ScoopDuck Roundtable: Breakout Player of the Game vs Oregon State
It’s Tuesday and we keep creeping closer to the Civil War game on Saturday. Our second roundtable of the week is read to go with us predicting which players could break out for Oregon in Corvallis.
Is this the week that Oregon breaks out on offense? Here are our predictions on which players have a chance to step up for the Ducks.
Max Torres: Evan Stewart
We haven’t seen a whole lot of Stewart in the two games he’s been with the Ducks, but he did find the end zone against Boise State and did a great job getting open all game. Tez is a proven playmaker at Oregon but the best offenses in college football spread the ball around. I think he’s in store for a breakout performance that shows why he was a 5-star recruit coming out of high school.
Linden Hile: Iapani Laloulu
With the publicly noted shuffling that’s been going on with Oregon’s offensive line, give me Iapani Laloulu to have a standout performance against the Beavers this weekend. He switched over to center in the second half of the Boise State game and the line got an immediate boost, going from four sacks allowed in the first half to none in the latter.
It’s hard to say how much of that is attributable specifically to having Poncho at center instead of guard but the plan all offseason was to play him there and the last-second switch before playing Idaho didn’t work. If he gets the full Civil War game at center, I think he’ll pave the way for a strong outing on the ground and allow less interior pass rush than has been present so far this season.
Jhop: Kenyon Sadiq
It’s clear Oregon wants to get Sadiq involved in the offense. The problem has been finding the right ways and time to do it. But his skillset presents a unique challenge to the defense. He’s big and fast and really tough to defend in space. As teams have figured out Oregon has trouble in pass pro, Sadiq could be a key safety valve for Dillon Gabriel if the Ducks use him the right way. Let’s hope Will Stein and Gabriel get on the same page with that this week in Corvallis.
