By Rob Moseley

Editor, GoDucks.com

Photo: Andy McNamara

Venue: Outdoor practice fields

Format: Full pads

When he was hired as Oregon's defensive coordinator over the winter, Brady Hoke made a point of not asking his fellow assistant coaches for evaluations of the players he would oversee.

Hoke wanted to make judgments for himself. And that process continues to this point, with three weeks out of the five Oregon will practice in the books as of Friday. Hoke met with media for the second week in a row, and for the second time passed at the opportunity to specify any standouts so far this spring.

“We're making some progress, but at the same time we've still got a lot to do,” Hoke said. “…They're all learning. And I want to be fair to them.”

Hoke's defense, with its four-man line and attacking, one-gap philosophy up front, got the better of the Ducks' first scored competition day last week, and again in a scrimmage last Friday. The Ducks plan another scrimmage next week, when the defense will try to rebound from losing the second competition day earlier this week.

At the onset of the spring, Hoke said the defensive staff planned for five days of heavy “install,” in which they introduced the players to new concepts. At this point, with five practices and then the spring game left on the spring practice schedule, they're backing off on installing new stuff.

“Just so we can do what we're doing fast and aggressively,” Hoke said.

From the sidelines, it appears returning starters Henry Mondeaux and Arrion Springs have made smooth transitions to Hoke's systems, and if Johnny Ragin III is as productive in games as he's been in practices, he seems poised to blossom into a bigger role at linebacker.

Today's practice ended with an overtime scenario, with the No. 1 offense going against the No. 1 defense, and then the twos squaring off. Hoke probably didn't like the fact both possessions in the drill ended in touchdowns. But there were in fact only two possessions on the drill because three of his guys – Mondeaux, Tyree Robinson and Ugo Amadi – crashed the line on an extra-point attempt, with Robinson getting a hand on it to block the kick.

Amadi had one of Friday's early highlights, too, stepping in front of a Travis Jonsen pass to intercept it during 1-on-1 pass drills in the red zone. No less than head coach Mark Helfrich sprinted over from the back of the end zone and jumped on Amadi's back to celebrate the play; the coach often claps and yells encouragement after big plays, but that was a new one.

Amadi called Helfrich's reaction “real exciting; I know I made an awesome play.”

Now in his second spring after playing as a true freshman last season, Amadi is playing primarily with the twos and called himself “a lot more comfortable than I was. Now I have confidence. Now I'm going to be able to anticipate things. Now I'm going to be able to react. Everything is just a lot slower now.”

Other Highlights: To begin the overtime drill, Dakota Prukop and the ones moved the ball but then faced fourth-and-one. He ran for the first down, and two plays later connected with a pitch man for the touchdown prior to the blocked extra point. But the twos responded, with Jonsen connecting with Tony Brooks-James on third-and-long to move the chains. That set up a pretty Jonsen pass to Casey Eugenio for the touchdown. Matt Wogan then made a PAT to end practice, after Helfrich called timeout to ice him. …

I don't know if Prukop and Jonsen were as consistent Friday as they were Wednesday, which coordinator Matt Lubick called their best day of the spring. But they combined to throw some of the nicest balls of the month so far. In 7-on-7, Prukop put the perfect touch on a ball to get it over the defense and into the hands of Dillon Mitchell. Moments later, Royce Freeman was running upfield and got a step on his man, and Jonsen hit him in stride for a long gain. A team period followed, and Jonsen threaded an absolute dart through the defense to hit Eugenio downfield. ….

Springs gave up a reception to Charles Nelson in the red-zone period but wrapped him up for little or no gain, then hauled in an interception of Prukop in the first 7-on-7 period and jumped a route to break up a pass in a later 7-on-7 period. Nelson did manage to beat Springs for a touchdown later in the 1-on-1 period, so the roommates each got to leave with some bragging rights. … Amadi's interception in 1-on-1s was followed on the next two reps by a Robinson breakup of a pass to Pharaoh Brown and a Mattrell McGraw breakup of a pass to Taj Griffin. That's a tough drill for the defenders, out on an island, but that was a nice sequence for that side of the ball.

Other observations: Also during 1-on-1s, Mitchell made a catch despite tight coverage and got his feet just inbounds for a completion from Terry Wilson. Later in the day he made a catch and went weaving through the defense for a long gain. I'm not sure what to expect from Mitchell in the fall; he's clearly got a ton of ability, but then again the Ducks are really deep at receiver. … Offensive line coach Steve Greatwood is doing his usual mixing and matching this spring. For much of Friday, the first group included Tyrell Crosby, Shane Lemieux, Jake Hanson, Doug Brenner and Calvin Throckmorton. …

Typical practice give-and-take: One snap, Griffin hesitates in the backfield looking for room, and Ragin swoops in from behind for the tackle. Very next snap, Griffin catches a screen pass and weaves through just about every guy on defense for a long gain. … During special teams drills, newcomers A.J. Hotchkins, Troy Dye, Eric Briscoe Jr. and Darrian Franklin all got work with the kickoff return team. … Among the alumni on hand today were Cristin and Brandon McLemore, David Faaeteete, Ryan DePalo and Elvis Akpla. … Funny moment from the post-practice huddle, when Helfrich made a point of lauding the very soft-spoken – and very Polynesian – Fotu Leiato for his communication on defense. “You guys ever heard Fotu talk?” Helfrich said. “Turns out he's got a Scottish accent.”