Our Oregon football program has been firing on all cylinders since day one of the season, and a ton of young talent has started to rise up the depth chart. Alongside the young Ducks, there’s one player who’s shock-and-awed all three games of the season so far. My personal “Best Defender of 2025” entering week four is Bryce Boettcher. Mr. FishDuck agreed with my choice, as he was learning how to study Boettcher through research paper writers from PaperWriter in order to arrive at a proposed article about the Oregon linebacker.
Bryce Boettcher’s 2025 Stats: 17 TKls, 1 INT, 1 PBU
Constantly around the ball, solid in coverage, and a born leader who will excel at the next level (whether it’s in the NFL or MLB!). I love how Boettcher is attacking his last season, and I have high hopes that he can build on his performance in coverage against Northwestern to elevate as one of the best linebackers in the B1G.
This week, he’ll take on an awful Oregon State roster that is still looking for its first win. This should be a fantastic defensive tune up game ahead of Penn State, and a great opportunity for more young Ducks to get extra reps around Boettcher. Expect more dominance as a true three-down linebacker for Bryce in week four and beyond.
Let’s see Boettcher dominate Oregon State AGAIN with his shining-star running mate, Jerry Mixon (Photo via Eric Becker)
Honorable Mention: Jerry Mixon
2025 Stats: 10 Tkls, 2 INTs, 1 TD, 1 PBU
Mixon’s a fantastic role player in Oregon’s defense so far. He has an interception in each of the last two games while also increasing his tackle total every week. Firing off the ball to make big plays is coming quite naturally to Mixon in his junior season, and 2025 is shaping up to be his breakout year.
Overall, I think he should be starting alongside Bryce Boettcher for the remainder of the season. Devon Jackson is still one of the freakiest athletes I’ve ever seen at Oregon, but the spark-plug award just has to go to Mixon for his performance over the first three games. The Ducks’ defense against the run looked awful for most of the Northwestern game, and granted, there were a ton of players rotated in to get playing time. However, playmakers like Mixon make up for a lacking run defense. Interceptions, TFLs, and momentum shifts when the team needs it. This game was never in question, though it is always nice to have Oregon make game-changing plays with upperclassmen who are earning more and more playing time in the latter half of their Duck careers.
What do you think? Who’s jumped off the screen for you so far? Is Bryce destined for a storybook season this year with the Ducks? How do you see Mixon’s role expanding? Let us know in the FishDuck Forum with decorum.
GO DUCKS!
Alex Heining
Los Angeles, California
Top Photo By: Brad Repplinger
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Alex Heining is an Oregon alumni from the graduate class of 2021. After studying sports business and media studies, he has moved into the field of digital marketing as a copywriter and content manager in the Los Angeles area. Still, he loves his Ducks and goes to local high school games all over the Los Angeles and Orange County area to check out new recruits of the future (and a SoFi game or two with the pros). On any given Saturday, expect to find him doing martial arts, playing the guitar, or screaming at the tv over a missed holding penalty.