Oregon's Iheanacho, Tofi making push for early playing time

Football may be the most difficult sport for a true freshman to break into right away and make a big impact. Within that, offensive linemen could be the hardest position to get a grasp of for those true freshmen with the sheer physicality of the line up front. Most 18-year-olds just are not ready for that.

But the Ducks have had elite recruiting classes over the past couple of seasons, and in the last class Oregon signed, it has a couple of true freshmen that might be ready to make an immediate impact in Immanuel Iheanacho and Tommy Tofi.

According to Oregon offensive line coach Alique Terry, it’s their size and, more importantly, their work ethic that make those two stand out and ready to make a difference so early.

“Manny and Tommy, they’ve come out and hit the ground running. And they’re both physically gifted,” he said. “Manny’s obviously behind a little bit just because he didn’t get here till later. But you can see the physical specimen they are. They love the game. They’re constantly with each other. They’re constantly trying to get more. Constantly getting with Coach (Ryan) Walk and the Law Firm and making sure they get some extra meetings and getting that kind of stuff in now because they know their role could end up being much larger later on down the year.”

If Oregon has a question mark on the team, it could be the offensive line. Not because of talent, however. That’s there. But it’s the inexperience that raises a few eyebrows. The Ducks don’t have a depth problem with that room. They’ll be experimenting in the early going to see which five linemen work the best together out of eight or nine strong possibilities, which include both Iheanacho and Tofi.

At 6-foot-6 and 345 pounds, Iheanacho comes to Eugene all the way from Baltimore, MD, where he was a five-star recruit and one of the top offensive linemen in the country. Tofi also stands at 6-6 and was listed at 340 pounds. Terry said Tofi has shed a lot of that weight and added muscle, which is good news for the No. 1 offensive recruit to come out of California (San Francisco).

“Honestly, it’s the stuff off the field. He’s done a tremendous job with his body. Still got to get in shape. Obviously, he’s a young kid, but he shed a lot of weight, put a lot of muscle on, and he’s gotten not a complete totality of the offense, but he has a really good understanding of offense,” Terry said in his analysis of Tofi. “Whereas the rest of it’s going to start to slowly and naturally come with repetition and film work. But to see his commitment, especially as a young freshman. There was a video on the internet with him and Manny doing extra work.”

Terry alluded to the fact that the entire offensive line group, Iheanacho and Tofi included, is doing the things off the field that will only make them better in between the sidelines when called upon.

“That’s how they are every day. That’s the whole group. They’re trying to find ways to get extra work constantly,” Terry said. “So it’s cool to see Tommy take heed to that, but not only worry about football, doing it with his eating habits, doing it with going to sleep, doing it with hydration. I think it’s starting to pay dividends. That’s usually the hardest part for younger guys trying to move like a pro early because you don’t know how to do it. Credit to Pancho (center Iapani Laloulu) and our older guys showing those guys the way.”

Learning the details, both on and off the field, will pay dividends for Iheanacho, Tofi and the rest of the Ducks down the line.

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon’s Iheanacho, Tofi making push for early playing time