Oregon Ducks Football: Who Has Elected To Stay?

We take a look today at the players that are NFL eligible that have announced their decision to return for the 2023 season, or have not declared for the NFL draft or have entered the transfer portal to date.

Expect continued movement in the 2023 roster; the Ducks currently have 95 scholarship players on next season’s roster. They can only have 85 scholarship players, so we will surely see players entering the transfer portal in the next few months.

This is not an all-inclusive list. I have not included players that perhaps will be back next season, but played limited to no snaps in the 2022 season.

Defense

DL #55 Taki Taimani

Taimani played in 11 games in the 2022 season, recording 14 tackles on the season, with a season-high of three vs. North Carolina. He will be a senior in 2023.

DL #98 Casey Rogers

NCAA Football: Holiday Bowl-North Carolina at Oregon

Rogers played in every game last season. He had 34 tackles, 15 of which were solo. His season-high of five was against Utah. Rogers will be a senior in 2023.

DL #3 Brandon Dorlus

NCAA Football: Eastern Washington at Oregon

Oregon got a big boost when Dorlus announced that he would be returning for his senior season in 2023. He played in all 13 games on the season. Dorlus had 39 tackles in 2022, including 19 solo tackles. He had a season-high of 7 vs. BYU.

DL #95 Keyon Ware-Hudson

In 2022, Ware-Hudson played in all 13 games. He had 21 tackles, including 11 solo tackles. He will be a junior in 2023.

LB #18 Mase Funa

The Holiday Bowl Defensive MVP will be back for his senior season in 2023. In 2022, Funa recorded 32 tackles, with 11 solo tackles. His season-high of 8 came against Utah. He also caught an interception vs. Washington State and got a sack against North Carolina.

LB #33 Jeffrey Bassa

Bassa returns to the Ducks in 2023 as a junior. He played in all of the 2022 games, and had 62 tackles with half of those being solo. Bassa’s game-high was 10 tackles vs. Washington State. He also had an interception against Oregon State and a sack vs. North Carolina.

LB #21 Keith Brown

Brown played 12 games in 2022. He finished the season with 21 tackles, including 12 solo tackles. Brown will be a junior in 2023.

DB #8 Dontae Manning

Manning appeared in all 13 games in 2022, and was a starter in the last two games of the season. He had 20 tackles, 15 of them being solo. Manning’s game-high of three tackles came vs. BYU and California. He will be a junior in 2023.

DB #19 Jamal Hill

Hill played in all 13 games for the Ducks, starting nine of those games. He had 50 tackles, 35 that were solo, and broke up three passes on the season. His game-high 11 tackles came vs. Georgia.

DB #11 Trikweze Bridges

Bridges started in all 13 games for Oregon. He had 49 tackles on the season, 30 solo. Bridges also brought in three interceptions. He will be a junior in 2023.

DB #24 JJ Greenfield

Greenfield played in all 13 games in 2022, albeit in a backup role. He will be a redshirt sophomore in 2023.

Kickers

#49 Camden Lewis

I have subjectively elected to not include some of the kickers that are eligible to return on this list, because the special teams kicking was overall quite poor – with the exception of Camden Lewis. Lewis was money all season, making 14-16 FGs and all 64 of his PATs. He returns in 2023 as a senior.

Offense

OL #74 Steven Jones

NCAA Football: Fiesta Bowl-Oregon vs Iowa State

Jones only played five games in 2022 due to injury. He will be an integral component to next season’s line, and will be a senior in 2023.

OL #55 Marcus Harper II

Harper played in all 13 games in 2022, and will be a junior in the 2023 season.

OL #75 Faaope Laloulu

Laloulu played in 12 games in the 2022 season. He returns to 2023 as a junior.

WR #1 Kris Hutson

Hutson played in all 13 games for the Ducks, starting 10 games. He was second in receptions on the team, with 44 catches for 472 yards. Hutson will be a junior in 2023.

TE #88 Patrick Herbert

Herbert appeared in all 13 games in 2022, and played primarily as a backup after being out the previous two seasons with injury. He will be a junior in 2023.

RB #22 Noah Whittington

Whittington and Bucky Irving were a very effective 1-2 punch in the 2022 season. Whittington ran for 779 yards on 139 attempts and 5 touchdowns. He also caught 22 passes for 169 yards and one TD. Whittington goes into 2023 as a junior.

RB #0 Bucky Irving

The Holiday Bowl Offensive MVP will be back next season as a junior. Irving started 12 or 13 games in 2022, running for 1,058 yards on 156 carries with five touchdowns. His season high was 149 yards vs. North Carolina. He also picked up 31 receptions for 299 yards and three touchdowns. Interesting note: Irving was a perfect 2-2 when passing, for 36 yards and one TD.

QB #10 Bo Nix

We’ll have the entire offseason to talk about Nix’s 2022 start with the Ducks – a season that was far more successful than any one of us probably imagined. That Nix has decided to return for another season is both surprising and a shot in the arm for Oregon, because the Ducks can realistically entertain notions of being the the CFP picture in 2023.

Source link