Preseason Camp Preview: ST

SPECIAL TEAMS

Who's back: Placekicker Camden Lewis is back for the Ducks after enjoying a renaissance season in 2021. Lewis won his old job back last fall and made his first 10 field-goal attempts of the season, finishing tied for the Pac-12 scoring lead among kickers with 94 points. The Ducks also have a veteran presence at long snapper, where Karsten Battles is on the preseason watch list for the Mannelly Award as the nation's best at his position. Battles has an experienced backup as well, in Luke Basso.

Who's new: With Tom Snee away from the program to address his mental health – he took the courageous step of announcing that decision recently, encouraging others to be up front about any struggles they might be experiencing – Oregon will have a new punter in 2022. New to the roster are Adam Barry, who punted for Temple the past three seasons, and Ross James, who averaged 46 yards per punt in high school.

Also new to the special teams group are a couple of kickers, Andrew Boyle and Alex Bales. Boyle was most recently a punter and kickoff specialist at Washington State, while Bales was a kickoff specialist at Cincinnati.

What to watch: Along with a new punter, the Ducks will identify return specialists for the season this August as well. Kris Hutson has experience on kickoffs and Seven McGee figures to be in the mix on punts, but there should be several candidates for those roles, including among the incoming class of newcomers who arrived over the summer.