DeForest Buckner

Oregon Ducks defensive lineman DeForest Buckner (44) could be a breakout player in 2014 because of his 6-foot-8 size and physical play on the line.

(Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian)

EUGENE -- In the coming days we'll re-examine Oregon football's spring practices and offer answers to a few remaining questions:



What did we learn? What questions still remain? What new questions popped up?



Today: Oregon's defensive line.

What will the identity of Oregon's defensive line be in 2014? It's the question every Duck fan and opposing Pac-12 offensive line coach wants to know after UO was defined by its ill-timed struggles to defend physical running offenses. That scorching spotlight on the line may or may not have always been deserved -- breakdowns at linebacker and in the secondary also contributed in losses to Stanford and Arizona -- but it's the place it ultimately rested most often.

And that scrutiny focused on a line with three senior linemen who recently got jobs in the NFL. Ricky Havili-Heimuli, Wade Keliikipi and Taylor Hart have all departed, leaving new questions to be answered.

So no, though we don't know what will be the story of the line come fall, the defensive line's defining takeaways of spring are -- like 6-foot-8 Arik Armstead -- hard to miss.

They're tall. They're big. They're motivated. And they're still on the lookout for depth.

We confirmed this spring what we expected going in, that Armstead, DeForest Buckner and Alex Balducci will earn the most reps in Oregon's 3-4 scheme. Defensive line coach Ron Aiken spent the spring telling his unit that no one's job was safe but acknowledged it was more of a motivational ploy than a threat to playing time. That's because each of the three has deep experience -- stemming from being forced into action as true freshmen when injuries depleted the Ducks -- and enviable size. Balducci is the shortest at 6-4, and Armstead the "lightest" at 286 pounds.

But size isn't everything at Oregon. In fact, we learned that Aiken spent his spring preaching to his mammoth line the advantages of playing lower to the ground. The results were mixed.

Here's what Aiken said on April 9 about that goal:

"If your pads are down you've got a great chance of everything happening," defensive line coach Ron Aiken said. "If your pads are high you have no chance of nothing to happen right.

"You try to keep your pads lower than your eyes. Some of our guys it's hard to do, but you've still got to work to do it. I haven't seen anybody yet do it consistently."

The questions that remain center on the quality of Oregon's backups and whether players such as converted tight end T.J. Daniel, Sam Kamp, Cody Carriger and more can develop into valuable contributors. Finding an answer is vital in a league whose mix of uptempo offenses and smashmouth running games require a successful team to have more than three or four solid linemen.

Daniel is seen as the wild card in this way. He earned tremendous praise in the winter months for the muscle and weight he added while still retaining some of his speed and in spring practices was cited as a player progressing nicely. Kamp and Carriger were described as players who thrived at being physical while needing to improve technique. Stetzon Bair is an interesting prospect because of his lineage -- his brother, Brandon, is a former UO standout -- and 6-9 frame, but little is known about his readiness to make a play for more reps.

Whether Oregon might add yet another lineman into the mix before fall has been a question since February, when head coach Mark Helfrich said another might be added to the recruiting class. All signs pointed then to Hawaiian Ratu Mafileo, a nephew of former Duck Haloti Ngata, but he's reportedly been trapped in NCAA academic red tape ever since.

Whether he qualifies for school or not, the defensive line figures to be among the most heavily scrutinized positions once again for Oregon.

Previously:

-- Andrew Greif | @andrewgreif