Heading into Saturday’s game against Cal, the 3-1 Ducks have featured a reinvigorated defense for 2019, fueled in part by the stellar recruiting class they signed in February. One member of that class made our Top Five grades on defense, and two more made the defensive honor roll below.
Despite the infusion of talent, the uptick has been largely due to the players who have been in the program, simply playing well together under first year defensive coordinator Andy Avalos. Because of the large group of defenders performing well, we are expanding upon the Top Five defenders we highlighted on Monday to include this group of players in the early season defensive honor roll: The Nifty Nine.
DJ Johnson DJ has not had much playing time but when he has been in, he has been very effective particularly applying pressure in the backfield. In 37 pass rushes this year, “The Predator” had two sacks, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. He had eight tackles in 55 plays, three of them for loss.
Mykael Wright The true freshman was ramping up his playing time in non-league with first three game snap counts of 3, 25 and 41. Against Stanford he was in for one play. His big game, and where he made his high grade for the season so far, was against Montana with his excellent pass coverage. He held their go-to WR, Samuel Akem, to two receptions in eight attempts, plus had an interception. He has reaffirmed his high ranking as a recruit.
Mase Funa This guy is everything we thought he was on film his junior year at Mater Dei, and after sitting out his senior season recovering from surgery, is bigger and better than ever. His run defense has been his forte so far but he has shown himself to be a serious threat to the QB with two sacks, a hit and two hurries in only 32 pass rush attempts. This guy is going to be a good one.
Isaac Slade Matautia Came to Oregon relatively under the radar, ISM immediately showed his first camp he was going to be a good one. Now as a sophomore, he is playing well consistently, particularly in his run defense. Against Stanford, he was also good in his pass coverage. When he refines his pass rush and tackling, he is going to be an excellent all-around linebacker.
Popo Aumavae Now in his sophomore season, Aumavae is starting to show his stuff. He has been contributing about a dozen snaps per game in relief of Jordon Scott and has been consistent with his all-around good play. He has only made four tackles this year but hasn’t missed any and has hurried the QB twice and has no penalties.
Nick Pickett The best part of the junior safeties game this year has been pass coverage, a category he has graded out well in all four games. Against Stanford he was perfect with four passes successfully defended against four different receivers. Pickett is finding his stride out there.
Brady Breeze After four games it is easy to see why the snap count for Breeze is way up this season. After being involved in about 11% of the snaps his first two years, he has played in 42% of them as a junior. In each game this season Breeze has graded above average, and his pass coverage is vastly improved versus 2018.
Andrew Faoliu When we were discussing DL depth heading into the season, we did not talk much about Andrew Faoliu, but he has proven he can be part of the answer. Though he has only participated in 31 snaps appearing in three games, his pass rush has been very good. In 26 attempts at the quarterback, the redshirt freshman has three sacks and a hurry.
Jordon Scott Scott has been a rock in the middle of the defense for three seasons now, with his run stopping game always grading out well. The coaches have managed to keep his snap count a little lower than last season, but that will likely grow again in league play. He has improved his pass rush this year and has been applying pressure much more often. In his first two seasons he had five QB hurries both years. This season he has five after four games.
