Dan Lanning highlights where Ducks can improve after first scrimmage

The Oregon Ducks are a bit behind this spring, starting later than other programs and having to endure spring break, but the Ducks are already ratcheting up the intensity.

The Ducks had their first scrimmage of the spring season on Saturday, getting a first look at how the new faces and freshmen operate in a game-like situation in advance of the spring game on April 25. The scrimmage taught head coach Dan Lanning a sundry of things about his team. Some good, some not as much.

"Today's about evaluating who can play football – who can tackle, who can block, who can catch," Lanning said. "We saw some of those moments today, and there's gonna be some opportunities to improve there."

As usual, Lanning didn't offer any specific details about the closed scrimmage. No standout performances or final score, but a rundown of how the Ducks can continue to get better. For Lanning, that means getting guys lined up in the right spots and figuring out who's ready to compete at any given position.

Fortunately, it sounds like the young Ducks in the program made a good first impression in the scrimmage, holding their own against the returning veterans from Oregon's roster that lasted until the final four last season.

"I saw young guys out there who proved they can play at this level of football," he said. "When the meeting started today, I'm showing Nasir Wyatt last year in this scrimmage what he did and what allowed us to say, 'OK, we need to find a way to get this guy on the field at times.' I showed clips of Jordon Davison doing that. And then I showed clips of Kenyon Sadiq and said, 'This guy's not here anymore, who is going to replace that?' ... I think some guys really stepped up."

Lanning believes this team's knowledge of the system is "ahead of where it was last year at this point," but there still could be some growing pains. One of those growing pains might be penalties. The Ducks averaged 5.2 penalties per game last season, 33rd fewest in the nation, but would like to improve upon that this year. In the first scrimmage, the Ducks were a bit sloppy, according to Lanning, leading to some penalties they hope to have figured out by the end of the spring.

"I think we had six penalties today in the scrimmage," Lanning said. "That's not necessarily high, but ultimately we want to be able to clean that up. More operational stuff from the coaching staff, things that we've got to be able to do a good job of on both sides of the ball."

As the Ducks get used to thudding in pads and breaking in new players and schemes, some confusion is warranted while everyone gets settled in. Lanning seems confident the Ducks will hit the ground running by the time the season comes around, but the growth this offseason extends beyond the players in the locker room.

With two new coordinators and new faces leading some position groups, the Oregon coaching staff will have to straighten out their responsibilities and figure out the best way to run the ship the way they want to.

"Coaching situations a little bit better," Lanning said. "Being a little bit cleaner, and execution, the rotations that we want to see out there on the field. From a player standpoint, just assignment (and) knowing my job."

With a revamped coaching staff taking over a roster with a healthy mix of returners and impactful newcomers, the Ducks shouldn't anticipate many of the early spring problems to arise in the fall. Oregon will host a second scrimmage next Saturday before the spring game on the following weekend.

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Lanning breaks down Oregon's first spring scrimmage, areas to improve