Going into 2025 Oregon is a team with no weaknesses. Some question marks, yes, but there isn't a position where the Ducks don't have above average talent as a football team.
Dan Lanning pointedly said after the Spring Game that he's happy with the progress of the young linebackers and the Ducks wouldn't be looking into the spring portal at that position.
Generally they have depth all over. How far they go in defending their Big Ten Championship and making and advancing in the playoffs depends chiefly on two things, health, and Dante Moore's readiness to be a top Big Ten quarterback.
The one position group where the Ducks are potentially thin is tight end.
As Spencer McLaughlin notes in today's episode of "Locked On Ducks," it's imperative that Kenyon Sadiq stays healthy all year. He's a difference-making talent, and should be one of the best weapons in Oregon's offense.
Behind him, the depth is uncertain. Louisville transfer Jamari Johnson has good size at 6-6, 265 and good hands for a big man, but he's coming off a leg injury that cost him eight games in 2025.
Sophomore Roger Saleapaga played well on special teams last season but missed the last three games of the year with an injury. True freshman Vander Ploog and redshirt freshman A.J. Pugliano are both four-stars but untested.
Ploog is 6-6, 225. As McLaughlin notes, he probably needs another year of seasoning and time in the weight room before he's ready to be an in-line tight end in the Jumbo package.
Will Stein employed three tight ends a lot last season, but that seems tricky with this lack of experience in 2025. And the Ducks are woefully vulnerable if Sadiq goes down at any time.
One of the top five prospects left in the spring portal is a tight end from Rice, Boden Groen, 6-4, 240.
Groen only played four games in 2024 due to an injury, but in 2023 he caught 39 passes for 383 yards and three touchdowns for the Owls, second among AAC tight ends.
A two-star recruit from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., Groen has teammates on the Oregon roster and some old foes like Matayo Uiagalelei.
He's not a superstar, but he'd be a good fit for a role like Patrick Herbert played in 2024, or Casey Kelly in 2023, a third tight end, a veteran, an insurance policy.
Groen has already taken visits to Wisconsin and Kansas. It could be that he's set on looking for a spot where he's got an opportunity to fill a vacancy and be a full-time starter. But it's easy to see how it'd be worth taking a look at his film or making a phone call.
Otherwise, the Ducks have to manage with one potential All-American backed up by four question marks. It's Oregon's least certain position group.