Oregon’s rough start has already put a spotlight on the transfer class, and the first two games have not offered much relief. After the stunning loss to Oklahoma State dropped the Ducks to 1-1, the roster questions around Dan Lanning’s team only got louder. Players expected to have key roles have struggled, younger options are getting pushed into action, and seven incoming transfers have yet to make the kind of impact Oregon needed.
That issue showed up in different ways on Saturday. Some transfers barely saw the field.
Others were on the field and didn’t move the needle. And in a few spots, Oregon still hasn’t found the answer it was hoping for when it went into the portal.
Iverson Hooks was supposed to give Oregon another experienced weapon at receiver after a breakout year at UAB. He missed the season opener, then was expected to make his debut this weekend after warming up with the team. Instead, he didn’t get any snaps at all, while true freshmen Messiah Hampton and Hudson Lewis were the ones who saw the field.
At STAR, Carl Williams IV has already had a bumpy start. He got blamed for the opening touchdown in the season opener, though Dan Lanning said that wasn’t on him.
In Week 2, the coverage issues were harder to ignore: Williams gave up 3 catches on 5 targets for 67 yards. Oregon still needs someone to settle that spot, especially with freshman Davon Benjamin also struggling in coverage.
The offensive line addition hasn’t delivered much either. Michael Bennett III, the Yale transfer, was brought in as the Ducks’ lone portal pickup up front to help replace NFL Draft departures.
He started at guard in the opener and had an uneven showing, then played just one snap in Week 2. That’s not the profile of a lineman the staff currently trusts.
The secondary help from Ohio State transfer Aaron Scott Jr. has also not materialized. Scott brought limited experience, but he did play over the last two seasons. Through two games, he hasn’t played a snap for Oregon, which stands out even more with the Ducks’ coverage problems.
The backfield situation wasn’t any cleaner. Oregon’s rushing attack had trouble creating explosive plays, and the staff even handed Da’Juan Riggs a carry on Saturday. Three backs played, but Simeon Price, the Colorado transfer, reportedly wasn’t even brought on the trip.
At tight end, Clemson transfer Markus Dixon is clearly not near the top of the pecking order. With Jamari Johnson out, Oregon’s younger tight ends got opportunities, but Dixon logged just 1 snap and hasn’t looked like the veteran presence the Ducks were counting on.
Andrew Olesh got the biggest chance of the group. With Jamari Johnson ruled out, he was handed the starting tight end job and the chance to carve out a bigger role.
On 48 snaps, though, Olesh finished with just 1 catch for 9 yards and had some struggles as a blocker. Oregon needed a tight end who could give Moore a steady target on Saturday.
Olesh wasn’t that player.
In Other News...
Oregons Loss Just Put Dan Lannings Staff Under Real Pressure
A loss to Oklahoma State would have stung on its own, but the way Oregon got beat made it feel bigger than just one bad afternoon. The Ducks were outgained and outworked, and when a team comes away looking second-best in multiple phases against an opponent that had been on a long losing streak, the questions tend to land on the sideline fast. For Dan Lanning, the concern is not just the result, but how clearly it pointed back to the coaching operation around him.
The pressure is sharper because Oregon already spent the offseason replacing both coordinators after the 2025 season, then elevated internal options who had not run a staff at this level before. On paper, continuity was supposed to help smooth the transition. On the field, the Ducks looked disjointed enough to make the staff look like the bigger issue than the roster, and now the challenge is whether those promotions can hold up when the margin for error is gone. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech Just Got Pulled Into A Brutal Week 2 Debate
Week 2 did more than reshuffle the college football conversation for a few teams, it created a list of people who suddenly look as if they are carrying some of the early season blame. Georgia Techs rough opening stretch, Rutgers slow start under Greg Schiano, John Mateers uneven showing for Oklahoma, Ohio States inability to close against Texas under Ryan Day and Oregons flawed performance under Dan Lanning all fed into a broader debate about who took the biggest hit when the games got real.
For Oregon, the frustration is less about one bad afternoon than the way the Ducks have already invited scrutiny around a roster that was supposed to set a tone early. Dan Lannings group came out of Week 2 with more questions than a team in its position wants, and in a season where September judgments can linger, that kind of performance travels fast. The bigger issue now is whether this was a one-off stumble or the first sign that the Ducks margin for error is thinner than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Kenyon Sadiq Just Sent Oregon Fans A Familiar Reminder
The early buzz around Kenyon Sadiq got a jolt right away Sunday, as the former Oregon tight end made his first NFL drive count in a way Ducks fans know well. Drafted by the New York Jets, Sadiq reached the end zone on a rushing touchdown against the Tennessee Titans and added a 7-yard catch, a quick reminder that his game has always carried more than the usual tight end profile.
What stood out most was how naturally he seemed to fit into the offense with Geno Smith, a promising sign for a rookie still carving out his role. Oregon supporters remember Sadiq as a highly ranked recruit who stacked up both receiving and rushing production in college, and his first professional snaps suggested the Jets may already have found a creative way to use him. [Read more 🡒]