As Oregon football begins spring practices, The Oregonian is revisiting the Ducks' roster, position-by-position, by highlighting one player along the depth chart with something to gain this spring.



Today's position: Special teams



The player: Matt Wogan, kicker (6-foot-2, 210 pounds, junior)



What's at stake: Winning back his old job as starting place-kicker.



How he fared in 2014: Wogan was 7-of-9 on field goals, with a long of 34 (he was also 7-9 in 2013, with a long of 39). He had 22 touchbacks on kickoffs and his 62.0-yard average on 87 kickoffs ranked 43rd-longest nationally.



Reasons to buy: He still has the same distance on his kicks that positioned him seemingly as the answer to Oregon's past place-kicking woes as a highly rated 2013 recruit. Though his kickoff averages eventually returned to earth over the course of the season, in late October Wogan's 64.7-yard average ranked second nationally, with only a handful of kickoffs not reaching the end zone, and that distance helped Oregon defend some of the country's best kickoff returners last season. He's also a good athlete whose versatility put him in play in August 2014 to punt, place-kick and handle kickoffs.



Reasons to sell: For as highly recruited as Wogan was, it was jarring to see him lose the place-kicking job last fall to Aidan Schneider, a true freshman and preferred walk-on from Portland who moved from the soccer pitch to the football field only two years before at Grant High School. Like many kickers, Wogan appears to suffer from bouts of streaky confidence. In spring practices one year ago, Wogan made nearly every kick asked of him in practice, but missed badly on his lone attempt in the spring game.



Who's he competing with? At place-kicker, the main competition is Schneider, who made 40-of-42 PATs and 11-of-12 field goals with a long of 42 yards. Schneider's best gift is his ability to improve rapidly; some of this is his relative newness to the sport, but another factor is that he's a quick study. Other listed kickers include junior Alec Eickert and redshirt freshman Jesse Kelly.



What must Wogan accomplish this spring? Kick well enough, and consistently enough, to put pressure on Schneider just as Wogan, then a freshman, pressured Alejandro Maldonado in 2013 before taking his starting job. On kickoffs, Wogan saw stark improvement as a sophomore. One year after putting seven kickoffs out of bounds for penalties, Wogan instead had zero sail outside of the boundary in 2014.

Other Ducks with the most to gain: QB Jeff Lockie, CB Ugo Amadi, LB Danny Mattingly, RB Thomas Tyner, WR Jalen Brown, TE Evan Baylis, OL Jake Pisarcik.



-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

503-221-8100

@andrewgreif