Snap-Count Takeaways: Biggest notes from Oregon’s usage report vs. Colorado

The best times to go through a usage report for the Oregon Ducks and come away with some major takeaways is after a blowout victory when we get a chance to see which young guys on the roster got an opportunity to see the field in the second half.

I didn’t think that we would get an extensive usage report this week against the No. 19 Colorado Buffaloes, but here we are.

The Ducks handled their business in a major way on Saturday vs. Deion Sanders and the Buffs, winning 42-6 in a game that was 35-0 at the half and never competitive after the midway point of the first quarter. While it showed us how dominant Oregon’s starters can be against a porous defense and a dynamic offense, it also have us a look at a ton of young players who got onto the field both in meaningful game action and in a late-game scenario when the contest was already out of hand.

Without further ado, here are our snap-count takeaways from Week 4:

Total Snaps — 61-70

Offense

• LT Josh Conerly (68)

• LG Marcus Harper II (68)

• C Jackson Powers Johnson (67)

• RT Ajani Cornelius (67)

• QB Bo Nix (67)

Total Snaps — 51-60

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Offense

• TE Terrance Ferguson (57)

• WR Troy Franklin (54)

Total Snaps — 41-50

Photo Courtesy of Ethan Landa

Offense

• RG Steven Jones (49)

• WR Gary Bryant Jr. (45)

Defense

• S Tysheem Johnson (46)

• CB Khyree Jackson (46)

• S Evan Williams (46)

• LB Jeffrey Bassa (42)

Total Snaps — 31-40

Photo Courtesy of Ethan Landa

Offense

• RB Bucky Irving (38)

• TE Patrick Herbert (37)

Defense

• DE Brandon Dorlus (36)

• Star Nikko Reed (34)

Total Snaps — 21-30

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Offense

• RG Iapani Laloulu (29)

• WR Traeshon Holden (26)

• WR Tez Johnson (24)

• TE Casey Kelly (22)

Defense

• LB Jamal Hill (28)

• LB Devon Jackson (26)

• CB Dontae Manning (26)

• CB Trikweze Bridges (26)

• EDGE Matayo Uiagalelei (24)

• EDGE Jordan Burch (24)

• DL Casey Rogers (24)

• DL Popo Aumavae (24)

• S Steve Stephens (23)

• EDGE Teitum Tuitoti (21)

Total Snaps — 11-20

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Offense

• WR Kyler Kasper (19)

• RB Noah Whittington (19)

• Jordan James (18)

• RT Kawika Rogers (11)

• C Charlie Pickard (11)

Defense

• LB Bryce Boettcher (19)

• S Bryan Addison (19)

• S Cole Martin (16)

• DL Keyon Ware-Hudson (16)

• CB Jahlil Florence (15)

• EDGE Emar’rion Winston (12)

• EDGE Jake Shipley (12)

• DL Taki Taimani (12)

• CB Rodrick Pleasant (11)

• EDGE Mase Funa (11)

Total Snaps — 0-10

Photo Courtesy of Ethan Landa

Offense

• QB Ty Thompson (10)

• WR Kris Hutson (10)

• TE Kenyon Sadiq (7)

• RB Jayden Limar (4)

• WR Justius Lowe (4)

• LT Faaope Laloulu (3)

• RB Rante Dowdell (2)

Defense

• LB Connor Soelle (9)

• DL Ben Roberts (6)

• DL A’Mauri Washington (5)

• CB Khamari Terrell (1)

• S Zach Grisham (1)

Takeaway: CB2 Remains Unsettled

(Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)

The CB1 is Khyree Jackson, that much has been established. Behind him, though, I’m not sure that Oregon knows who their second-best player is at the position. Over the past couple of weeks, it has been Jahlil Florence that has looked the best playing alongside Jackson, and he’s gotten the start in three straight games. However, Florence only played a total of 15 snaps on Saturday against Colorado, and was out-paced by both Dontae Manning and Trikweze Bridges.

Florence had a tough day according to the Pro Football Focus grades, notching just a 59.2 score in coverage and 59.4 overall. Comparatively, Dontae Manning had a 63.9 coverage grade and a 59.6 overall grade; Bridges was the best of the three with a 68.4 coverage grade and 68.7 overall grade.

Does this mean that we will see someone other than Florence start at CB next week alongside Jackson? Who knows. I think it will be interesting to see how those CB2 snaps are doled out going forward, though.

Takeaway: An Even EDGE Rotation

Photo Courtesy of Ethan Landa

We can watch and see that the impact Jordan Burch has had on a game, particularly in the last couple of weeks, is notable. However, I was surprised to see in the usage report that Burch (24 snaps) really is in an edge-rusher rotation that sees him playing equal amounts with a trio of true freshmen: Matayo Uiagalelei (24 snaps), Teitum Tuitoi (21 snaps), and Blake Purchase (20 snaps).

Burch had the most production out of that group, but I think ultimately it’s pretty encouraging to see so many young players on the roster having a significant impact on the field and get meaningful minutes in a big game.

Takeaway: The New-Look Secondary

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The Oregon secondary is playing much better this year through four games than it did a year ago. It shouldn’t come as a big surprise that the biggest contributors in that unit are all transfers who Dan Lanning went out and hand-selected this offseason.

On Saturday, it was Tysheem Johnson, Khyree Jackson, and Evan Williams who led the defense in snaps, all with 46 apiece. A bit down the board was Nikko Reed, the STAR S who had 34 snaps.

We’ve seen in Lanning’s time already that he has a great knack for spotting talent in the transfer portal and bringing it into make an instant impact, and that is continuing this season in the secondary.

Story originally appeared on Ducks Wire