EUGENE — Oregon’s roster is more or less set for the 2019 season, but the transfer portal can change that at any time.
The Ducks are projected to have the NCAA limit of 85 scholarship players, not counting a former walk-on who had a year-to-year scholarship this past year.
But Oregon is lacking of depth in the secondary, where freshman cornerback transfer Chris Steele’s change of heart to return to USC left the Ducks with seven corners for three positions, and is in need of five new offensive linemen in 2020.
Those positions in particular could still be addressed during the summer.
“The grad transfer market is something we’re always going to keep an eye on,” coach Mario Cristobal said. “We actually monitor it, grade it. We evaluate it, we assess it and it’s got to be a right fit. I felt like we did a really good job with guys like Dallas (Warmack), guys like Juwan (Johnson), even Kano (Dillon) last year. Before Kano got hurt Kano was a great contributor. Kano did a really good job on our football team, made some really big plays before the injury.”
With UO completing final exams for the spring quarter this week the possibility of further roster attrition will become clearer over the next two weeks, during which time Oregon’s 15 remaining 2019 signees are due to arrive on campus.
To be clear, Cristobal and his staff aren’t hoping for further turnover but should it occur, they’re prepared to act.
“Even if you have depth at that position, if you can upgrade your roster through the grad transfer market or the transfer portal, you’re going to always look,” Cristobal said. “We’re going to always look at it and we’re going to see it as a positive, not a negative.”
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