With Dante Moore returning and a loaded roster, the Oregon Ducks land elite ESPN rankings as Dan Lanning targets physicality to finally secure a national championship run.
The Oregon Ducks have a lot of deserved hype surrounding their team this offseason.
The Ducks made it to the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Peach Bowl in January, but fell short to a well-coached Indiana team and quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
Oregon quarterback Dante Moore's return will be a boost to an offense that has one of the best receiver corps and backfields. Dakorien Moore and Evan Stewart will be hard for defenses to cover.
ESPN's Eli Lederman, Max Olson, and Adam Rittenberg ranked Oregon as having the second-best offseason among Big Ten teams, only ranking the Hoosiers as having a better winter and spring. However, the Ducks didn't fall far from the conference to overall rankings.
They put Oregon as the No. 4 team, only behind Indiana, Miami and Texas.
"Despite consecutive blowout losses in the CFP, Oregon is set up to push for its first national title," They wrote. The Ducks retained quarterback Dante Moore, a top NFL prospect, as well as their entire starting defensive line, wide receiver Evan Stewart and other key contributors.
"They again lost no starters in the portal, while adding Minnesota safety Koi Perch and others. Coach Dan Lanning's internal promotions for the coordinator roles are worth watching."
Following Oregon's spring game in April, Lanning said he was impressed with how smart his roster is. He believes the Ducks will get stronger before the start of Week 1.
"I think the intelligence of this group is really high, you know, and the acumen and ability to execute offense and defensive plays is really up there, right?" Lanning said, via USA TODAY. So they know and understand what we're trying to do.
"We've got a lot of stuff packaged well that these guys can operate really well. So I'd say that parts ahead, you know, we become a much more connected team this spring. That's got to continue as we go through the remainder of this offseason."
The Ducks will need the physicality to improve if they want to win the national championship. Oregon struggled at times in the trenches against Texas Tech and Indiana in the CFP.
Indiana has mastered the art of being physical. Oregon saw what that looks like last year. Now, they need to replicate it.