There comes a time when a college football player has to decide if it’s in his best interest to head to the NFL or return to college. Some Juniors and Seniors are doing both at the University of Oregon. The Ducks have already seen commitments to the draft by Jackson Powers-Johnson and Bucky Irving. However, on Wednesday night they received some good news. Linebacker Jeffrey Bassa announced he will return for his senior season.
Bassa announced his return on social media.
The post was simple as it stated “Chapter IV” for what would be his fourth season in College Football. At the end of the video, it states “I’m back.”
The Ducks originally recruited Bassa as a four-star safety before the 2020 season. He made some contributions in his freshman season and was named the starting linebacker when Dan Lanning took over as the head coach in 2022, Bassa switched to Linebacker. He’s coming off of his best season as a Duck in which he compiled 71 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and recorded one interception, a game-sealing pick-six against Texas Tech.
He led the linebacker room in snaps with 713, which also ranked third most on the team. Jeffrey Bassa was also sixth-highest on the Ducks in tackle grades, per PFF, sitting at an even 84.0 overall. The Ducks will look for Bassa to be a leader on the defense in his fourth season. He added 20 pounds between his sophomore and junior seasons which helped his physicality at the linebacker position.
“Jeff [Bassa] won’t give himself enough credit, but just like Bo [Nix] makes this offense run, Jeff makes this defense tick,” said head coach Dan Lanning after the Fiesta Bowl. “We give him an unbelievable amount of defense that he has to process through his mind, getting us in the right call. Obviously, that showed up today, and that’s why he was able to play elite.”
In the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Bassa led the team with eight tackles and applied pressure against Liberty QB Kaidon Salter throughout the entire game.
He’ll join Devon Jackson, Bryce Boettcher, and Jerry Mixon as the returning linebackers in 2024. Starting mate Jestin Jacobs still has to make his decision whether he returns to Oregon or advances to the NFL. Those returning will be joined by talented four-star linebackers Brayden Platt, Kamar Mothudi and Dylan Williams.
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