By Rob Moseley

Editor, GoDucks.com

Photo: Andy McNamara

Venue: Outdoor practice fields

Format: Full pads

The Ducks kicked off the final week of spring drills Monday, an overcast but sunny morning on which season-ticket holders and students were invited to attend. A little over 400 registered to attend, and 314 made it out this morning.

Unlike the “Fast Friday” walk-through format for the open practice last August, this was a regular day of work for the team. The common impressions from fans were the competitiveness of the QB battle between Dakota Prukop and Travis Jonsen, the abilities of freshman receiver Dillon Mitchell and the amazing sight of Pharaoh Brown back from injury and making plays. But here are fuller impressions from some of the fans on hand, in their own words (edited for brevity and clarity):

Francisco Zavala:

“I was just happy to be a part of it; I'm not going to be able to make the spring game, so this was my shot. I love seeing Pharaoh Brown. Just to see him out there banging around is great. And then Tony Brooks-James looks great, Royce Freeman looks great, Charles Nelson looks great. Mitchell: That kid looks impressive. I keep thinking, he's not going to redshirt. He's got a second gear. He's got great vision. And then I've been watching Prukop. He keeps getting the majority of the snaps, so I'm kind of led to believe he's the guy. He looks like he needs good blocking. He's not as mobile as Vernon (Adams) and won't be able to get out of trouble as fast. But those are just my impressions, and I know I'm only seeing them this one time.”

Ted and Judy Hartman

Ted: “We were kind of curious about some of the new guys, specifically the quarterback position. We were watching and comparing. I'm pretty optimistic about the team having a backup that can carry the team if something happens to the starter. I think Jonsen and Wilson are potentially pretty good players.”

Judy: “We were wondering if they really needed Prukop.”

Ted: “In terms of carrying the program forward, do you give a fifth-year guy the reps over the development of a guy that potentially would stay with you three years? But the other bright spot I saw out there was No. 1, Mitchell. He looked real good. And the piece that was so lacking last year was defense, so I kept wandering over to that part of the field. I tell you what, it looks to me like they're trying to shore up the front line, and the linebackers, to take a little pressure off the secondary. Those kids are probably going to be better than last year, but they need some help.”

Judy: “I think they look better.”

Judy and Lew Blue

Judy: “I've always heard that they break this up into very, very fast segments. And so that was one of the things I was always interested in seeing. They really don't give them any moment to catch their breath. They're go, go, go, go. And the other that stunned me is the fact that they absolutely know between each one of these segments exactly what they're supposed to do. Where to go, what to do – they're all programmed for that.”

Lew: “I also was just curious about the quarterback competition. And it's interesting to see how they run their practices. I was wondering about the contact; they do limit the contact, but they need to. It was very interesting. Do I want to come every day and watch them practice? No. But I'm glad we had the opportunity to see it.”

Jack Hayworth

“We were kind of curious about the intensity of the practice. I don't know if they're supposed to go full-bore, three-quarter, whatever it was. We thought there might be more hitting. I used to watch them over at Hayward Field, so I've been around a while and seen quite a bit of difference. But this is great. They had some good aspects. The quarterbacks all seemed to be pretty much on target; I can see why it's wide-open. I like the idea of being able to come in and have a little more participation from the public before the spring game. Of course, the weather helps too.”

Brad and Lee Ann Thompson

Lee Ann: “From my perspective it was perfect today – perfect weather, and I liked being able to watch an actual practice. See Charles Nelson, Dakota. It's better than what I thought.”

Brad: “The tempo was good. We have seen it before, but it was good. Travis Jonsen is bigger than I thought.”

Lee Ann: “Both quarterbacks looked good. And then the receiver, No. 1, wow.”

Brad: “Charles Nelson, he did his special little things out there.”

Lee Ann: “And Pharaoh Brown, we were glad to see him.”

Garrin Raleigh

“I was impressed with Jonsen's height and arm. And I thought Prukop did well too, but it wouldn't surprise me to see a Bennett-Mariota thing where people thought it was going to be one guy and it turned out to be the other. And I thought Terry Wilson is fast, but it looks like he locks onto his receivers. I tried to watch defense, but it was tough because they're on the far field. It's nice to see Pharaoh Brown out there moving, and the knee twisting.”

Wally Larsen and Marty Hackett

Wally: “Really impressed with the organization. I'd heard about it, but how structured but loose it was. Kind of a combination. This is very cool.”

Marty: “Yeah, just the sheer efficiency. I was reminiscing back a long time ago, and how much more they get done now in a short amount of time. It's really efficient. … I think Jonsen, he's impressive.”

Larry Tunnell and Gary Peterson

Larry: “We wanted to see the quarterbacks, mainly. I like what I saw. They all throw a good ball. You could see Wilson's a little bit behind everybody else. But the other two are pretty close, just like they've been saying.”

Gary: “Same thing, quarterbacks and receivers. They look pretty sharp. I wanted to look at the defense, but they're on the other side of the field. But I'm sure from what we've been reading that Hoke's got them under control pretty good.”

Larry: “I think we're going to see the best defense we've seen in a long time.”

Highlights: The morning began with 1-on-1 pass-rush drills in the center of the field, with the team surrounding the linemen. Jake Hanson and Austin Maloata each won a couple reps, and Calvin Throckmorton locked up Henry Mondeaux, no easy feat. UO coach Mark Helfrich scored the drill evenly entering the final rep, including a rep midway through the drill that he awarded to Tyrell Crosby over Torrodney Prevot. That didn't sit well with Prevot, who jumped in to take the final, tiebreaking rep for the defense. He managed to beat Throckmorton, and the defense won the period. …

The 1-on-1 passing drill was held in the red zone. Prukop had touchdowns to Brooks-James, Brown and Mitchell, and Brown had a nice over-the-shoulder catch from Taylor Alie. The defense got a nice run going at one point with consecutive breakups by Ty Griffin, Johnny Ragin III and Reggie Daniels. And Ugo Amadi wrestled an interception away from Kirk Merritt, prompting Helfrich for the second time this spring to run over and congratulate Amadi on a play. …

The first 7-on-7 period required third-and-long conversions. Prukop moved the chains nearly every chance, working the ball to various receivers. Wilson was 4-for-4, while Jonsen had mixed results; Daniels tackled one receiver short of the sticks, and broke up a pass to Johnny Mundt. … Rex Manu flattened Brooks-James during a late team period and sacked the QB on the next play. Ty Griffin intercepted a ball in the end zone that Jonsen put a little too much air under. In the last team period, Brown stiff-armed two defenders and hit the sideline for a long gain.

Other observations: Justin Hollins got some more reps with the first defense at end. During an 11-on-11 period he “sacked” Prukop but also was misaligned a couple reps later, allowing Freeman to run for big yardage. … During position drills, Hoke took the defensive ends himself to run some drills. He has said he intends to coach a position group come fall, presumably the tackles or ends. … Fotu Leiato II and Amadi took reps with Arrion Springs and Tyree Robinson in the secondary with the first defense. … In special teams, Troy Dye worked with the first group on kickoff return and kickoff, and Darrian Franklin was with him on kickoff return.