Preseason Camp Preview: Secondary
08/02/18 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
Ugochukwu Amadi provides veteran leadership for a deep safety group, and sophomores Thomas Graham Jr. and Deommodore Lenoir look like emerging stalwarts at corner.
Assessing where things stand for the Oregon football team entering the start of preseason camp Aug. 3.
SECONDARY
Who's back: With four-year staples Arrion Springs and Tyree Robinson now off trying to make NFL rosters, it's a bit of a transition year on the back end for Oregon. The veteran leader is senior safety Ugochukwu Amadi, who moved from corner to safety midway through the 2017 season and thrived in his new spot. The other returning starter is sophomore cornerback Thomas Graham Jr., who started 12 of 13 games last fall; at this level, that makes one a seasoned veteran, and Graham carried himself with that sort of presence in the spring. The improvement from freshman to sophomore year is usually significant, particularly with the kind of experience Graham now has under his belt. Fellow sophomore Deommodore Lenoir didn't get quite as much playing time, but along with receiver Jaylon Redd, he might have been the Duck who made the biggest improvement over the final month of last season, and he consistently played with the first-team defense in the spring.
Nick Pickett was another true freshman starter on the back end in 2017, until injuries took their toll. He missed spring drills while recovering, and so presumably will be asked to demonstrate in August that he's all the way back in order to reclaim that starting spot. Senior Mattrell McGraw is in his final go-round and figures to be highly motivated to finish his career on a high note; he'll be pushed not only by Pickett and his fellow sophomore Brady Breeze, but a group of young guys that includes Billy Gibson, who played sparingly as a true freshman in 2017, and true freshman Steve Stephens, among the most highly regarded of Oregon's 2018 recruits and a spring enrollee.
Freshman cornerback Verone McKinley III also enrolled this spring, and made huge strides over the course of March and April. The first week of practice looked like an eye-opening experience – as of course it would be – but McKinley turned a corner in the middle of the spring and finished very strong. Few players on the roster made a bigger improvement from the opening practice of spring drills to the spring game, in which McKinley broke up two passes to match Graham for the most on the day. Junior college transfer Haki Woods, who has one year of eligibility with the Ducks, also enrolled for the spring. With his length and athleticism, he looks the part of an elite corner. If he can put all his tools to effective use, look out. But Graham and Lenoir didn't look like they were ready to cede any first-team reps, at least in the spring. Walk-ons Dexter Myers and Charles Sudduth provide more returning depth at corner, and they're not just practice bodies; each consistently makes plays with the scout team. The same could be said of safety Sean Killpatrick, who along with being a dependable scout-team player is one of the Ducks most heavily involved in O Heroes community service work, along with being an outstanding student.
Who's new: Safety was already just a little bit deeper than corner, and that is the case even more so now that freshmen Jevon Holland and Bryan Addison are on campus. Holland carries himself with the confident swagger of a big-time defensive back, and now has a chance to make a case for early playing time this month. Addison was a late addition to this recruiting class, and with his 6-foot-5, 180-pound frame, he has the ability to be a big-time receiver, too. Kahlef Hailassie is now on campus with his fellow 2018 recruit McKinley at corner. New walk-ons Damon Hickok, Jordan Adeyemi-John and Lucas Noland further enhance the depth that was so lacking on the 2017 scout team.
ROB'S TAKE
Projected depth chart
CB: Thomas Graham Jr., So.; Verone McKinley III, Fr.; Kahlef Hailassie, Fr.; Dexter Myers, So.; Damon Hickok, Fr.
CB: Deommodore Lenoir, So.; Haki Woods, Sr.; Charles Sudduth, Jr.; Jordan Adeyemi-John, Fr.
S: Ugochukwu Amadi, Sr.; Brady Breeze, So.; Steve Stephens, Fr.; Bryan Addison, Fr.; Lucas Noland, Fr.
S: Mattrell McGraw, Sr.; Nick Pickett, So.; Billy Gibson, So.; Jevon Holland, Fr.; Sean Killpatrick, Jr.
What to watch: With Amadi, McGraw, Breeze and Pickett back at safety, plus the potential of the freshmen, there's little doubt the back end will be in good hands, whoever is in the two-deep come Sept. 1. And the depth and talent in the front seven will further ease the pressure on Graham and Lenoir as they continue their emergence into top-flight Pac-12 cornerbacks. The recent history for Oregon football when relying on young corners is mixed – the 2002 team struggled to overcome the graduation of Rashad Bauman and Steve Smith, and the 2015 team similarly had a hard time quickly replacing Troy Hill, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and Erick Dargan. The 2006 pass defense, on the other hand, thrived with redshirt freshmen and future NFL standouts Jairus Byrd and Walter Thurmond III at corner. Graham and Lenoir are ahead of the curve in terms of experience, as sophomores, and now have a chance to show Oregon fans and the Pac-12 that they're more than capable of complementing all the proven parts around them on the UO defense.
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