Another spring game is in the books for the Oregon Ducks, and it was a fun one. There were old faces and new faces making plays, electrifying the Autzen Stadium crowd in the process.
Wide receiver Evan Stewart returned to the field for the first time in over a year and impressed right away, turning his four catches into 110 yards, including a 76-yard score on a pass from transfer quarterback Dylan Raiola — a player who turned heads in his debut in a Ducks uniform. Quarterback Dante Moore was sharp in limited reps, building upon a strong 2025 season.
Meanwhile, several players stuck out on a defense that put the pressure on the offensive line all day long, getting to the quarterback and ending the play more than a handful of times.
In all, it was a strong performance for all aspects of the game for the Ducks, which had head coach Dan Lanning feeling happy in the postgame press conference — though there's still much to learn and go back to watch on tape, per his words.
We'll be doing the same thing that Lanning and his staff are doing: evaluating what happened on the field during Oregon's 2026 spring game. We'll provide a grade and analysis on every position group, from quarterbacks to special teams units.
It wasn't the most refined performance for the quarterback room as a whole, but that's what's going to happen when the fourth- and fifth-stringers receive a similar number of reps as five-stars Dante Moore and Dylan Raiola. Moore didn't have the deep ball passes that Raiola did, but he was composed and made the right play, completing seven of 11 passes for 57 yards and a touchdown while adding a nice 21-yard scramble to his stat line. Raiola showed off his arm talent on several deep throws, but was just a tad above 50% completion percentage. Last season's backup, Brock Thomas, was steady as always, but the level of play largely dropped off in the second half as reserves began to fill the lineup.
This may be the hardest group to judge, considering the tempo of Saturday's game was more like "thudding" pads than actually tackling. Referees had a very quick whistle, not allowing for many broken tackles. As a result, and with a lack of holes created by the offensive line, both squads combined for 106 rushing yards with sacks taken out of the picture. Tradarian Ball was the leader with six carries for 28 yards, while both Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill Jr. didn't have much of an impact (besides Hill's muffed punts, but more on that later). It was an uneven day for the Ducks' running back room, but I wouldn't put too much stock into it. The spring game is always going to showcase the flashy sides of the offense and not the physicality, as coaches look to get everyone out of the game in one piece.
The Ducks' top three projected receiving targets next season — wide receivers Evan Stewart and Dakorien Moore and tight end Jamari Johnson — all showed out, each scoring touchdowns. Stewart and Moore each went over 100 yards receiving, aided by long receptions mixed with intermediate catches. 2026 four-star Messiah Hampton got in on the action as well, catching three passes for 44 yards. But it was the receiving duo of Stewart and Moore that carried this group to an A, as they were extremely explosive early and often on Saturday.
Uneven would be a requisite word to describe the Ducks' offensive line performance as well, but it's a lower grade than the running backs because of a handful of pre-snap procedure penalties. Simply put, there was just too much pressure on Oregon's quarterbacks and not enough holes that opened up for the running backs. Some players appeared to struggle more than others, but overall, it was a disappointing outing for the offensive line, which has come to be expected in a spring game.
While the offensive line faltered a bit, the defensive line both caused those issues and capitalized on them. By the stats, the two sides combined for over ten sacks on the day, with the depth of the unit being the highlight. Transfer Bleu Dantzler had just one tackle last season for Oregon State, but registered multiple sacks in the spring game. Aydin Breland was also excellent, basically living in the offense's backfield. The defensive line more than did its job for both teams on Saturday.
The defensive line certainly aided the linebackers, making their job much easier by providing penetration on both run and pass plays, but it's difficult to criticize the linebackers any more than that. Jerry Mixon stepped into the Bryce Boettcher role and tackled anyone who came his way, while others, such as Gavin Nix and Devon Jackson, chipped in as well. The group still has some questions after entering the game with questions, but we know even more now that there's an elite ability within the linebacker room.
There wasn't an inordinate number of plays made by the Oregon defensive backs, as several passes were simply off or out of bounds, resulting in incompletions. But there were two moments in which cornerbacks were beaten for deep, 50-plus-yard scores — things that just can't happen. It also wasn't a great sign to see from a defensive perspective that Dakorien Moore caught three early passes in man coverage against Brandon Finney Jr., who's known as one of the top young cover men in the country. Great day for the defensive front seven, but that sentiment didn't necessarily translate to the back four.
Well, let's hope the Ducks are more locked in on special teams come this fall. A free kick out of bounds, a pair of missed field goals, and two muffed punts from Hill resulted in a very iffy day for the Ducks' special teams unit. Kicker Gage Hurych did knock through two field goals, but he also missed two and booted a kick out of bounds, dropping the grade. Overall, things just need to be cleaned up in order for the Ducks to win the third phase of the game in 2026.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Ducks have mixed grades on 2026 spring game report card