Who is the top player to watch for the Oregon Ducks in 2026 season?

Over the past week, former Oregon Ducks safety Dillon Thieneman has made a name for himself nationally. Of course, that’s a bit misleading to say, seeing as Thieneman was already considered one of the top safeties in all of college football last year. But after his standout performance at the 2026 NFL Combine, Thieneman is now known by more than just knowledgeable college football fans.

He is a future first-round pick who found success at Oregon after transferring to Eugene for one season, coming over from the Purdue Boilermakers as a junior.

Koi Perich is trying to follow that blueprint.

After two strong years with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Perich now comes to Eugene, replacing Thieneman at safety, and looking to boost his NFL draft stock in the same way that his predecessor did. As we prepare for the spring football season to kick off in Eugene in a couple of weeks, ESPN has started to put together some of its preview material.

In that, they named Perich the player to watch for the Ducks going into the new season.

“Perich was one of the best true freshmen in college football in 2024, but after his sophomore season drew mixed reviews, he opted to leave Minnesota, his home state, and head west to Oregon,” ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura writes. “It’s a similar path to what Dillon Thieneman took last year when he left Purdue for Oregon and had a nearly seamless transition. Thieneman was an All-American as a junior for the Ducks, and now they’ll hope Perich can mirror that type of success.”

So far in his two seasons, Perich has 128 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and six interceptions. He is now expected to step seamlessly into the role that Thieneman is departing, and take over as the leader of Oregon’s secondary. Those are big shoes to fill, but based on what we’ve seen before, the former Golden Gopher should be able to hold his own.

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: ESPN weighs in on Oregon Ducks’ top player to watch in 2026 season

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