With spring practice over the Oregonian/OregonLive is reviewing Oregon's depth chart position by position. The eighteenth of a 25-part series looks at the strong-side linebackers.

Oregon's defensive scheme is changing under Andy Avalos, who's utilizing the Stud end position as a hybrid edge defensive end and outside linebacker.

So while the Stud is sort of a strong-side linebacker, watching Oregon's spring game shows there will be some personnel packages in which they're not the same, particularly when the Ducks are in a 3-4 or facing a run-heavy team.

Some players, like Adrian Jackson, will be asked to play but SLB and Stud, while Andrew Johnson Jr. is an example of a more traditional Sam linebacker.

Sean Meagher/Staff

Post-spring depth chart

Adrian Jackson: 6-foot-2, 222 pounds, sophomore OR

Andrew Johnson Jr.: 6-foot-2, 222 pounds, redshirt-freshman

MJ Cunningham: 6-foot-2, 229 pounds, redshirt-freshman



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AP/Young Kwak

Mario Cristobal's take

"The scheme is pretty diverse and I wouldn’t in any way shape or form just label it one way or the other."

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AP/Rick Bowmer

Co-starter

Adrian Jackson is in the mix at Stud, which also puts him at or near the top of the list on the strong side.

When Oregon uses an all-out rush package, expect to see Jackson and La'Mar Winston Jr. on each edge.

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Co-starter

Andrew Johnson Jr. didn't get talked about a lot during the spring but made a push to play late last season before ultimately being shut down.

He had one tackle with the second-team defense during the spring game but more telling than the production was the role Johnson was playing. He didn't appear to playing at inside linebacker role, nor was he on the edge as a Stud. This differentiation is what illustrated Avalos still has an albeit thin line of separation between the hybrid role and traditional Sam linebackers.

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Oregon depth chart analysis

QB | RB | SE | F | Slot | TE | LT | LG | C | RG | RT | Specialists

DE | DT | NT | Stud | WLB | MLB | SLB | Nickel | Dime | BCB | FCB | BS | FS

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Next wave

Because the strong-side linebackers weren't discussed at length or shown a lot during the spring game the rest of the depth chart is a but murky.

Clearly, Winston is capable of playing the position given he's also at Stud. But while D.J. Johnson and Bryson Young are also at Stud, they're more in the mold of defensive ends and wouldn't be asked to play SLB.

MJ Cunningham is mainly on the weak side but given the depth ahead of him there, could feasibly be asked to play on the strong side as well.

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Summer arrivals

Three-star signee Treven Ma’ae is likely going to be an outside linebacker. Whether Avalos uses him as a Stud or SLB remains to be seen.

Four-star signee Mase Funa is going to be an inside linebacker position.

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Quotable

"For us to continue to get better we have to maximize the use of our personnel. … We’ve got to be able to present the offense with ID issues, movement issues and structural issues." - Mario Cristobal