Brandon Dorlus looks back on how his Oregon career unfolded

Brandon Dorlus spent his entire five-year college football career with the Oregon Ducks, something you don’t see all too often with the current college football model.

Dorlus stuck around Eugene through the pandemic, an entire coaching change and even opted to return to the Ducks program for an extra season in 2023.

“I mean, I guess I did alright? Because I’m sitting here,” Dorlus told Staples, reminiscing on his career. “But just having the coaches putting their trust in me, you know? Today was weird. I saw coach [Mario] Cristobal. So to see him again brings back great memories. He said he was proud of me and I said, ‘Coach, I appreciate you for this.’ Like, he took me out of Ft. Lauderdale and gave me this opportunity.”

Coincidentally, Dorlus made the biggest name for himself after Cristobal left Eugene in favor of coaching his alma mater, Miami.

Dorlus ended up playing in five seasons for the Ducks but was a staple of the Oregon defense for the last three seasons. He put up 58 total tackles during that span but exploded onto the scene as a fifth-year senior in 2023. Dorlus amassed five sacks and seven pass breakups — both marks were career highs for the Florida native.

He evolved from a run-stopper to an all-around EDGE rusher at the perfect time ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Overall, Dorlus racked up five sacks last season for the Ducks and 12 total sacks in the last five years. Coming out of Deerfield Beach High School (Deerfield Beach, Florida), he was ranked as the No. 896 prospect in America, according to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2019 cycle.

With Dorlus’ help, the Ducks were ranked No. 1 in the Pac-12 in 2023 in total defense. In 14 games this past season, Oregon allowed a conference-low 16.5 points per game. The Oregon defense gave up 10.6 yards per game on average on the ground, but allowed just 0.7 touchdowns per outing.

Oregon also ranked third in the conference in total yards allowed per game. UCLA and Utah topped the conference, but the Ducks’ defense was right there with them having allowed an average of 318.4 total yards per game. Dorlus coming off the edge was a supporting piece to those impressive numbers

The 2024 NFL Draft is scheduled to take place from April 25-27 live from Detroit. By the end of the event, Dorlus will know where the first stop in his NFL career will be.