaps sweetens the pot even more for Swinson's potential, is his ability to impact the game beyond the defense.

"With Bradyn I can say this. Not only is his value big on the edge on defense, the guy's done a great job on special teams. You're gonna see Bradyn Swinson all over the field."

More from Ducks Digest

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Elite 2022 WR Tetairoa McMillan commits to Oregon

Torres' Take: How Mario Cristobal built a strong culture at Oregon

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