Wednesday War Room : Oregon’s offensive line is taking shape, but the hardest decisions are still ahead

There was a point during spring practice when Oregon’s offensive line was probably the easiest position group on the roster to overreact to. The defensive line was winning a lot of the early work, Dan Lanning described some “highs and lows,” A’lique Terry was moving players everywhere and there was no obvious five-man answer beyond a couple of veterans. From the outside, it was easy to look at three departed starters and wonder whether Oregon had left itself one offensive lineman short in the transfer portal.

I did not see it that way then, and after what we have learned through the opening portion of fall camp, I see even less reason to see it that way now. My spring notes were fairly consistent that the defense having an early advantage was normal, particularly considering what Oregon returned on that side of the ball. Iapani “Poncho” Laloulu and Dave Iuli were the known pieces, Fox Crader increasingly looked like Oregon’s best answer at left tackle, while Michael Bennett III, Douglas Utu, Zac Stascausky, Demetri Manning and others moved through different combinations. Right tackle was the position I considered most unresolved, with Bennett emerging, Stascausky getting work and Tommy Tofi showing enough movement ability to remain part of the conversation despite looking physically like an interior lineman.

By the end of spring, Bennett appeared to have the lead at right tackle and Crader was lined up as the likely answer on the left. That was our starting point entering August, but fall camp has given us a much deeper picture than the one we had in April.

The most important development is that I no longer think Oregon’s biggest offensive-line question is whether it has a starting five. Terry could probably put five capable players on the field relatively quickly if Oregon were playing this weekend. The harder question is whether those are actually the best five, and whether choosing them too quickly would sacrifice the development of a sixth, seventh or eighth lineman who may eventually prove he belongs in that group.

That is why Terry is still experimenting, and it is why I would resist treating any August combination as permanent.