Projecting Oregon's Defensive Two-Deep in 2022 Season

Oregon's defense battled injuries throughout the 2021 season, but returns a lot of experience in the front seven.

Oregon's defense showed a ton of promise early on in the 2021 season, however the true starting 11 only got to play together for one half of football all year.

The defense was forcing turnovers at an insane clip and with the injuries came a decline in that category. With Verone McKinley, Mykael Wright and potentially DJ James not expected to be with the team next year, the secondary figures to be the group that looks the most different. 

Here's an early look at how the defensive depth chart might shake out.

Defensive tackle

Sam 'Taki' Taimani

Keyon Ware-Hudson or Kristian Williams

Nose tackle

Popo Aumavae

Keanu Williams

Defensive end

Brandon Dorlus

Sua’ava Poti

Outside linebacker

Bradyn Swinson

Treven Ma’ae

Will Linebacker

Justin Flowe

Jackson LaDuke

Mike linebacker

Noah Sewell

Keith Brown

Outside linebacker

Mase Funa

Adrian Jackson or Jake Shipley

STAR (Safety)

Jeffrey Bassa

Jamal Hill

Cornerback

Christian Gonzalez

Trikweze Bridges

Safety

Steve Stephens IV

Bryan Addison

Safety

Bennett Williams

Daymon David

Cornerback

Dontae Manning

Avante Dickerson or Jaylin Davies or Jalil Tucker

Special Teams

Place kicker

Camden Lewis

Cristiano Palazzo

Kick offs

Camden Lewis

Will Hutchinson

Punter

Tom Snee

Race Mahlum

Kick return

Kris Hutson

Seven McGee

Punt return

Seven McGee OR

Kris Hutson

Long snapper

Karsten Battles

Peyton Yanagi

Holder

Tom Snee

Race Mahlum 

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Projecting Oregon's offensive two-deep heading into 2022


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Nick Battey
NICK BATTEY

Nick Battey is a student at the University of Oregon. He recently moved to southern California after living most of his life in Portland. He has covered Pac-12 Football and Oregon sports and also works with Duck TV Sports as a reporter.