As prep for Fresno State begins, the Ducks’ depth chart is starting to formulate
In the matter of a few sleeps, we will have single-digit days standing between us and the first game of the Oregon Ducks 2021 season, a home-bout against the Fresno State Bulldogs.
Football has been in the air for a number of weeks in Eugene, but with the start of the schedule truly coming into the picture now, preparation is getting more serious, and schematics are being drilled down.
The first couple of weeks of fall camp for the Ducks was spent covering the basics, and getting all of the players into the ultimate football shape. With their two allotted scrimmages now behind them, it is time to look forward and start hammering home the gameplay for September 4th, something that head coach Mario Cristobal said will happen officially this week.
“We have sprinkled in bits and pieces of Fresno State throughout camp,” Cristobal said after practice on Tuesday. “Officially, there will be a period dedicated to them tomorrow, possibly two. That’s a total of 24 plays per unit, and by Thursday we will be going full throttle on Fresno State.”
As the team gets into the playbook and starts to nail down a blueprint for their opening game of the season, a depth chart will be cemented, for the first game, at the very least. While we have an idea of how things will shake out in the end, Cristobal said that things are starting to come together on their end as well.
“We have an idea now, we just never come out and formally announce it,” he said.
Though most rungs on the depth chart will be settled and discussed with the players this coming week, there are a few that might need more time to hash out, Cristobal mentioned. Without going into detail, we can guess that there might be decisions at the quarterback position, tight end, and cornerback that could take a bit longer to settle.
“Quite frankly, there might be one or two competitions that go on a little bit farther, because guys are playing well and the counterpunches are playing really well,” Cristobal said. “So we want to respect that. We have plenty of periods against each other, all throughout next week. We have all year long because that’s really the only way to keep developing as a football team because as we have those periods, we can continue to evaluate and assess. “
It’s unlikely that we will get an official depth chart from the team until game week rolls around, but with less than two weeks to go until the season finally kicks off, the last pieces are being put into place.
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