Kids want to play and further their NFL dreams. It's only natural that on a deep and talented roster a few players will drop off and hit the portal.
While it's understandable from a player's point of view it's a challenge for coaches, particularly when there's a run at one position. In the last two days, reserve cornerbacks Jahlil Florence and Dakoda Fields have announced a decision to enter the Transfer Portal in January.
Both were third on the depth chart and both have left the team eight games into the season. While neither has played since the blowout wins in early September, it's still a blow to the depth needed for practice reps, special teams and as insurance against injuries.
Fields and Florence will land somewhere, tall, talented cornerbacks with above average speed and good coverage ability. Fields earned a four-star rating in the class of 2024, 6-2, 200 from Junipero Serra High, straight out of Compton, California.
The loss of either is not damaging unless the Ducks suffer a corresponding run of injuries at defensive back, keeping in mind that a long season is potentially little more than half over-- it takes 16 games to win a national championship now, and Oregon is 7-1.
Football is a game of numbers. The Ducks currently rank No. 1 in pass defense and the players ahead of these two are playing well above the line. Lanning wished Florence well in his transfer decision, and no doubt he's expressed the same regard for Fields a day later.
While players leaving is the reality of college football in the NIL/portal era, it's something fans hate to see the week of a crucial game. Recruiting at the level Oregon does, it's an inevitable predicament.
With Brandon Finney, Theran Johnson, Na'eem Offord, Ify Obidegwu, Jadon Canaday, and Sione Laulea playing as well as they are, the loss of two that weren't on the travel squad is just natural attrition, as long as injuries don't factor in also.
In 2026 recruiting the Ducks have commitments from four top defensive backs in Jett Washington, Davon Benjamin, Xavier Lherisse and Devin Jackson. The intense competition for playing time will start all over when they hit campus.