Oregon Ducks Coach Makes Bold Kenyon Sadiq, Brock Bowers Statement After Practice

Breaking down everything Oregon Ducks Football offensive coordinator Will Stein said about the second day of fall camp.

New Oregon offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Will Stein leads a drill on the first practice of spring for Oregon football as the Ducks prepare for the 2023 season. Eug 031623 Uo Spring Fb 15 / Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

As the second day of Oregon Football’s fall camp came to a close, both offensive and defensive coordinators Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi made themselves available to members of the media. Coach Dan Lanning said yesterday he was simply looking for enthusiasm for the monumental season ahead, but wouldn’t elaborate too much further on the dynamics within position groups and potential depth rankings. 

However, with Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein, Duck fans got clearer insight on the athletes to hit Rich Brooks field on August 31st against Idaho. Stein began by speaking to quarterback Dillon Gabriels’ participation in the Manning Passing Academy as a counselor, an honor Oregon Football has sent a quarterback to for the past five straight years.

“Dillon and I stayed in constant communication the entire summer,” Stein said. “He obviously enjoyed his time at the Manning camp and read 11, but I think his best time was here in Eugene. Getting to work with our guys who are starting to really master offense and it's showing in practice and it showed in summer and his leadership is really starting to show as well. He's becoming more vocal. Guys are really bought into him.”

Though Oregon’s squad this year boasts an unusual number of veterans, Stein assures Gabriel is a powerful voice on and off the field.

“Even though you're a great leader, you come in a new group, it's hard to just be that voice immediately,” Stein said. “Because this is a veteran team. So it's not like we were craving veteran leadership steps here. So he's had to find his way and find his voice. And I think it started with just his mentality and come here, be humble, be hungry and work. Get to know the guys that build that camaraderie within our offense and then the entire team. And you saw this summer his voice start to really impact on a daily basis.”

Oregon’s quarterbacks pressure offensive coordinator Will Stein as he runs through a drill during practice with the Oregon Ducks Saturday, April 6, 2024 at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Speaking of mastering the offense, Stein shouted out junior running back Jordan James. James, who played 14 games last season and averaged 7.09 yards per carry, the 10th most nationally for that season and top of the PAC-12, is looking like he’ll make a mark this season.

“I mean, when you look at him right now, he's faster than he’s ever been,” Stein said. “I'm talking real breakaway scheme, which is very impressive. He's another guy that's now in year three of the system, a year or two with me, so terminology, just time on task. He's at a point now where he can go run every route, protect every pass pro and I think he's a three down back and he's an incredible player, and excited about was in due process season.”

“He sent it over 23 miles per hour in the summer,” Stein said also about James. “Like, that’s really fast and he's over 200 pounds. That was aggressive.”

And then there’s junior running back Jay Harris. Harris transferred to Oregon this year from division two school Northwest Missouri State, and Stein says he still has some learning to do when it comes to the elite level of play Harris entered into.

“You just see the amount that we practice,” Stein said. “The amount that we walked through our play practices and summer, he’s another kid has made tremendous strides. We're still nowhere near where we need him to be. But he's super strong.”

That physicality and large stature helps James, as Stein says he’s picking up the skills to play at a division one level.

“The plays, right. I mean, we've come into this system where we have a lot of heat and a lot of formations. We asked the back to only protect but the one route so I think route running was something that he needed to improve and just learning how to practice at this level. Like what does finish actually mean?” Stein said about James.

Stein also made a pretty bold statement comparing sophomore tight end Kenyon Sadiq to Brock Bowers, the Georgia tight end and a first round pick for the Las Vegas Raiders that’s currently making a name for himself in training camp.

“We want to get him the ball as many ways as we can,” Stein said. “And early in camp, we're really just trying to reinstall our base offense but as we get closer to the game weeks he's a guy that we want a personnel specific place for. And it's been different guys across the country over the years. I've been thinking about the kid that just got drafted from Georgia that is with the Raiders now. I'm not saying Kenyon is Brock Bowers, okay. He's not there yet. But he has all the skills to be a player in terms of true tight end play out of the backfield flexed. So excited about where he's going.”

But when it comes to Stein’s expectations for his offense in regards to fall practice, he just wants to see penalties reduced and less botched snaps; two things that plagued the Ducks last year.

“I mean, if you look at our rankings in the major statistical categories, they're all you know, obviously really good. Penalties is something that killed us in spots. And then we always want to be a team that plays clean. Reducing penalties pre-snap, post-snap, playing clean, and then it comes down to turnovers and explosive plays. So anytime we can limit turnovers and have more explosive notes in the one good shape,” Stein said.

As for perfecting snaps, Stein assured their repeated drills are showing results.

“I feel good. I mean, our first few days we've been clean, so we snap every single day we snap all the time in the summer. You start with CQ change. That's the first thing we do every single practice. We walk through a ton. So he's getting a million reps a day. It just comes to game reps, which he's had. And just making sure we're iron out, but I feel really good right now,” Stein said.