Dan Lanning reveals criteria for choosing starters across multiple position battles

Dan Lanning has not shown his hand once when it comes to his potential opening starters against Georgia next weekend. It’s been especially true of Oregon’s quarterback battle but it also applies to the rest of the roster. According to Lanning, it’s because he doesn’t want anyone to have an advantage but himself.

Lanning met with the media on Thursday and still didn’t budge on the mystery. He says they’re still evaluating everything the Ducks are doing in camp but that they’re still going to play it close to the vest regardless of when a decision is made or who they’re about.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

“Every day evaluation. I mean we chart everything, we watch every single period,” said Lanning. “Again, the only reason I’m not really talking about it with you guys is I don’t know why that’s an advantage for us. If I felt like it was an advantage, I would tell you guys. (But) I don’t.”

With the season starting for Oregon next weekend, the clock is ticking on Lanning. Even with that matchup with the reigning national champions looming, Lanning won’t let that rush him into a decision. It also won’t change his timeline in sharing the starting lineups for the Ducks. No one may know exactly who Lanning is sending out as his starters until the game’s first snap. However, he did make one decision at QB that was a fairly obvious call.

“When you guys see that first snap, we’ll see who’s out there on the field. I’m not playing quarterback. I’ll tell you that,” said Lanning.

Dan Lanning is well aware of how the Georgia program thinks. He has zero interest in throwing them any kind of bone when it comes to preparation. Oregon may have already made these decisions weeks ago. We won’t know, though, until opening kick and that’s exactly how Lanning wants it.