Oregon Football: Injuries Piling Up For The Ducks

The injuries are piling up for Oregon. What positions worry you the most based on attrition?

Brian Spaen, Autzen Zoo: The safety position, without question. Avery Patterson did a tremendous job filling in for John Boyett, but now he will be out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Any team that has a strong passing attack will benefit from a defensive line that won't be able to pressure the quarterback as much and be able to pass on a third-string safety.

nds500 (Noah), Addicted to Quack: I'm most worried about the defensive line. Games are won and lost along the lines and if the Ducks can't stop the run it keeps their offense off the field, opens up the passing attack, and wears out a suddenly thin defense. At one point on Saturday night we were playing three true freshman and a backup tight end along the line. They did well in a tough situation but that's an untenable rotation.

Nathan Roholt, FishDuck: No other position group had its top five players out with injury like the defensive line did last week. Depth in the secondary might be a point of concern to some, but they still have three of their four starters available. If USC can get back to the Pac-12 Championship, we could see potential issues with a depleted secondary, but none of Oregon's scheduled or potential remaining opponents, aside from the Trojans, are dominant pass attacks. Looking too far down the road, Kansas State (87th) and Notre Dame (91st) are both in the bottom third in the country, and the best passing offense left on Oregon's schedule is Oregon State, who lost last Saturday to the nation's 101st best pass defense in Stanford. Why did the Cardinal win? Pressure from their defensive line.