Second-year surge: Oregon EDGE Emar’rion Winston

With fall camp just around the corner, the ScoopDuck staff is taking a look at where some of Oregon’s key second-year scholarship players might fit into the Ducks’ 2023 plans. Next up is edge defender Emar’rion Winston.

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EDGE Emar’rion Winston

Size: 6-foot-4, 245 pounds

On3 Industry Ranking: No. 495 overall, No. 44 EDGE, No. 5 in the state of Oregon

2022 stats: Winston took a redshirt after playing eight snaps in three games. He did not record a stat.

Freshman year recap

Emar’rion Winston, the younger brother of former Ducks’ linebacker La’Mar Winston Jr., arrived from Central Catholic High School as one of the top recruits in the state of Oregon. Although he played sparingly as a true freshman, he was consistent with the program’s travel squad throughout the season.

By the time the Holiday Bowl rolled around, Winston was one of the Ducks’ few healthy edge defenders available and seemed poised for playing time at Sam linebacker. But he played just one snap during the Ducks’ win over the Tar Heels.

The buzz…

This spring was a crucial one for Winston as Oregon has added a ton of EDGE talent via the 2023 signing class. Matayo Uiagalelei and Teitum Tuioti both had strong showings in March and April after enrolling early and both could be in contention to play as true freshmen.

Winston will likely be competing with them for playing time this fall. At this point, his quickest path to playing time would seem to be at Sam linebacker — although, like the majority of Oregon’s edge defenders, he spent the spring repping at multiple positions.

“He’s been bringing everything,” Oregon senior EDGE Mase Funa said of Winston during spring ball. “I think, overall, in the outside linebacker group, the level of compete we have in there has helped elevate all of us. Emar’rion has definitely put himself in a position where he’s being noticed by coaches, where they can trust him to go out there and do his job and execute.”

In 2023…

Winston will enter fall camp with an opportunity to entrench himself as Oregon’s No. 2 option at Sam ‘backer behind Funa.

The Ducks are loaded with top-end talent at the edge positions, but the depth there is a bit concerning after Bradyn Swinson, Brandon Buckner, Jabril McNeill, Jaden Navarrette, and Anthony Jones all opted to transfer away from the program.

Aside from Jordan Burch and Funa, fourth-year junior Jake Shipley is Oregon’s lone edge defender who has played significant, meaningful snaps at the college level. During spring ball, Shipley was sidelined with an undisclosed injury, and it’s unclear if he will be full-go at the start of fall camp.

In that sense, Winston could prove to be a valuable reserve option for the Ducks in 2023.

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