EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon Ducks saw three players - linebacker Keith Brown, cornerback Jalil Tucker, and EDGE Travan Ma'ae - enter the NCAA transfer portal during the second portal window, hampering the team's depth as the spring season rolls on.
Tucker played in just one game as a true freshmen in 2022, entering the portal with four years of eligibility remaining. Ma'ae spent three years at Oregon, recently transitioning from linebacker to defensive lineman and recording 12 tackles and one sack last year as a backup to Brandon Dorlus.
Neither Tucker or Ma'ae were huge portal surprises, but Brown was unexpected after recently making it clear he wanted to stay at Oregon - and with a clear path to playing time in front of him for 2023.
While Locked on Ducks host Spencer McLaughlin isn't thrilled about the recent portal entries, he's not panicking either.
"I said this was a good problem to have on the one level, on the other hand it does stink because your losing talented guys," McLaughlin said. "But the fact you are able to lose talented guys and not be in a situation where you feel like the room is just depleted and void of talent, that's a good place for Oregon to be at."
None of these three players were recruited by current head coach Dan Lanning, and the team's ability to steal recruits and add high profile players via the portal has many fans in Eugene and all across the west coast excited about how things will go in coaches second season at the helm.
Losing players in the portal is never fun, especially local kids like Brown, but it appears to be the cost of doing business in college athletics these days, and as long as Lanning keeps aggressively pursuing high-level recruits and portal additions - this program will see attrition routinely year in and year out.
For more Oregon transfer portal updates, check out the Locked on Ducks podcast.