Oregon Football: Ranking each position group as of spring 2021

Heading into spring ball, Oregon football has experienced some injury issues as well as some young guys stepping up and earning praise from head coach Mario Cristobal.

The Ducks will have one of the most talented rosters in all of college football when the season kicks off on Sept. 4 against Fresno State. The only major question mark heading into the regular season has to be the quarterback position which has been up in the air since Justin Herbert left after the 2019 season. Tyler Shough transferred to Texas Tech and Anthony Brown returns to challenge Ty Thompson, Jay Butterfield, and Robby Ashford for the starting job.

Outside of the quarterback position, the Ducks bring back plenty of talent and experience throughout the roster.

Here’s how the position groups rank in the midst of spring ball.

7. Quarterback

This might seem like a slight on the quarterbacks for ranking them last on the team in terms of position groups, but they’re this low because of the lack of experience.

There are just so many question marks as spring ball starts with this position but I will say that the ceiling could be a top-three position group on the team while the floor has them right here.

Anthony Brown is talented enough to win the job, but will he live up to expectations? And if he doesn’t win the job, how comfortable is the coaching staff with trusting a young quarterback that has never played a single down at the college level? If Brown doesn’t win the job, the starter will have zero experience and that’s enough to rank the Ducks’ quarterbacks last on the team right now.

Ty Thompson may be the most naturally talented quarterback on the roster, but we just don’t know enough about him, Jay Butterfield, or Robby Ashford yet.