Oregon Football: News, Rumors and 2012 Spring Football Schedule

The 2011 college football season may have just ended, but that doesn't mean that the players and coaches go sit on the couch for seven months. No, first it was the recruiting process, and now, it's time to begin preparing for spring practices.

These practices are extremely important, as it will help the coaches answer questions and help them put together their depth chart for the upcoming season. This is also a chance for the younger players to prove themselves and earn more playing time than they probably would have normally received.

As we get closer to preparing for next year, here some news, rumors and everything that has to do with spring football involving the Oregon Ducks.

Kenjon Barner the Starter at RB?

The biggest loss the Ducks suffered this offseason was obviously running back LaMichael James, but Oregon still has a lot of talent in the backfield to replace the former Heisman candidate. Senior running back Kenjon Barner is the favorite to take over the starting duties for Oregon this year

“I’m not getting complacent,” Barner said, of his mindset during the offseason. “I’m not listening to (people saying) I’m supposed to be the guy. I’m constantly staying focused on what got me here ,and that’s hard work.”

Barner has rushed for over six yards per carry the first three seasons and fell just short of 1,000 yards last season. He has great speed and is an underrated receiver as he's caught a total of 34 passes in his career.

De'Anthony Thomas and Tra Carson will likely see their fair share of touches as well.

Who Will Play Quarterback?

With Darron Thomas heading to the NFL for whatever reason, it leaves the quarterback position up for grabs.

Quarterback Bryan Bennett will likely be the favorite heading into the spring as he played well in limited duty his freshman season. With only 46 pass attempts, he threw for 369 yards and six touchdowns all while throwing no interceptions.

Although, you can't count out quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Jake Rodrigues in this competition. Mariota especially considering he has all of the tools to run this offense the best. His style of play is very much like Darron Thomas as he is a dual-threat quarterback and can kill you with his legs. 

Secondary Key to a Championship

Last year's secondary had to deal with many injuries or off-the-field distractions. That's a huge reason why Oregon was ranked 99th in the country in pass defense last season. This year, they'll have to deal with losses of cornerbacks Cliff Harris and Anthony Gildon.

The secondary is extremely talented, and with a year under the young players' belts, they should be much better than they were a year ago. Although, sophomore cornerbacks Troy Hill and Terrance Mitchell are going to have to improve greatly if this is going to be a successful season for the Ducks.

It will likely determine if the Ducks are able to return to a BCS bowl.

Randy Chambers is a B/R featured columnist who covers college football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail].