Oregon football faces significant questions along the offensive line entering 2025 despite landing marquee transfer portal additions. The Ducks have replaced their departed starters and added three new transfers who haven’t played together previously.
Analyst Justin Hopkins expressed concerns about the unit’s early-season chemistry. His predictions suggest Oregon may experience difficulties in chemistry before finding their rhythm as the season progresses.
Portal Additions Can’t Immediately Fix Oregon Chemistry Issues
During a recent appearance on the Andi & Ari On3 podcast, Hopkins outlined his concerns about Oregon’s offensive line struggling initially despite bringing in highly-rated transfers.
The Ducks added Nevada’s Isaiah World (a five-star transfer ranked as the No. 2 overall player in the 2025 portal per 247Sports), USC’s Emmanuel Pregnon (considered by some as the top available offensive lineman in the country), and Texas State’s Alex Harkey to address significant departures.
“They’ve got to get it figured out quick,” Hopkins emphasized when discussing the new group. “I don’t think that this unit lacks for talent, but we know offensive line isn’t just about talent. They’ve got to play together. They’ve got to build that chemistry.”
Hopkins drew parallels to Oregon’s 2024 season opener struggles, noting, “This is probably going to be a group that struggles a little bit out the gate, right?
“But you’ve got a couple, three games there, to kind of get things figured out a little bit because the version of Oregon’s offensive line that we saw last year, to start and to finish, were two completely different units,” Hopkins said.
The comparison makes sense when you look at how Oregon’s 2024 line started. They gave up seven sacks in their first two games before settling into a rhythm. By season’s end, that same group was protecting the quarterback well enough to reach the College Football Playoff.
Talent Level Elevated but Lacking Experience
Oregon’s 2025 offensive line represents a significant upgrade in pure talent acquisition. According to 247Sports, World was rated as the No. 2 overall player in the 2025 transfer portal. Pregnon is regarded as one of the top offensive linemen available, but specific rankings for him as No. 3 interior and No. 21 overall in the class are not clearly documented in major sources.
Hopkins acknowledged the quality of the additions, saying, “It’s clearly the best thing Dan Lanning could do to fill the void. He clearly saw that, ‘Hey, we’re not at the level we need to be on offensive line. Let’s go get some help,’ and you brought in three of the best guys you could ultimately get.”
The transfers bring proven production from their previous stops. World was a two-time All-Mountain West Honorable Mention selection during his tenure in Reno, while Pregnon was considered USC’s best returning offensive lineman before entering the portal.
At 6’8″ and 315 pounds, World has the size and athleticism that NFL scouts love, making him a potential first-round pick in the 2026 draft.
Harkey was a key starter for Texas State in 2024, helping the Bobcats finish 7-5 in the regular season. His experience in the Sun Belt Conference gives Oregon another veteran presence who understands what it takes to anchor a successful offensive line.
Isaiah World is transferring from Nevada to Oregon, and with better coaching, he could enter the OT1 convo in the 2026 NFL draft. He’s still raw, but at 6’8″, 315 with long arms, brute strength, rare movement skills, and impressive knee bend, his upside is easy to see pic.twitter.com/lydtOa3C0P
— Steve Letizia (Formerly CFCBears) (@CFCBears) May 6, 2025
Despite these additions, Oregon faces the challenge of replacing departed starters Josh Conerly Jr. and Ajani Cornelius, who were drafted in the 2025 NFL Draft. Both players were key contributors to the Ducks’ success last season, and their departure leaves significant holes to fill.
The 2024 unit finished as a Joe Moore Award finalist, given annually to the nation’s top offensive line. The team also achieved a 13-1 record, a Big Ten Championship, and a College Football Playoff appearance before falling to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. That level of success puts pressure on the new group to maintain the same standard.
However, even that successful group struggled early, with seven sacks in their first two games before finding chemistry. The new group must quickly develop chemistry and prove they can avoid the early-season difficulties that Hopkins expects will mirror Oregon’s 2024 start.
The difference this time is that expectations are higher, and the margin for error is smaller in the expanded College Football Playoff format.
Hopkins’ prediction suggests Oregon fans should expect some early-season adjustments as the offensive line develops chemistry.
However, the analyst’s comparison to last year’s improvement trajectory indicates the unit should perform well as the season progresses, potentially becoming a strength by the season’s end.
The key will be whether Lanning and his coaching staff can accelerate that development process and get the five players working as one unit sooner rather than later.