The Top 25 Ducks since 2000
At "Ducks Wire," Zachary Neel and Don Smalley put together a fun preseason series ranking the best Ducks of the greatest era in Oregon football, the Ducks Top 25 players since 2000, the 10-2 season when Oregon beat Texas in the Holiday Bowl.
The following year with Joey Harrington at quarterback, Mike Bellotti's squad finished 11-1, walloping Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl 38-16. That squad should have played in the BCS National Championship, nosed out by the committee in favor of Nebraska, who LOST to the Buffs in the Big 12 Championship.
Their series continues Thursday with number one, which in all likelihood should be a guy who wore number 8:
No. 25 — Bucky Irving
No. 24 — TJ Ward
No. 23 — Tez Johnson
No. 22 — Troy Dye
No. 21 — Samie Parker
No. 20 — Patrick Chung
No. 19 — Kayvon Thibodeaux
No. 18 — Troy Franklin
No. 17 — Nick Reed
No. 16 — Jairus Byrd
No. 15 — Jeff Maehl
No. 14 — Walter Thurmond III
No. 13 — Bo Nix
No. 12 — Penei Sewell
No. 11 — DeForest Buckner
No. 10 — Joey Harrington
No. 9 — Dennis Dixon
No. 8 — Jonathan Stewart
No. 7 — De'Anthony Thomas
No. 6 — Kenjon Barner
No. 5 — Haloti Ngata
No. 4 — Royce Freeman
No. 3 — Justin Herbert
Ranking the 25 best Oregon Ducks since 2000: No. 2 — LaMichael James https://t.co/KpCwNvJXZ7 pic.twitter.com/bAzS2Ahued
— Ducks Wire (@Ducks_Wire) July 30, 2025
It's a testament to the depth of this era of Oregon football is that this list leaves out some really good players, like Terrance Ferguson, the all-time touchdowns and receptions leader at tight end, Ed Dickson, the all-time yardage leader at tight end, and Jackson Powers-Johnson, the Ducks' only Rimington Award winner at center. This should be discussed over beers at Track Town Pizza.
Big visit weekend for basketball coming up
Collin King of Ducks Rising that the September 6 football game against Oklahoma State is a big weekend for Dana Altman and Oregon basketball with several key 2026 prospects coming to town.
Another MAJOR visitor for September 6th, joins a loaded weekend of visitors in 5-Star PG Taylen Kinney, 5-Star SF Tajh Ariza, and 4-Star SG Adam Oumiddoch.
— Collin King (@InsiderDucks) July 30, 2025
4-Star SF Cameron Holmes will visit September 20th. 5-Star SF Tyran Stokes, and 4-Star C Arafan Diane (cont) https://t.co/BDFzDyjJ5k
It's an important year for Ducks recruiting on the hardwood as Nate Bittle is a senior while Jackson Shelstad and Kwame Evans will be draft eligible, which could free up some NIL money. Altman, 25-10 in UO's first year in the Big Ten, has to restock to stay competitive.
Big Ten defending Champions start practice
Dante Moore, Matayo Uiagalelei, Bryce Boettcher and Dillon Thieneman and a talented 2025 Oregon roster hit Autzen Stadium Wednesday morning for the first practice of August camp.
A challenge for the Ducks this year is that their state-of-the-art practice facility is undergoing renovation, which means they don't have dual fields available for two-spot work. It's an extra challenge in a season with so many young players taking over key roles in the two-deep.
The Ducks had a record 10 players drafted, 11 others who signed free agent contracts or got an invitation to training camp.
Monday at Oregon Media Day Dan Lanning said, "Certainly thrilled to be back at work. It's fun to see the guys back in the building. Excited to see about what questions we're able to answer this fall camp. I know our guys are ready to work."
Back in business.#GoDucks x @DuckSwag pic.twitter.com/eqadEZL5v0
— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) July 29, 2025