New quarterback Dillon Gabriel, others debut at Oregon football’s first spring practice
Now that the dust has mostly settled from a busy first few months of the offseason, the Oregon football team took to the field for some light drills and walk-throughs Thursday for its first official spring practice.
The Ducks worked in jerseys and shorts for the period of practice media were allowed to watch, with new transfers like quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Dante Moore, as well as dozens of other newcomers working with coaches in an official capacity for the first time this spring.
Like in recent years, the Ducks worked out Thursday and will practice again on Saturday before going on a two-week hiatus for spring break – before returning April 2 for a more full-time practice schedule.
“There’s always good energy the first day of practice but there’s also a lot to clean up,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “We want to go attack technique. It's good to see some of these young guys picking it up. These walk-throughs we’ll have leading up to spring ball gives us an opportunity to step forward and ahead we’ll have meetings following practice and we’ll be able to tackle that as well with our players.”
With Bo Nix off to the NFL after Tuesday’s Pro Day in the Moshofsky Center, Gabriel and Moore took center stage Thursday as the new faces of Oregon’s offense.
Dillon Gabriel, Dante Moore take center stage at Oregon spring practice
Gabriel is a sixth-year player that started as a freshman at UCF before transferring to Oklahoma. After guiding the Sooner offense for two seasons, and accounting for more than 50 touchdowns last season, Gabriel is playing his final year in Eugene.
Moore, once an Oregon commit, spent a year at UCLA before transferring to Oregon this past offseason.
“They’ve jumped in the water,” Lanning said. “All in, they didn’t dip their toe in. These guys are picking it up quick. These walk-throughs and meetings have been something that have given them an advantage to be able to pick it up. There’s a lot of growth from today that we have to see moving forward, but excited about the way these guys work.”
True freshmen, transfers practice with Ducks
Outside of transfers, 20 true freshmen enrolled early and participated in Oregon’s first spring practice. All 20 were a part of the Ducks’ highest-ranked class in program history.
“There was good and there was bad,” Lanning said of the new faces. “The biggest thing was there was energy and you saw guys moving from drill to drill with purpose. There were mistakes made, which there is going to be, it’s about fixing those.”
Every transfer player was accounted for on the Oregon roster aside from receiver Evan Stewart (Texas A&M) and defensive backs Brandon Johnson (Duke) and Jabbar Muhammad (Washington). Those three are expected to enroll at a later date. The spring roster also didn’t include offensive linemen Michael Wooten and Faaope Laloulu, as well as walk-on tight end Kaden Ludwick.
Lanning later announced Laloulu was taking on a role as a student assistant.
Running back Noah Whittington was seen working through stretching drills Thursday after suffering a season-ending injury last fall against Colorado in Oregon’s Pac-12 opener. Cornerback Jahlil Florence was sitting out practice, still recovering from an injury.
Lanning said Whittington was well ahead of schedule thanks to the treatment staff, but they were still being careful with both he and Florence during the spring.
True freshmen that have enrolled early include quarterback Luke Moga, defensive back Dakoda Fields, receiver Jeremiah McClellan, quarterback Ryder Hayes, defensive back Aaron Flowers, linebacker Brayden Platt, defensive back Kingston Lopa, linebacker Kamar Mothudi, defensive lineman Aydin Breland, linebacker Elijah Rushing, defensive lineman Tionne Gray, offensive lineman Jacqawn McRoy, defensive lineman Jericho Johnson, receiver Dillon Gresham, linebacker Jaxson Jones, receiver Ryan Pellum, tight end Roger Saleapaga, receiver Jack Ressler, tight end A.J. Pugliano, and defensive lineman Xadavien Sims.
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on Twitter @AlecDietz.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Quarterback Dillon Gabriel debuts at Oregon football spring practice
