I think... that one oregon is of course a team that made it to the college football playoffs last year eventually losing to indiana the national who ended up being the national champion what are some of the changes uh from this year's team as opposed to last year's oregon team

There's a lot of continuity in Eugene, but as you said, there are some changes as well.

And that starts at the coordinator spots.

Drew Merringer, new offensive coordinator for the Ducks, got promoted from the tight ends coach where he has been serving on landing staff since coming over in 2022.

So he hasn't been an offensive coordinator since I believe it was 2017 at Rutgers, and things did not go very well over there.

But suffice to say, he's got a lot more talent at his disposal in this Oregon offense.

So that's a big change for Oregon, although you do keep some continuity because you have Koakai as your quarterback's coach, and he worked with Dante Moore a lot last year, as did Merringer.

What were some of the things Boise State did? Maybe some concerns if you were an Oregon fan.

So that being said, what freshmen do you think are going to play some major minutes this weekend?

Yeah, there's plenty to be excited about as far as the first game of the year and those freshmen from the 2026 class on Oregon's roster.

By far and away, the one that has generated the most buzz is offensive lineman Tommy Toffee, who almost wasn't a duck.

He was committed to Tosh Lapoi and Cal for a minute there.

But the Ducks never wavered and they kept on him.

So it seems like with all the open spots for playing time on that elite Terry offensive line, Toffey is one that we expect to see plenty of, if not starting for the Ducks this weekend.

Another one is running back Brandon Smith.

What other commits included and targets are going to be in Eugene for the season

Who are some guys that Oregon's going to be looking at to take over a starting role for them that maybe hasn't been there for a couple years or came in this past spring? Is there anybody that you guys are relying on to have a good year for that you need to step up and be a player for you?

Yeah, I think if you're talking about transfers and new faces, I think that probably starts with Koi Perich, the Minnesota safety transfer.

Oregon had plenty of talent in the back end and still has an abundance of talent in that secondary under Chris Hansen and Rashad Wadud, but Perich is really going to give them more or less a plug-and-play option to replace Dylan Thienemann, who of course is now with the Chicago Bears.

I think on defense, he's definitely one to watch in that secondary.

And then DeAndre Robinson from UNC, he comes over to help bolster the interior for Tony Tuioti's defensive line.

All four starters for Oregon are back on the defensive line.

That's one of the reasons that people are so high on this defense in 2026. but you can't win with only four defensive linemen.

right we'll get you out of here on this one one thing oregon is definitely known for is their the uniforms and just how they have so many different combinations so a two-parter here what's your understanding of who gets to pick the uniform combination each week and And how many uniform combinations do they have year in and year out?

So who would Oregon like to land slash flip on that defensive line before it's all over?

Yeah, that conversation right now starts with really one of their only two uncommitted targets.

That's Braden Parks out of Chicago.

He's down to Oregon and Notre Dame, and that's been a recruitment that we've been following for quite a long time.

Took his last official visit out to Oregon, and that was one that we were kind of hearing behind the scenes that, you know, Notre Dame didn't really want to have happen because it's not easy to, you know, Oregon does a good job with official visits, but for, for how long he's been recruited, I really thought he would have been committed to Notre Dame by now, if that was truly where he wanted to go.

And maybe he ends up there, but you never, you never know these days sometimes.

And, So I think that Parks is definitely the one that I would have circled right now because he hasn't set a firm commitment date.

But who would you point to right now for Oregon fans to start paying attention to? Who are the Ducks making a priority?

I'm going to come to Eugene.

Wow, I mean, that's a great question.

I think it's a combination of a number of things.

I think one thing that probably gets overlooked when it comes to recruiting in Oregon is that a lot of these recruits want to go to Oregon because of the players that they're going to be going against.

It's not... necessarily all the the glitz and glam the nike and the nil and the exposure i mean those are all bonuses but a lot of these guys that i talk to them like why are you going to oregon and what gets you excited about it's like i'm going against the best every day uh you know if i'm going against an amari washington or if i'm going against a poncho lala ulu uh in practice and that's only going to help me and ultimately make the games easier so I do think that that's a big part of it.

A lot of people think that Dan Lanning, recruits have told me that he's a player's first coach, and you can see how he pours into the relationships with his current guys, and they kind of become some of the best advertising, the best marketing for future players.

You see the development under Lanning at Oregon.

I should like

So if you zoom out and look at the big picture for this 2027 class, how high do you think it can go?

Man, I think just solidly inside the top five is continuing to be the expectation and discussion, Spencer.

I feel like I told you that a while ago.

That's kind of the new bar that Dan Laney has set in expectation.

You could maybe say as high as three.

I mean, the guys that they're still going after are very, very highly rated.

I'm assuming we're going to get into kind of who's next.

How has this all landed to you?

That's K-A-C-H-A-V-A .com, code NEWS.

This was a big one for the Ducks, Josh.

Uh, going into the weekend, I, I had thought, and I think many others as well, thought that Cal was actually the team to beat for Taufu.

Uh, seeing that he's right there in the Bay Area, Tosh Lupoi was his primary recruiter when he was on the staff at Oregon, and he has really attacked the Bay Area since getting that job.

So Oregon now has two safeties committed in the 2027 class, along with Semaj Stanford out of Oklahoma.

Uh, they get a long, rangy defensive back that can do a little bit of everything.

I don't think that maybe sliding down to play linebacker if they wanna add some weight to his frame is completely off the table.

Mm-hmm

What was your reaction to that?

I was definitely shocked to a degree, Spencer.

But I, I think that I had been getting the impression that Oregon had kind of been keeping some other options or, you know, looking into some backup options, if you wanna call them.

I don't wanna call them that, but like other cornerbacks in the 2027 class.

They already have Ayking Hall and Josiah Molden committed at corner in the 2027 class.

But, uh, a guy like Tate Walden Jr. is someone that they've been, you know, picking up their interest in from the s- same area, uh, of Tennessee as Chris Hampton is from, the Memphis area.

And then they also recently went in to see Jayden Aparicio-Bailey from Prattville, Alabama, another touted DB that they like at corner.

My favorite tape so far is Rashad Streets, but it's not as if there aren't other guys that, that get you excited about what their careers can be.

Yeah, as far as this year's team.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think that you can't talk about the spring game and not talk about the interior defensive line.

I think Aiden Breland and Matt Johnson are the obvious takeaways and standout performers there.

Deontay Robinson, the North Carolina transfer, had a couple of good plays.

Blue Dantzler, the Oregon State transfer.

Yeah.

I know he's a good player, but can you just give us a little bit of an info about him? Of course.