Oregon football: 3 breakout candidates on defense for 2021 season

The Justin Flowe hype heading into the 2020 season was real. He was the No. 6 recruit in the 2020 class and the five-star was expected to push for a starting spot right away along with Noah Sewell. Unfortunately, injuries derailed that hype, at least for the year.

Entering his first real spring, Flowe was finally healthy and the coaching staff loved what they saw from him. Many weren’t sure if he would start in 2021, but with Isaac Slade-Matautia transferring to SMU, that starting job at Will linebacker has opened up nicely for him. Now everyone would be shocked if he wasn’t starting alongside Sewell, Mase Funa, and Adrian Jackson.

And Flowe doesn’t just have All-Pac-12 potential like the previous two breakout picks on this list, he has serious All-American talent.

Like Sewell, Flowe could be an immediate star and with a year of learning under his belt, he now has the perfect opportunity to star in a talented Oregon defense and make up one-fourth of one of the best linebacking corps in the nation.

Flowe has the talent, potential, hype, and jacked frame to strike fear into opponents and he’s going to be a nightmare for the rest of the Pac-12 in 2021 and beyond.