



The early front-runner to replace departed senior starting center Matt Hegarty comes from a player with no experience in redshirt freshman Jake Hanson. The 6-foot-5, 288-pound lineman from Eureka is hoping his time redshirting last year and learning from Hegarty can help him transition smoothly into the starting spot this coming fall.

Hanson says right now he's trying to emulate Hegarty's leadership abilities on and off the field.

"Matt was just a natural born leader. When he came in, no one was expecting him to lead like he did," said Hanson. "That's what I've been able to do, lead like that."

Hanson's growth along the line has been a hot topic the last eight months. He arrived onto campus and quickly started to turn heads with his athletism and skill. He started work at tackle, but offensive line coach Steve Greatwood asked him to try center early into fall camp and then the move happened. Hanson spent most of the year on Oregon's travel roster in case of an emergency at center.

Sports can be a tricky social dynamic as well with age differences between starters. Hanson is one of Oregon's younger players on roster, and should he win the starting center job, he'll be asked to help lead an entire offense loaded with veteran players.

"It's not that older guys have to be leaders, younger guys can't be leaders," said Hanson. "If you're a true freshman or a redshirt senior, you have to step up and be a leader."

Hanson says he's seeing his teammates become receptive of his leadership on and off the field, as well as his understanding of the offense grow.

In the video above Hanson talks more about his grasp of the Oregon offense, being the leader along the offensive line, and how he's never played center until arriving at Oregon.

the Oregon Ducks will resume spring practice on Monday, which will be the start of their third week of spring ball. Oregon will finish their spring session April 30th with the Spring Game at 11 a.m.



