Oregon's veteran-led offensive line ready for one last ride together; "next year is gonna be our year"

The recruiting pitches began early for Alex Forsyth.

Oregon’s starting center and one of the program’s emotional leaders, Forsyth always knew he was returning for his senior season with the Ducks. His 2021 campaign was hindered by a lingering back injury, and he felt he had unfinished business in Eugene.

The question for Forsyth, though, was how many of Oregon’s starting offensive linemen would be returning alongside him?

Mario Cristobal departed for Miami just days after Oregon’s loss in the Pac-12 Championship Game, and with him went former Oregon offensive line coach Alex Mirabal. Starters Steven Jones, T.J. Bass, Ryan Walk, and Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu all could have tested the pro waters, and Aumavae-Laulu even declared for the NFL Draft at one point.

However, a little over four months later, Oregon’s entire starting offensive line is back in Eugene for spring ball, ready for one last ride together.

“We kind of got shorted out of a year in 2020, then Ryan and I got hurt last year,” Forsyth said. “We haven’t gotten a full season all together healthy. So next year is gonna be our year.”

Aumavae-Laulu was asked last week what went into his decision to reverse course, remove his name from the NFL Draft, and ultimately return to school.

“Our captain — Mr. Forsyth,” Aumavae-Laulu said with a smile. “We all wanted to stay there as one.”

Forsyth and Walk led the charge when it came to recruiting their teammates to stay. The most pivotal piece of that was ensuring they could get Bass to return. He was one of Pro Football Focus’s top-graded offensive linemen in the nation in 2021, a first-team all-conference selection, and has the most pro upside of the group.

“Obviously the big ones were (Aumavae-Laulu) and (Bass),” Forsyth said. “We just kind of gave our best recruiting pitch to T.J.”

Now, the Ducks are set to return one of the more experienced offensive lines in the country for the 2022 season. George Moore, who has exhausted his eligibility, is the only rotation lineman from last year’s squad who will not be back. Per PFF, here is a breakdown of the snaps that Oregon’s five returning starters played last season.

• T.J. Bass: 856
• Steven Jones: 706
• Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu: 635
• Ryan Walk: 577
• Alex Forsyth: 572

The future is obviously very, very bright for the Ducks up front. But Oregon’s current group of linemen is ready to make up for lost time and put together a memorable season. They’ve settled nicely into offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham’s scheme, and Forsyth is confident they will have the playbook “mastered” by the end of spring ball.

“It does bring a comfort level where it’s like, ‘Hey, we’ve played a lot of ball together. But we all are on the same page together — we don’t know everything about this offense,'” Forsyth said. “I think that’s kind of a comforting thing where we’re all at the same level, we’re all gonna make mistakes, and I think it helps the young guys, too.”

Forsyth was limited early in the spring and was absent from Oregon’s first few practices. He said that was precautionary, as he and Oregon’s coaching staff want to ensure that he avoids any setbacks and is healthy for the long run.

He’s been full-go for the Ducks in recent days and said he’s been mixing in pilates during his workouts in order to strengthen his back.

“Not a lot of big people do pilates, but I’m blazing a new trail there,” he joked.

For Oregon offensive line coach, Adrian Klemm, the Ducks’ group of returning linemen provides an ideal mix of talent and experience that has simplified the transition.

“It’s a great thing, there’s a foundation to build off of,” Klemm said. “The one thing they did a really nice job of is getting guys with good character. In that room, we have a lot of guys with good character and it’s a tight-knit group. Anytime you have that, you can focus on just football.”

Klemm admits there’s been a learning curve on that front, as much of what he’s asking his players to do is drastically different from what they did under Cristobal and Mirabal.

“There’s some things that I teach and some things I wanna implement that are kind of polar opposite from what they’ve been doing,” Klemm said. “So that’s been a process, just drilling that out. But it will come with time and we’re getting better each day. … The guys are more than willing to do it — they’re working their tales off to get there.”