The sizes, shapes and successes of No. 6 Oregon's pass-rush unit

There are very few positions in football that can be as difficult to dissect as a defensive line.

Between distinctions like "edge rusher" versus "outside linebacker" or "interior defensive lineman" and scheme-centric terms like "wide nine", "three-tech" or "4i", understanding what's happening in the trenches can make the head of the average fan spin.

At it's simplest, a standard defensive line is focused on stopping the run with bigger, stronger players in the middle to work against the center and guards, while reserving the smaller, lighter and faster players to rush from off of the edge and attack the outside shoulders of tackles.

The group that Dan Lanning's Oregon team fields has a tendency to throw conventional to the wind in favor of weaponizing its unique — and more often than not, rare — blends of athleticism, size, speed and strength of the athletes its collected to terrorize opposing offensive lines, quarterbacks and coaches alike.

It seems as though Lanning, who cut his teeth coaching linebackers and defensive units as a whole, would have it no other way than emptying the toy chest of pass rush.

The Ducks' 31-10 win over Michigan State exemplified it. It seemed like no matter what group was on the field, Oregon was getting into the backfield.

"Guys just rushing for each other," Junior defensive tackle Derrick Harmon said about what made Oregon so successful up front against the Spartans. "Guys not being selfish, guys caging in (Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles) and doing what you've got to do to get back there. And finishing. We got (in the backfield) all of these last three weeks, we just (didn't finish). That's what we did today."

When the clock on the massive video board of Autzen Stadium struck zero, Oregon had come up with a total of five sacks. Six-foot-six, 295-pound edge rusher Jordan Burch led the way with a career-high 2.5 sacks against the Spartans.

"He's playing with great violence," Lanning said about Burch. "He's the kind of guy that shouldn't be blocked one-on-one. We're doing a good job defensively of creating one-on-one opportunities for him and he's doing a good job of taking advantage of those. "

Fellow edge rusher Matayo Uiagelelei, who stands at 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds, accounted for the other half of Burch's total. Harmon himself — playing from the interior at 6-foot-5, 310 — added a sack of his own. In fourth-quarter mop-up duty, edge rushers Blake Purchase and Ashton Porter — both at 6-foot-3 and north of 250 pounds — met at the quarterback to split a sack of their own to bring the Ducks' total to five on the night.

Things get even more impressive when digging into advanced statistics provided by Pro Football Focus, who credited the Oregon pass-rush for a total of 26 pressures and 18 hurries on Chiles. Of those 26, 18 were generated by six players. Burch and Harmon get the love in the box score, with Uiagelelei and Purchase as their understudies.

However Lanning was quick to give flowers to the remaining two in interior defensive lineman Jamaree Caldwell and how-do-you-describe-him player Emar'rion Winston, who each came away with a pair of pressures.

"If anyone is watching the film, they know (Caldwell) is affecting the game," Lanning said of the 6-foot-1, 340 pounder. "He's an impactful player, (he) requires almost two hats on him at all times... I'm really proud of (Caldwell) in his performance and growth so far this season."

Caldwell fits the bill size-wise as a true interior player. Winston, a Central Catholic High School grad, on the other hand could not be more outside the norm at 6-foot-4, 255 pounds, earning him the " how-do-you-describe-him" tag.

Oregon's official roster lists Winston as an outside linebacker, the same as Uiagelelei, Teitum Tuioti and Purchase, but his deployment as a pass rusher is one of the most unique on the team.

Of the 16 reps Winston played against Michigan State, 10 were in pass-rush and seven of them came playing as an interior defensive lineman — a position he is about 50-pounds lighter than average to be playing. It isn't uncommon for teams to do this, with Chiefs' defensive coordinator Steve Spagnoulo popularizing it at the NFL level. Dubbed the "NASCAR Package", the idea is to get your four best pass rushers on the field at once, something Winston fits the bill of in the eyes of Harmon and the coaching staff alike.

"That boy can rush, he is a pass rusher," Harmon said about Winston. "When I watch film, I low-key look at Winston and see what type of moves he does in practice. He's a great pass rusher."

Lanning doubled-down on the statement, saying that Winston — who's been a part of the NASCAR package all season — has established himself as a integral piece of the Oregon pass rush in his redshirt sophomore season.

"That's something he's done consistently for us throughout the year," Lanning said about Winston. "He's a guy that consistently does his job and executes at a high level and makes the players around him play better. He's one of our better interior rushers with his athleticism."

Oregon, its corps of pass rushers and the NASCAR package will look to keep the impact at a high as they prepare for Ohio State at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12 at Autzen Stadium.