Three ducks listed in PFF’s top 101 players in college football

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As the offseason progresses and spring football draws closer, Oregon is in the midst of a roster reshuffle.

Oregon is now adding 38 players through the transfer portal or high school recruitment and has already lost more than 20 players to the portal. While the scholarship math gets them over the 85 scholarship threshold, Dan Lanning and companies certainly leave their fingerprints on the entire squad.

Despite the roster build-up, PFF released its 101 Best Players of 2022, and three Oregon Ducks found their names on the list. Two players played for the Ducks in 2022, and one will make his Oregon debut against Portland State on Sept. 3.

The first duck checks in at number 31 at quarterback Bo Nix. After Nix’s 2022 season, he unsurprisingly made headlines as the Ducks’ top player. Nix threw for 3,593 yards with a 71.9 percent completion rate while throwing for 29 touchdowns and rushing for 14 more.

Here’s what PFF had to say about Nix as it settled at No. 31: “Nix enjoyed a career resurgence this season. In his first three seasons at Auburn, his 69.7% adjusted completion rate ranked only 108th among FBS quarterbacks. This season, Nix led the Power Five with 82.3% and finished second in the nation.”

Right now, guess who PFF took second place for the Ducks. Finished? The answer was: Tez Johnson at No. 72. Johnson, a transfer from Troy, put up amazing numbers as a slot receiver with 56 catches, 863 yards and four touchdowns. From an offensive grade perspective, PFF ranked Johnson as the second-highest wide receiver in the country, behind only Ohio State Marvin Harrison Jr.who sits at No. 6 on the list.

Here’s what PFF said about Johnson: “Despite his 5-foot-10, 150-pound frame, Johnson averaged 3.52 yards per streak, the third most in college football among wide receivers. The second grader joins Oregon for next season where he will be catching passes Bo Nix, his adoptive brother.”

Finally, another offensive player from Oregon’s historic 2022 season sits at number 78. That spot belongs to the running back Bucky Irving. Irving, who transferred from Minnesota in the spring, came to Eugene with little expectation when the Ducks returned Byron Cardwell, Seven McGeeand Sean Dollar. Irving immediately took the starting role, and the three running backs mentioned above are now at different schools.

Irving ended 2022 with 1,058 yards on 156 rushing attempts and five touchdowns. His 6.8 yards per carry ranks 13th nationally as Irving showed power and finesse in his debut season at Eugene.

Here’s what PFF had to say about Irving: “Trey Benson may have set the PFF college record for forced missed tackles per attempt in a season, but Irving wasn’t too far behind. His 43 percent broken tackle rate ranked second in the country and fifth in the PFF college era.

Oregon’s 2023 season will look to add more names to the list as Pac-12 foe USC finished at seven, paving the way for the conference.

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