Oregon Cornerback Jahlil Florence Locked in With the Ducks
Oregon got some good news on Tuesday as freshman cornerback Jahlil Florence took to Twitter to make a few things clear regarding his status with the Ducks amid all the transfer portal madness swirling around.
"Not going no where riding with @coach_meat till the wheels fall off! Let's rock out and turn this secondary up," Florence wrote on Twitter.
He got his chance to play big-time football this year as he was put into rotation with a struggling Oregon secondary.
Fellow cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who was just named first-team All-Pac-12, recently declared for the NFL Draft over the weekend. Along with Gonzalez, the Ducks will be losing several defenders including linebacker Justin Flowe, who entered the portal on Monday.
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The transfer portal is transforming college football before our eyes and over 1,000 players have entered their names in hopes of finding a better opportunity.
Florence, a freshman currently with the Ducks, took it upon himself to let people know that he's sticking with Demetrice Martin and Lanning through all this madness and wants to aid in building Oregon’s secondary. As of right now Oregon is ranked 106 out of 131 in pass defense allowing 260.6 yards a game-- something that needs to be addressed ahead of next season.
Seeing action in seven games, Florence finished the season with eight tackles, one tackle for loss, a forced fumble and one interception. Based on these stats, playing the corner position in a big-time stage came rather easy for someone who was just playing high school football a year ago. It should also be noted that Florence was Lanning’s first call as he was walking off the field after winning a national title with Georgia last season.
The cornerback room consists of names like Trikweze Bridges, Dontae Manning, Florence, Jalil Tucker, Daren Barkins and Avante Dickerson, who figure to get the majority of the reps at the end of the month against the Tarheels in the Holiday Bowl. Next year, Oregon will be adding three new corners to their roster with two four-stars in Cole Martin, Caleb Presley, and three-star Collin Gill.
The Ducks will also look into the transfer portal to add some experienced talent that also shares what Lanning wants in a player for his program. As each day goes by, we should keep an eye out on all kinds of movement throughout the country, especially with a fast-growing Pac-12 conference that just added Deion Sanders as Colorado’s head coach.
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