Justin Flowe, Noah Sewell thriving together during Oregon preseason camp

When Noah Sewell and Justin Flowe both committed to Oregon late in the winter of 2019, Duck fans immediately began daydreaming of the damage the pair of 5-star linebackers could do while playing side-by-side in Eugene. 

At long last, that vision is finally starting to take shape — and could spell bad news for opposing Pac-12 offenses this fall. 

Sewell is coming off a stellar freshman season during which he was named the Pac-12 defensive freshman of the year. Flowe is now fully recovered from the injury that derailed his freshman campaign. He looks confident, and just as athletically gifted as he was when he first arrived in Eugene.

The battle for the starting WILL linebacker spot is still up for grabs, and Flowe, senior Dru Mathis and a handful of others will continue fighting for the starting job through the end of this week. 

But it sounds as though Flowe and Sewell have been every bit the physical force that Oregon fans envisioned they would be when playing next to one another this preseason.

“There’s things where you just shake your head when those two are out on the field together,” Oregon linebackers coach Ken Wilson said Wednesday. “That’s not coaching; that’s those two just loving to play and playing hard.”

The intensity, physicality and leadership that Sewell brings to the table have quickly made him the heart and soul of Oregon’s defense. 

From the sound of things, Flowe has been matching him in those aspects beat-for-beat. 

“Justin brings a different physicality to the position,” Wilson said. “Just the energy that he brings to the game is fun. Shoot, if he sees a bumblebee fly by, he’s fired up about it. He loves to be out on the football field and you can see it all over him when he plays football.”

Still, he may not even figure into Oregon’s starting lineup when Fresno State comes to town. That’s less an indictment of Flowe’s effort or ability, and more an indicator that the Ducks are absolutely loaded at inside linebacker. 

Wilson had plenty of glowing remarks about Sewell, Flowe, Mathis, true freshman Keith Brown, freshman Jackson LaDuke and senior Nate Heaukulani Wednesday.

“They’re just competing everyday,” Wilson said. “We’re mixing those rotations; one day Justin’s playing well, the next day Dru’s playing really well, the next day Keith Brown is playing really well. … We’ve got a lot of good guys competing for that spot. We’ll let it happen and let it shake out here in the next couple of days.”

Jabril McNeill position change

As if there wasn’t already enough competition at inside linebacker, the Ducks have added another 4-star talent to the mix. 

Wilson said Wednesday that true freshman Jabril McNeill has shifted from outside linebacker to inside linebacker, and is very much in contention for significant playing time this season.

“He’s doing well,” Wilson said. “He’s more of an inside ‘backer than an outside. We put him outside at first and let him work out there. He just worked better and he moved better, so we moved him back inside. He’s making a lot of plays.” 

McNeill is listed on Oregon’s roster at 6-4, 212 pounds. That makes him the smallest player in the inside linebacker rotation by at least 12 pounds. But from the sound of things, he is more than capable physically of thriving inside. 

Wilson said McNeill is a bit behind the rest of the inside guys because he is still learning the defense after swapping positions.

But don’t be surprised to see the freshman play meaningful snaps this fall. 

“There’s gonna be some packages where he’s gonna be really effective in this defense, and probably pretty soon,” Wilson said.