Wednesday War Room: The 2026 Offensive Preview
Oregon already had one of college football’s better offenses in 2025. A deeper receiver room, another year for Dante Moore and more flexibility throughout the skill positions could make the Ducks considerably harder to defend, but the numbers also show a few places where real improvement still has to happen.
There is an easy way to preview Oregon’s offense this season. Dante Moore is back, Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill Jr. give the Ducks two dangerous running backs, Evan Stewart returns to a receiver room that suddenly looks incredibly deep and Poncho Laloulu anchors an offensive line with plenty of talent.
Put all of that together and predicting a lot of points would not exactly be taking a risk. I think there is a more interesting way to look at it, though, because Oregon already scored plenty of points last season.
The Ducks averaged 36.9 points and 452.2 yards per game, gained 6.9 yards every time they snapped the football and produced one of the most explosive offenses in the country. They averaged 198.6 yards rushing and another 253.6 through the air while finishing 13-2.
The opponent-adjusted numbers were just as impressive. FEI ranked Oregon fifth nationally in offensive efficiency, while the Ducks averaged 3.25 points per non-garbage possession against FBS opponents, eighth nationally.
That is a pretty high starting point for Drew Mehringer. The question is not how Oregon fixes an offense that did not work, but how it takes something that was already very good and makes it harder for elite defenses to push into uncomfortable situations.
The 2025 numbers show where there is still room
Success rate is one number I keep coming back to when looking at last season.
Oregon finished with a 47.8% offensive success rate, 17th nationally, and a 49% passing success rate that ranked 13th. The Ducks were also 36th in points per scoring opportunity at 4.1.
Those are good numbers, but they are not quite as overwhelming as 36.9 points and 6.9 yards per play might suggest. The difference helps explain something we saw at times last season: Oregon could create huge chunks of offense without every possession feeling equally efficient.
The red-zone numbers provide another clue. Oregon entered the red zone 62 times and scored 41 touchdowns, converting 53 of those possessions into some kind of score.
There is room in there.
That is why something Mehringer said during the first week of camp still matters to me. He described the basics of Oregon’s offense as protecting the football and creating explosive plays, but then added that the Ducks needed to “find ways to run the football at times when we need to” and could improve once they got into the red zone.
He was not describing a broken offense. He was identifying the difference between moving the football and finishing the job.
Dante Moore does not have to become a different quarterback
Moore’s first full season as Oregon’s starter was already very good. He completed 296 of 412 passes for 3,565 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, finishing with a 71.8% completion rate and a 163.7 passer rating.
There is an interesting recent Oregon comparison in those numbers. Bo Nix posted a 165.7 passer rating during his first Oregon season in 2022 before making a substantial jump in 2023, when the game seemed to slow down for him and his command of the offense became as important as his physical ability.
I am not suggesting Moore has to reproduce Nix’s statistical jump for Oregon to win a championship. I am more interested in whether the second year eliminates some of the plays that hurt the offense a year ago.
Ten interceptions can come down. Oregon allowed 19 sacks, and while sacks are never solely a quarterback statistic, Moore can help the offensive line through quicker recognition, pocket movement and knowing when the best answer is simply getting rid of the ball.
That is where three weeks of camp begin connecting to the analytics.
Mehringer has said Moore’s greatest growth has been in leadership, but he also called his football knowledge “some of the best I have ever been around.” More recently, he described an offense moving beyond simply knowing an assignment and toward recognizing defensive looks, communicating changes and understanding how the entire play should adjust.
Moore may not need more spectacular plays in 2026. Oregon could become better simply because fewer snaps become difficult ones.
The receiver room could change the shape of the offense
Last season, Oregon increasingly leaned on multiple-tight-end personnel as the receiver room became thinner. Dakorien Moore missed time and was not completely healthy late in the season, while the Ducks had the luxury of Kenyon Sadiq and Jamari Johnson at tight end.
There was nothing wrong with adapting to the personnel available. Oregon still produced one of the country’s best offenses, but 2026 gives Mehringer a very different set of choices.
Stewart is back and has received some of the strongest praise of anyone in camp. Dakorien Moore returns after catching 34 passes for 497 yards as a freshman, while Jeremiah McClellan caught 38 for 557 and grew into a much larger role as the season progressed.
Ross Douglas has spent August pushing back against the idea that Oregon has to declare one of them the permanent No. 1 receiver.
“I do not think we necessarily need to have a true number one,” Douglas said. “I think we have a collection of guys who could hurt you in multiple ways.” I think that is more than a receiver coach trying to keep everybody happy.
