Breakout Candidates: No. 11 - Steve Stephens
Opportunity, meet preparation. Sometimes that’s all it takes for the chips to fall where they should have landed all along.
For Steve Stephens IV — a fourth-year sophomore who when he committed was the highest-rated safety in program history – that’s precisely the scenario he’s facing.
“It’s been a real humbling experience,” Stephens told reporters after a recent practice. “Everything’s in God’s hands, and everyone’s timing is different.
“It was Jevon’s time. He came and handled business, and it was his time to get out.
“Now, I feel like it’s my time to show up and handle business.”
Ah, yes – Jevon. As in Jevon Holland. Holland came to Oregon in Stephens’ class, but their career trajectories soon diverged.
Holland, of course, took off like a freight train the moment he arrived in Eugene. He started from almost Day 1 before opting out of the 2020 season and becoming a second-round draft pick of the Miami Dolphins.
Meanwhile, Steve Stephens waited, and waited, and waited some more, biding his time and putting in the work behind the scenes. And he watched as another member of his 2018 class, best friend Verone McKinley, also made a name for himself.
McKinley said he sees the work paying off for his teammate.
“I think Steve is ready and prepared to go this year,” McKinley said at the team’s media event before fall camp. “Me and Steve back there would be fantastic. I think we’d be guys that fly around and make plays.
“We’re super smart. We do things on our own a lot, just him and me. Making sure we understand what’s going on, going over the play on the sideline — what we saw, what we didn’t like, and what we feel we need to correct.”
Last season looked as if it might be Stephens’ breakout. But by the end, he had started just one game, another player lost in the muck that was 2020.
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Now, with two projected starters in Oregon’s secondary suspended indefinitely, that preparation is being rewarded.
“It took him a while,” Mario Cristobal said this past weekend,” but he’s really in a good place. I think Steve is right on par with what we’ve seen traditionally over 100 years of football, in that he has developed.
“He understands the system. He understands leverage, angles, runs well. His body has developed; that’s the biggest thing.
“You see a guy that consistently hits over 21.5 miles per hour on the GPS, and when he hits it, you feel it — a very physical guy. He knows how to practice. He understands the culture and does things the right way.”
The fate of Oregon’s 2021csecondary is still unknown. So is the future of its players. But one thing is for sure: For a player like Stephens, who arrived with all the fanfare and accolades, nothing is going to be taken for granted.
When and whether the two players in question return is ultimately up to the staff. Until then, their spots are up for grabs, and it’s up to the players in pads to decide their own fates.
Four years in, with more obstacles removed, the opportunity has struck again for Steve Stephens.
