Ducks legion of superfreaks will come at opponents in waves

A'Mauri Washington made the "Feldman Freaks List" but that's not the most amazing part of the story. The big news is that the Ducks have a depth chart full of super-athletic trench monsters on defense, guys with beastly size, agility and quickness on the defensive line.

In 2025, they will come at you in waves.

Washington is one, a 6-3, 338 mauler who bench presses 475 and squats 755. That's impressive, but he combines that with a vertical leap of 36 inches and a top speed on the GPS of 20.89 miles an hour. Side-to-side and in short bursts, he's as fast as any quarterback or running back in the Big Ten.

It's the combination of explosiveness and power that makes this unit imposing, particularly when you realize it doesn't stop with Washington. One of his partners on the D-line, 6-5, 304 redshirt freshmen Aydin Breland, talked yesterday about his astounding variety of athletic skills and experience growing up.

"My mom had me in a lot of sports growing up," Breland said. "I've done taekwondo, I've done jiu-jitsu, I've done wrestling, played baseball my whole life."

"Baseball was my first sport before football. Not a lot of people know that. Swimming was also like in the back burner from since I was a kid. I actually played a lot of soccer. I enjoy the trampoline. I like flipping around and doing all that stuff. If there's a pool, I'm going to back flip into it."

" I like diving. What else can I do? The splits came from like taekwondo uh and that translates to baseball first base."

All of it translates to football, the ability to move a big body in space and make adjustments at game speed.

From Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, Breeland was a four-star recruit and the No. 47 prospect in the 2024 247 Sports Composite. He played just five games as a true freshman playing behind two NFL draft picks, but he recorded a quarterback pressure against Michigan State and an another one in the Rose Bowl.

Asked about closing in on Will Howard in the rematch with the Buckeyes, Breland said, "It really just showed me that I can do it on the big stage and that I can play on the collegiate level in a big game."

Breland's athletic versatility gives him position versatility as well.

"Right now they have me going to the six to about the three-tech," he said. "So I play I play some big end and some I would go from the six to the three. So six, five, three, two I sometimes in some calls."

"I like playing it all the D line as a D line. I feel like the 2I and the 4I and the six is all the same. Three-tech, five-tech and the one, it's all the same. It just matters about the bigger bodies when you get in there on the on the inside."

The ability to slide into different roles allows Tosh Lupoi the option to present different looks to the offense without changing personnel, and it makes Breland even more valuable later in the season as the dings and nicks mount on the defensive line. He can set the edge, plug the middle, rush the passer or stuff the run with equal adaptability and effectiveness.

Elite body types and mobility are traits the Oregon coaches have recruited for, and it shows when this unit goes to work. Elijah Rushing, Xadavien Sims, Ashton Porter, Nasir Wyatt, Tobi Haastrup are all second-unit guys, but there's little dropoff when they take the field, either with a hand in the ground or in a two-point stance playing as an outside linebacker.

They're fast. They're strong. They're super-freaky. The leader of the group at 6-5, 272, Matayo Uiagalelei is leading returning sack master in the Big Ten and a future NFL first-round draft pick.

Uiagalelei can windmill-dunk a basketball and also played tight end for a national championship squad at St. John Bosco, big and a fluid athlete.

Lupoi values all of that, but what he singled out to praise during the Ducks' first week of practice was his intelligence.

"This guy has elite smarts, in my opinion," Lupoi said,

"So what that does for us? One, a guy that can communicate a call up front, get us aligned and help us there multiple positions. So we're rotating him. You're going to see him rushing interior. You're going to see him rushing off the edge. He lines up in a two-point, lines up in space, and we have absolute full confidence in him in those positions."

Like a great building a defensive line needs a cornerstone and a central pillar. For the Ducks, that job passes to Bear Alexander, taking over from NFL first-round draft pick Derrick Harmon, who recorded 55 quarterback pressures a year ago.

Alexander has the raw power to be dominating on the defensive line. He's cut his body to 6-3, 302 coming into his redshirt junior season.

At Big Ten Media Days Dan Lanning said, "Bear’s worked his tail off since he’s been here. He understands the perception that’s out there, and like you said, perception isn’t always reality. He puts in more time — film study, extra work — than almost anybody in our program. That speaks to his commitment."

When Lanning had a national championship defense at Georgia in 2021, one that held opponents to 10.2 points a game, its identity was this kind of deep, relentless athleticism. They came at you in waves, like a horde of Vikings raiding an English fishing village.

"Tough, strong, fast and powerful, everywhere all at once." That's the standard.

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