With The First Pick
Fansided

2020 NFL Draft: 3 cornerstone pieces of the Oregon defense return to school

By Seth Steere

EUGENE, OREGON - OCTOBER 26: The Oregon Ducks take the field prior to taking on the Washington State Cougars during their game at Autzen Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
EUGENE, OREGON - OCTOBER 26: The Oregon Ducks take the field prior to taking on the Washington State Cougars during their game at Autzen Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Oregon Ducks defense for the 2020 season looks quite strong with Jordon Scott, Deommodore Lenoir, and Thomas Graham all bypassing the 2020 NFL Draft.

After a strong campaign in 2019, the Oregon defense may have an even brighter future ahead of them in 2020. The Ducks will be returning several of their key starters on defense — Jordon Scott, Deommodore Lenoir, and Thomas Graham Jr — these three were a large reason why the Oregon defense was so dominant this year, and now, could be even better after choosing to stay in school, bypassing the 2020 NFL Draft.

Jordon Scott is a defensive tackle for the Ducks; he is primarily a 0-to-1-tech (meaning he plays nose tackle). In his junior season, he didn’t produce a high amount of tackles-for-loss or even sacks, but his impact on the game itself was crucial to Oregon’s attempt to stop the opposing team’s run game. With Scott manning the nose, the Ducks defense ranked 13th in the nation against the run, allowing just under 110 yards-per-game on the ground.

The next prospect joining Scott back at school is Thomas Graham Jr; at the end of the year, Graham started getting fans among the “Twitterverse”, with his solid play in the Rose Bowl game against the Wisconsin Badgers. Graham tends to be aggressive at the LOS than your average corner. He also some great instincts when the ball is in the air, in the last two seasons for Oregon, Graham has 28 pass deflections and 5 interceptions — however, he isn’t the only one putting in work on the outside for Oregon.

More from With the First Pick

His partner-in-crime on the opposite side of the field, Deommodore Lenoir, is also an intriguing prospect who received some attention from the Athletics‘, Dane Brugler, their resident draft scout. Earlier in the year, Dane highlighted 5 under-the-radar prospects who could potentially rise and become first-round talents, Lenoir was one of the players listed in Brugler’s article. Oregon’s secondary was already great in 2019, finishing the year ranked 14th nationally in pass defense efficiency.

All 3 of these prospects were likely headed to the NFL if they chose to declare, but it appears they have some unfinished business to take care of Oregon this next season. Also, joining them for another season is Austin Faoliu; Faoliu wasn’t as big of an impact for the Ducks defense as the others, but he could certainly become one with another season under his belt.

Next. Browns address both lines in 7-round mock draft. dark

Nonetheless, the Oregon defense will be loaded with talent with all 4 of these players returning for another year, not-to-mention they have one of the best young players in college football Kayvon Thibodeaux coming off a tremendous year and the additions of two 5-star recruits at linebacker, Justin Flowe and Noah Sewell (brother of Penei Sewell), coming in to join them. Look out for the Oregon Ducks in 2020, they got some talent on defense.

Home/NCAA Football News