Tony Tuioti Confident in Oregon's New-Look Defensive Line

The defensive line in Eugene will look much different in 2024. Casey Rogers, Popo Aumavae and Sam ‘Taki’ Taimani all move on from Oregon after being key contributors a year ago. Fortunately for the Ducks, they were able to go into the transfer portal and land some key additions and a handful of younger players on the roster look like they’re ready for bigger roles in this defense.

Oregon defensive line coach Tony Tuioti met with reporters in Eugene following Monday’s fall camp practice. Below you’ll find a transcription of some of the key moments from that press conference.

Question: With some further movement in the offseason for your room, just how different of a group is it when you go from the most experienced and oldest group in the country to–still got some old guys in there but much younger than what it was?

Tuioti: “Totally different. That’s one of the biggest things we tried to work on this offseason was really building chemistry between the guys. Having Jamaree Caldwell with us and also bringing in DJ (Derrick) Harmon in with the group, it’s a totally different dynamic. So they’ve been great about it. Keyon’s (Ware-Hudson) been doing a really good job being the leader of the group along with Jordan Burch, so every single day we get opportunities to work on our chemistry and it’s been good so far. Not only what they’re doing in the building but also off the field as well. Hanging out trying to build that connection, that chemistry. That’s gonna be a big part of our success this year.”

Question: How is Harmon gonna help you guys? What did you like with him in the portal and to the addition?

Tuioti: “Just the size, and he’s played in this conference. He’s physical, he’s got the ability to play the run pretty well in first/second down and also give us some pass rush value. He’s very twitchy, very athletic for his size. Made some big splash plays for us this past scrimmage, so really excited what he brings to the table for us from that standpoint.”

Question: That scrimmage on Saturday what else stood out besides his play just for your group?

Tuioti: “Just the ability to be able to be stout in the run game and then also transition and affect the quarterback. We got some good edge guys that can rush too as well. We know in this conference we’re going into we gotta be stout in the run game and we gotta earn the right to go rush the passer. We gotta take a lot of pride in that and I felt like in the scrimmage they did a pretty good job of doing that. And then taking advantage of when they have a chance to go get after the quarterback.”

Question: Where has Jordan Burch improved just over the past year?

Tuioti: “He’s improved in a lot of different areas. Number one just in terms of being more vocal in his leadership. I’m really proud of what he’s been able to do this offseason. He’s put on some weight. He was 285 he’s like 298 now, just putting on some lean muscle and got faster and stronger. I expect a really breakout season for him. He’s been working really really hard for it. He has high expectations for himself and I think he’s putting himself in position where he can put it all together and make it happen.”

Torres’ Take

The first thing that really stood out to me here was what Tuioti had to say about Burch. The more guys you can have on the roster playing closer to 300 pounds the better. And fortunately for the Ducks, I figure it’s safe to assume a majority of the players are adding good weight and Burch putting on around 13 pounds of lean muscle in the offseason is no small task.

I don’t think Tuioti could have hyped him up much more, but after seeing what he was able to do last season and the depth Oregon has on the D-line, maybe we see Burch take over some games this season. I also liked that Tuioti mentioned the group has to earn the right to get after the passer by stopping the run. With how physical and run-first the Big Ten has proven to be, that’s a great place to start at the line of scrimmage, preventing the opponent from running the ball down your throat.