Oregon Ducks fall camp breakdown: Specialists

Before Oregon’s fall camp begins on July 30, The Oregonian/OregonLive will preview each of ten position groupings. The series concludes with a review of the experts.

Eugene Now that all of its key players are back and there is some more competition, Oregon doesn’t have many questions for its experts.

Ross Following a difficult spring game, the Ducks signed James Ferguson-Reynolds to make that position more competitive after James observed a minor decline in yards per punt.

UO achieved its highest touchback rate since at least 2015 because to Atticus Sappington’s accuracy.

With Gary Bryant Jr. now the favored on punt return and Tez Johnson out, the return game will be different.

Redshirt seniors Luke Basso, Ross James, and Atticus Sappington will all be returning starters.

Other returning players include redshirt-freshman Gage Hurych, senior James Ferguson-Reynolds, junior Nick Duzansky, and seventh-year redshirt-senior Andrew Boyle.

Departing: Tyler Kinsman (entered transfer portal); Luke Dunne (transferred to Washington); Grant Meadors (transferred to Sacramento State); and Tez Johnson

Arrivals for the summer: Rocco Graziano

Outlook: Ferguson-Reynolds makes it a very competitive profession, and James remains one of the greatest punters in the nation.

Splitting punting responsibilities is feasible, but it would be uncommon with two seniors. If James stays on, UO might be able to save Ferguson-Reynolds a season by using him in just four games.

In addition to continuing to kick off, Sappington will continue to handle field goals. Given that almost all kickoffs come on directional kicks, Oregon’s problem with kickoffs out of bounds is difficult to reconcile and appears needless, but it may have to be tolerated.

Assuming he is healthy, Bryant is unquestionably the favorite to return to punt. But after him, the work becomes much more exciting.

Even though the stats were significantly affected by one touchdown return, Noah Whittington and Jayden Limar are back to their kickoff return, which witnessed a remarkable improvement from 2023.

As players like Kenyon Sadiq get more offensive action, the other special teams units will either witness a significant change in personnel due to the departure of so many key contributors from the NFL or a shift to snap counts.

Watch the battle: Punter. Ferguson-Reynolds and James will compete for the starting position.

Pay attention to: The punt returners. At the very least, the person who gets a look besides Bryant will be noteworthy for the future.

Two deep projections:

Punter

Ross James: 190 pounds, 6 feet 2 inches

James Ferguson-Reynolds: 180 pounds, 6 feet 2 inches

Kicker

Atticus Sappington: 190 pounds, 5′ 10″.

Andrew Boyle: 195 pounds, 6 feet 2 inches

The long snapper

Luke Basso: 215 pounds, 6 feet 3 inches

Nick Duzansky: 198 pounds, 6′ 4

Holder

Ross James: 190 pounds, 6 feet 2 inches

James Ferguson-Reynolds: 180 pounds, 6 feet 2 inches

Punt return

Gary Bryant Jr.: 185 pounds, 5′ 11″

Dakorien Moore: 182 pounds, 5′ 11″

Return of kickoff

Noah Whittington: 208 pounds, 5′ 8″ AND

Jayden Limar: 200 pounds, 5’11”

James Crepea discusses the Big Ten and Oregon Ducks.

Latest Ducks news

Oregon Ducks fall camp breakdown: Defensive backs
Olympic champion Ryan Crouser confirmed out for this week s USATF meet in Eugene
Oregon Ducks fall camp breakdown: Inside linebackers