Mario Cristobal's will look to turn around Oregon's fortunes.

Ever since the Chip Kelly era, speed and flash has been Oregon’s mantra. The team has always fielded elite-caliber players at the skills positions, and sort of let the rest figure itself out. The defense has had solid players over the years, but as a whole was considered more of an afterthought. During Oregon’s greatest years of success, the offensive line was good enough to keep the offense relatively comfortable, but was never thought to be among the best.

When Oregon hired Willie Taggart after a dismal 2016 season, the program went through a rebranding. Taggart’s top assistants, Mario Cristobal and Jim Leavitt, showed that the team was ready to put an emphasis on areas where Oregon was lacking for so long. Now, Cristobal is running the show, and it’s likely that Oregon’s offensive line will receive more attention than ever, and the’s offensive line this season has a chance to be the best in program history.

As we’ve mentioned before at DuckTerritory, 2018’s offensive line is years in the making. Oddly enough, Oregon features no seniors up front next season, but its leading blockers have similar experience. Calvin Throckmorton, Shane Lemieux as the inside guards, and Jake Hanson at center have been full-time starters for the past two seasons. With Brady Aiello also having been thrown in and out as a starter at left tackle, Oregon’s projected 2018 starters will have four of its five spots feature redshirt juniors who have two years of experience.

It’s rare for a team to have an offensive line grow together the way Oregon’s has. The 2016 season's 4-8 disappointment, to go along with 2017’s one-dimensional offense in wake of Justin Herbert’s injury led to some growing pains for the offensive line. They’ve taken their hits, now they’re ready to swing back.

Oregon has the starting spots from left tackle to right guard seemingly locked in, so the only question remaining is who will take the final spot at right tackle. The two top contenders for the spot right now seem to be former junior college transfer George Moore, who didn’t see the field for the Ducks in 2017, and redshirt freshman Alex Forsyth. Expect Oregon to lead off with experience in starting Moore, but if Forsyth continues to impress in ways he apparently has, he could make a push for the starting job fairly early in the season.

In terms of depth, the Ducks seem to have things figured out as well. At guard, the team has plenty of options. Redshirt sophomores Sam Poutasi and Jacob Capra will be two of the top ones. Another contender for backup guard will be recent Alabama transfer Dallas Warmack, who reunites with Cristobal, the man who recruited him.

They likely won’t be seeing the field too much, if at all, this year, but the incoming freshman might be Oregon’s most elite on the offensive line ever. The class will be headlined by top 100 player Penei Sewell, who was actually the top recruit in Oregon’s 2018 class. The program picked up two more offensive linemen in the top 300 with Steven Jones and Dawson Jaramillo. On the off chance that Oregon is forced to throw any of these players out there, they’ll have a better chance of holding their own than most true freshmen.

The biggest factor for this Oregon offensive line in 2018 will be its head coach. Along with the head coaching job, Cristobal will continue to lead the offensive line. Given that he arguably had his most successful years as the offensive lines coach at Alabama, Cristobal will most likely make the position his strongest point of emphasis in his first year leading the Ducks.

Aside from the question of the starter at right tackle, there isn’t a lot to criticize about Oregon’s offensive line next season. The team is experienced and talented -- with potentially three to four players who will in an NFL uniform after graduation -- and it’s also deep. Even the backups will have some desired experience, and will surely earn snaps throughout the season. The freshman look to be some of the most elite young lineman Oregon has ever had. The 2018 team could field the best offensive line in Oregon football history. In fact, the only team it seems like could best this one will be whoever Oregon sends out in 2019, with another year of experience under their belts