Oregon does not need to decide before the season that Stewart must get 12 targets or that Dakorien Moore has to become the deep threat on every passing concept. If Stewart, Moore and McClellan can all move around the formation and play winning football without the ball, the defense can help determine which receiver becomes the featured player on a particular snap.
Stewart makes that especially interesting because Mehringer said this week that he is playing more positions than he did in 2024. A player with Stewart’s ability becomes considerably harder to account for if Oregon does not have to leave him in the same place simply to keep the offense organized.
Davison and Hill keep Oregon from becoming one-dimensional
A deeper receiver room does not mean Oregon should abandon the running game. Davison and Hill may actually make all of the receiving talent more dangerous.
Davison rushed for 667 yards and 15 touchdowns on 113 carries as a freshman, while Hill produced 656 yards on just 75 attempts. Hill averaged 8.75 yards per carry, giving Oregon one of the most explosive young backs in college football. They also do not have to be used the same way.
Davison gives Oregon a physical answer when the field gets smaller or the defense knows a run may be coming. Hill has enough speed and receiving ability that Mehringer has already talked about finding ways to use him outside the traditional running-back role. “You see this burst down the field, and it is like, hey, we’ve got to do something with this guy,” Mehringer said earlier in camp. That is where this offense starts becoming more interesting than simply lining up in three-receiver sets and throwing more often.
Hill can leave the backfield. Stewart can change receiver positions. Johnson can line up attached or flex away from the formation. Oregon can change what the offense looks like without changing all 11 players. That fits Mehringer’s philosophy almost perfectly.
“Complexity is a little bit of a double-edged sword,” he said earlier in camp while questioning how well an offense can execute if it tries to carry too many different plays. The better solution may be players who make the same playbook look different.
Jamari Johnson may become even more useful
If Oregon puts a third receiver on the field more often, it would be easy to assume the tight end becomes less important. I think Johnson could become more important precisely because Oregon does not have to tell the defense how it intends to use him.
Jack Smith described the tight end during camp as “the second quarterback” because of everything the position has to process.
“We ask our guys to do a lot, whether it is pass pro, run blocking, routes, screen timing,” Smith said. That versatility gives Mehringer another way to hide intent.
Johnson can keep the run threat intact while still becoming a receiving matchup against a linebacker or safety. Oregon can move him away from the formation without substituting, then bring him back inside when it wants more physicality.
The names behind Johnson are less established, but Marcus Dixon and Kendre Harrison give Oregon two very different options while Andrew Olesh continues developing. That could allow Oregon to use a second tight end when there is a specific reason for it rather than feeling compelled to live in heavier personnel.
The offensive line is still the piece I want to see
There is plenty to like up front, beginning with Poncho Laloulu. Oregon allowed only 19 sacks last season while averaging 5.4 yards per rush, and the returning line has individual players with significant experience. Dave Iuli gives the Ducks another veteran interior presence, while Fox Crader showed enough in limited work last season to make the optimism at left tackle understandable. The question throughout August has not sounded like whether Oregon has five capable linemen, but which five work best together.
A’lique Terry has consistently called the issue cohesion. “The biggest improvement, obviously, would just cohesion,” Terry said earlier in camp, talking about finding the right mesh and the right pairs. He later said the Ducks would begin “gluing it up a little bit more” once players separated themselves.
That process is still happening. Tommy Tofi has worked at four offensive-line positions other than center, Oregon has continued developing multiple backup-center options and Poncho has described a room with more players capable of stepping in than some people might realize. Eventually, however, flexibility has to become chemistry.
If Oregon can protect Moore when opponents know the Ducks have to throw and run the football when everyone in the stadium expects Davison to get it, most of my questions about this offense become much easier to answer.
Oregon may not need more offense
That is probably where I land after putting the 2025 numbers next to everything we have heard since Media Day. Oregon does not need to manufacture another 100 yards of offense each week. The Ducks were already fifth nationally in opponent-adjusted offensive efficiency and eighth in points per drive while averaging almost 37 points.
The improvement can be smaller and still matter enormously. Moore can eliminate a few negative plays. Oregon can turn several more red-zone possessions into touchdowns. The offensive line can become more cohesive, while the receiver room gives Moore easier answers and Hill forces defenses to account for him wherever he happens to line up.
Those changes would not make the offense look completely different from the one we watched last season. They could make it much more difficult to solve, and for an offense that was already one of the country’s best, that may be all Oregon really needs.