In 2025, the Oregon Ducks will have an offensive line like no other
A talented line has eight months to become one wall.
It was a sunny day in Beaverton in 2018 when I remember first being struck by Oregon’s transformation.
Mario Cristobal was in his first fall with the program and he had just signed a recruiting class that was filled with the types of bodies he believed would win him games in the trenches. He wanted SEC-sized guys in there, and in his first signing period, he brought in the 6-foot-5, 349-pound Penei Sewell, the 6-foot-6, 340-pound Steven Jones and the 6-foot-7, 355-pound Justin Johnson.
On paper, it seemed like quite the foundation. But on paper doesn’t quite prepare you for in person.
The Ducks bussed a talented squad up to Beaverton that August afternoon and hosted an open scrimmage on the Nike campus. Employees came out on their lunch breaks to watch Justin Herbert zip passes to Dillon Mitchell, and us reporters got pretty good access to the sideline to get a glimpse at the newcomers.
I couldn’t get over the giants walking around. Yes, almost every offensive lineman who plays Division 1 college football is a massive human being. But there are levels to this, and some of the players on that offensive line were unlike any I had ever seen.
It was a new era for the Ducks, one that would be the bedrock of their success throughout Cristobal’s tenure. And while Oregon’s guidelines for offensive linemen aren’t so dependent on size here in 2025, Dan Lanning’s offensive lines have called for lengthy, rangy, strong athletes — who also happen to be in the 300-350-pound range.
Talent and size have played a large part in the successful continuity between the Cristobal and Lanning eras. However, for the first time since 2018, the Oregon Ducks have crafted up an offensive line that will be unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.