If there was ever a way-too-early poll or mock draft, this is it.
Oregon’s 2013 recruiting class was fantastic and boasts some of the unique features that the Duck coaches are looking for in a player. Many of those players are bound to get drafted, so when might they get drafted.
Speed and athleticism are the name of the game for the Duck offense. In highlight films of linebacker Danny Mattingly, wide receiver Devon Allen or offensive lineman Cameron Hunt and it’s easy to see exactly what the coaches are looking for. The coaches don’t need a physically ready body; they’ll take a lanky, lean, shifty body that can be molded into a super athlete any day.
Who will become the next lockdown corner at Oregon when Ifo Ekpre-Olomu leaves?
With the NFL game changing rapidly, this kind of athlete may be the next hot thing in the pros and where better to look that the university that makes the best out of what they have?
It is way too soon to accurately place where Oregon’s players yet to even arrive to campus will be drafted, but there are some players that just scream NFL potential.
Potential First-Round Picks
Thomas Tyner
Anyone that rushes for 643 yards in a single game is bound to attract attention. In three plays one will see the limitless upside this youngster has and why Duck fans are so excited about the in-state product. Size (215 pounds), speed (10.5 seconds in the 100 meter dash) and a pretty nasty one-cut separated himself from many of the running backs at the U.S. Army All America Bowl practices.
Can Hunt become the next Jake Fisher at Oregon?
Tyner is the closest thing to a power/speed back the Ducks have had since Jonathan Stewart. But Tyner has the potential to be as high a pick as Stewart (first round to the Carolina Panthers) was and have an even better pro career.
An all-State running back since his sophomore year, Tyner claimed that honor again as a junior and only played half the season. As a senior coming back from a nagging hamstring injury, Tyner burst onto the scene showing everyone in the country why he is the greenest grass.
Cameron Hunt
A late snag from Cal after the firing of Jeff Tedford, Cameron Hunt will be a star for Oregon. His highlights make an easy case as the next Jake Fisher, a player that has produced heavily at the right tackle spot since his freshman year.
Hunt is the perfect fit as an Oregon lineman. At 6’5″ and 275 pounds with the ability to polish off defenders in the second level, he is everything new line coach Ron Aiken will love and more. Tenacious off the snap and never giving up until the play is over are qualities that separate great lineman from good lineman and Hunt shows those flashes of greatness.
Kyle Long just got picked in the first round by the Chicago Bears, and he only played a year of D-1 football. While Long has freakish talent and impeccable blood lines, Hunt will have the opportunity to play three to four years worth of meaningful snaps for the Ducks.
Coach Nick Aliotti makes the most of his players on defense.
WILD CARD
Tyrell Robinson
As random as the choice may appear, Robinson has all the tools to become a first round pick and difference maker at the college and pro level. At 6’4″ and around 200 pounds, Robinson starred on both sides of the ball for Abraham Lincoln High School in San Diego. Returning punts and kicks while playing both receiver and linebacker, not to mention basketball, displaying his supernatural talent when one watches his tape.
As a receiver, he is tall, strong and Robinson’s long strides trick others into underestimating his speed. He has solid cutting abilities and an undeniable knack for creating separation deep in the secondary. While he is listed as a linebacker signee, there is serious potential as a receiver.
If there was a mascot draft, the Duck would go No.1. Just ask him!
On defense, Robinson runs hard through his tackles, doing a great job of sticking it to the ball carrier. With plenty of room to grow, he could easily hit 220 pounds by the time fall camp hits. Most likely an outside linebacker, Robinson would be a great rusher on the strong or weak side and appears to have the ability in coverage to be a difference maker.
Other Possibilites
DB Chris Seisay
LB Danny Mattingly
The Ducks have recruited well over the past four seasons while being a BCS Bowl regular and it is beginning to show in the NFL Draft. Two Ducks were picked in the first round this year, and nearly every mock draft has De’Anthony Thomas in the first round paired with either Terrance Mitchell or Ifo Ekpre-Olomu.
One won’t know how good February’s signing class will be for a few years, but it has several players NFL general managers will be following over the next four years.
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Brandon is a senior at The University of Oregon majoring in Film Studies and minoring in Communications. Brandon has been a Duck fan for ten years since he moved from southern California to Salem, Oregon, and quickly realized the Ducks were the missing piece in his life. A Pac-12 fan since birth, much of his family attended UCLA and has since converted all of them to the Quack Attack. Brandon interned for the Statesman Journal covering the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes and hopes to work for the Pac-12 in the near future. He also hopes to see the “Flying-V” formation played out on the football field in the fall of 2013. Brandon would love your feedback on any and all articles. Tweet me: @BrandonGruber