As Oregon works through fall camp, Dan Lanning is narrowing the focus to a simple question: which Ducks can actually execute when the ball is snapped?
That has to be the thread for a team with championship expectations. Oregon enters the 2026 college football season with one of the deepest rosters in the country, and the margin between a good season and the one the fanbase wants will come down to performance on both sides of the ball.
With the Sept. 5 home opener against Boise State at Autzen Stadium approaching, Lanning laid out how Oregon is approaching that evaluation.
“Today is let’s call stuff that we know our guys can execute, so we can figure out who’s the guy that’s best at blocking, who’s the guy that’s best at tackling, who’s the guy the best at breaking tackles.”
He added that the staff is now shaping the scheme around the roster rather than constantly forcing in new material.
“But now what we will do is take what we have and figure out what fits our players best and then find the tweaks that we can add and remove. You know, with us being able to do a lot in the off-season.
These guys are light years ahead of what it used to look like, you know, four years ago, five years ago when I first got here, how much time you have to take advantage of. Those guys have taken advantage of it.
So there’s not a lot that gets thrown in this brand new.”
For Lanning, it keeps coming back to the same standard.
“It’s just a matter of, ‘Okay, can I get in the right play? If we have a check on it?
Is it if we can get the right play with a certain tag that we might throw on a play on both sides of the ball, and then can I execute? So again, am I accountable and am I capable of doing that?”
That process will matter most with quarterback Dante Moore, who is expected to be the biggest driver of Oregon’s offense and, by extension, its push for a first national title in program history. But he won’t have to carry everything alone.
The Ducks have a receiver room with multiple players who could become major answers for Moore, including Dakorien Moore, Jeremiah McClellan, Evan Stewart, and UAB transfer Iverson Hooks. All four have a real case to emerge as the quarterback’s top weapon.
Dakorien Moore, though, sounds ready to claim that role himself.
“Just knowing what I trained for … To be the best. Yeah, to be the best, I train like that, and I put it in my mind.
So I’m really praying that that’s the outcome that I get … When you train, it's certain people you’ll see certain training that they’ll be able to breathe and talk while they’re training. And if you're training, you shouldn’t be able to breathe and talk.
So that’s why I push myself for it,” Moore said at Oregon Football Media Days on Aug. 3.
Oregon also has other offensive pieces capable of showing up in big spots, including tight end Jamari Johnson and running backs Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill Jr. All three were among the Ducks’ top offensive players last season.
On the other side of the ball, the line of scrimmage is loaded. Oregon returns four future NFL talents up front in Matayo Uiagalelei, Teitum Tuioti, A’Mauri Washington, and Bear Alexander. In the secondary, Brandon Finney Jr. and Minnesota transfer safety Koi Perich are names to watch for impact plays.
Linebacker is another spot where the Ducks are looking for more. Jerry Mixon and Devon Jackson are expected to grow into leadership roles, while sophomore Nasir Wyatt could be in line for a breakout season.
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