While it's true Oregon hasn't yet had the success of the true blue bloods like Alabama, Notre Dame, Michigan, Georgia or Ohio State, there have been some great football players and great stories that have come through Eugene.
The idea of a Mount Rushmore or all-time greatest list is simply a fun way to remember them, honor their contribution to Duck football. It's an entertaining discussion with the season still 85 days away.
On the offensive line, there have to be five, or it's not a complete unit. Three names jump out immediately:
Penei Sewell 2018-2020, left tackle
Unanimous All-American and Outland Trophy winner in 2019, First Team All-PAC-12, picked 7th overall in the first round by Detroit. In his fifth season in the NFL, Sewell is one of the highest-paid offensive linemen in the game, earning $28 million a year, a two-time All-Pro.
Jackson Powers-Johnson 2001-2023, center
Unanimous All-American and Rimington Award winner in 2023, First Team All-PAC-12, picked in the second round by the Las Vegas Raiders, 44th overall, named to the 2024 NFL All-Rookie Team. JPJ currently works under his rookie deal, a four-year, $8,767,762 contract that included a $3.1 million signing bonus.
Gary Zimmerman 1980-83, guard
Zimmerman played 12 years in the NFL, a Super Bowl winner and three-time All-Pro, elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008. At Oregon he earned First Team All-American honors as a senior and the Morris Trophy as the conference's best lineman.
Max Unger 2004-2008 Center and left tackle
Unger played left tackle for two seasons and center in 2008, All-PAC-10 and a First Team All-American in 2008, named to the SI All-American team in 2007. Picked in the second round by the Seattle Seahawks, 49th overall, Unger earned a Super Bowl ring in 2013, a 10-year NFL veteran and an All-Pro in 2012.
Adam Snyder 2001-2004, guard and tackle
Snyder started in three different spots as a Duck, settling in at left tackle in 2004. He logged ten seasons in the pros after being drafted in the third round by San Francisco, 94th overall, a First Team All-American and winner of the Morris Trophy in 2004.
There have been many, many hard-working and courageous offensive linemen at Oregon going back to a former governor of Oregon, Victor Atiyeh in the 1940s. Jake Fisher and Hroniss Grasu anchored a squad that went to the national championship. Tyrell Crosby started four seasons at left tackle.
The indomitable 2016 class of Calvin Throckmorton, Jake Hanson, Shane Lemieux, and Brady Aiello all came in together, won a Rose Bowl in 2019 and all made it to the NFL Jim Adams won the Morris Award twice.
Dan Weaver came on as a walk-on, started on a No.2-ranked team in 2001 and earned a scholarship. Geoff Schwartz led the PAC-10 in rushing yards by an offensive tackle. Fred Quillan played 12 years in the NFL and won two Super Bowls with the 49ers.
Enoka Lucas made the All-PAC-10 first team in 2006.
If five were picked to represent all of them, it would be Sewell, Powers-Johnson, Zimmerman Unger and Snyder.