Dan Lanning came to Oregon known as one of the best defensive coordinators in college football. He assisted Georgia's haunting of the SEC while winning a national championship and sending a slew of defenders to the NFL.
With that past success in mind, all eyes were on the Ducks defense entering Lanning's first season in Eugene.
As it turned out, it is challenging to transform a unit in one's first year as a head coach. Though Lanning's Ducks finished his first season with an impressive 10-3 record, it was the defense that often struggled to help close out games.
With another offseason under his belt to acquire players and refine his scheme, Lanning’s defense for 2023 should look largely different -- it definitely will purely in terms of personnel and hopefully on the production end too.
Cornerback Christian Gonzalez, linebacker Noah Sewell and outside linebacker D.J. Johnson will all likely be hearing their names called during the 2023 NFL Draft. Safety Bennett Williams and linebacker Justin Flowe headline a group of other notable defenders who have moved on either via exhausted eligibility or the transfer portal.
While that's a lot of talent exiting Eugene, the transfer portal was extremely kind to the Ducks this year with key players coming in all over the field.
Not to mention another star-studded class of freshmen, headlined by seven defensive line recruits ranging from 3-star to 5-star. The cast is there, and it will be paramount that Lanning and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi get more out of the unit in Year 2.
The Pac-12 is looking like potentially the top offensive conference in the nation. Michael Penix Jr. at Washington, Caleb Williams at USC, DJ Uiagalelei at Oregon State, the list goes on and on. There won’t be many easy games in conference play this year.
With the Ducks starting spring practice Thursday, let’s go over some important storylines for each position on the defensive side of the ball.
RELATED: Breaking down Oregon's offensive storylines and notable newcomers
Top storylines by position
DL -- Loaded depth
The biggest departure from Oregon’s interior defensive line is Jordon Riley, who served as a rotational piece last season. Other than him, it’s almost entirely the same group. Just a whole lot more bodies than last year.
Six incoming freshmen will be joining a veteran group headlined by Casey Rogers, Taki Taimani, Brandon Dorlus, Popo Aumavae and more.
It will be challenging for any of these freshmen to see significant playtime right away. The vets have a huge size and experience advantage that only grows larger when playing in the trenches.
Stopping the run wasn’t much of a problem last year for the Ducks and with another loaded defensive front, I think it could be even better this season.
