Oregon Football: Kenjon Barner and 5 Ducks Ready to Break Out in 2011

The Oregon Ducks have the pieces returning on both sides of the ball to win the first ever PAC-12 championship. 

They have LaMichael James, Darron Thomas and Cliff Harris returning this season, but it is going to be the other pieces to the puzzle that are going to win it for the Ducks. 

They lost a lot of experience at receiver and need new players to step up. 

Watch out for these six players to out play all of their opponents in 2011.

1. Josh Huff

As a true sophomore, Josh Huff is going to have an amazing year after last year he running for 215 yards and catching another 300. 

That is only going to rise with the losses of Jeff Maehl and D.J. Davis. He had the Ducks longest touchdown of the season last year at 85 yards from scrimmage and he has breakaway speed that only proves that Oregon is the fastest team in the nation.  

Josh Huff is an amazing athlete and is very versatile; watch out next season for number four next season.

2. Colt Lyerla

All signs point to Colt Lyerla coming in as a true freshman and making a very big impact.  He left high school early to work out with the Ducks this spring and played very well in the spring game. 

He doesn’t have a set position yet, but at 6'5", 225 pounds and 40-time of 4.5, he can play anywhere on the field. 

He played tight end in the spring game, but rumors have him playing taser back, the 4-back in the offense and even put him out at slot receiver for screens and short dump offs. 

Colt Lyerla is a freak of an athlete, and he will prove that to America next season.

3. David Paulson

You wonder why a first team all PAC-10 player is on the “ready to break out” list.  Well, he had a good season as a blocking tight end, but he only had 24 receptions for 418 yards. 

I think he is capable of 60 and 800 after the two receivers who had more catches than him last year graduated. 

He did average 17.4 yards per catch and is an amazing blocker, but I think his senior season is going to be even better. 

He will be the best tight end in the PAC-12 this upcoming year and should go in the first few rounds of the 2012 NFL draft. 

4. Dion Jordan

The Ducks will have an amazing offense, that is obvious, but the defense needs to be as good as last season if they want to go back to the national championship. 

The defensive line is a question for the Ducks next season, and Dion Jordan needs to have a break out year to prove they are up to the task. 

He had a very solid spring game where he dominated the right tackle numerous times.  He is 6'7", making him a threat to knock down passes at the line. 

He is a good at run defense and is faster than almost every offensive lineman that he will face.  Dion Jordan has 30 tackles last year; I expect at least 45 this year.

5. Lavasier Tuinei

He is the Ducks No. 1 option at receiver next season.  Darron Thomas will be much better next season after improving his accuracy, and if the Ducks want to have success, Lavasier Tuinei will need to have a break out year.

Rumor has it that he has improved his hands this off season, one of his flaws last season.  He is a very tall, lengthy receiver at 6'5" making him a good threat down the field. 

He can jump with the best of them, and if Darron Thomas looks his way often next season, the Ducks could be very good. 

6. Kenjon Barner

Everybody knows that Kenjon is definitely the best backup running back in the nation and could start at most other schools. 

He ran for 551 yards and six touchdowns last year with a 6.1 yards per carry average.  That is the best on the Oregon Ducks, surprisingly better than LaMichael James’s 5.9.  

Kenjon Barner will be a redshirt junior next season and after two years of experience, he will be better than ever. 

Even though he is the backup running back, he will be used as a slot wide receiver and taser running back to help get him even more involved in than last year.