Will Stein on Offensive Line Depth, Offensive Growth in Fall Camp

Oregon’s season opener vs. Idaho is less than two weeks away and the Ducks project to have one of the most potent offenses in the nation once again.

Will Stein has elite talent at virtually every position and the Ducks should be able to put some big points on the board this season.

Oregon’s offensive coordinator met with the media following Monday’s fall camp practice to give his thoughts on the offense. Below you’ll find a partial transcription of that press conference and some analysis.

Question: How uncertain is the interior of the O-line right now? How many contingencies can you look into with less than two weeks to gameday?

Stein: “I don’t think it’s uncertain. We practice a ton. We’ve gotten a ton of reps since winter all the way up until now. I think we have a solid option up front and we won’t reveal that until we get out there. I like where we’re at. Our scrimmage on Saturday I think we did a much better job of running the football, creating explosive passes. We’re right where we need to be and I’m looking forward to start really prepping for some games.”

Question: How have you seen Poncho grow into playing center?

Stein: “Well there’s so much up front not just blocking, which he’s more than capable of because he’s got the size and the strength factor. There’s a lot of calls, he’s the second quarterback on the field identifying the front, identifying the ID, so there’s a lot that he’s learned over the past six, seven months, but he’s done a hell of a job and I think his physicality up front is something that I’m really excited about come fall.”

Question: Where do you think the offense has grown the most from the first day of fall camp until now?

Stein: “I think guys just getting on the same page. It just takes time. Offensive football is so unique because all 11 truly have to be on the same page for a play to be successful. I think it starts with our quarterbacks. We got a lot of new and they’re at a point now where they’re really handling things up front. Again, run checks, protection checks, changing routes. I feel good with where we’re at and just continue to practice and get things right.”

Question: How has that marriage between the center and the quarterback? New at both. How has that kind of gone in terms of the checks, the communication and the pre snap adjustments?

Stein: “It’s huge it really is. The good with coach to player communication, headset communication—I’m able to talk up until 15 and you don’t want to talk too much ’cause it can just become white noise with the QB, but giving them specific things within the play: hey if we get this check to that, that also helps as well.”

Question: Nishad’s (Strother) been an experienced starter before. A year ago he was contending here until the arm injury and then that probably set him back. Where is he now in terms of being capable if you have to call on him for one of those guard spots?

Stein: “I feel good about Nishad along with a lot of other guys up front. It goes back to knowing what to do. When you practice against our defense who does a lot up front, sometimes it takes a little bit of time. O-line it doesn’t matter if you’re a senior or a freshman it’s still developmental. And when you get to this system where you have a good amount of scheme and you see a lot every single day, it just takes time. He’s at a spot now where I think he feels really comfortable in what we’re doing, what we’re asking him to do and then allowing himself to play free and what we brought him here to do play physical.”

Torres’ Take

Stein had a lot of interesting things to say but one thing that stood out to me is that he’s hardly concerned about the offensive line depth. I spoke with Justin about this on the podcast but I think if the offensive line had to battle an injury, you feel better about the team’s options along the interior.

Poncho seems like he should be in for another solid year and he should be able to take some strides after playing so much as a true freshman. Managing in-helmet communication may be an under-discussed challenge for coaches across the sport as the season continues to get closer, more communication isn’t always a positive, but you figure Oregon should be just fine since they have one of if not the most experienced signal callers running the offense in Dillion Gabriel.