Noah Sewell keeps setting the bar higher with all expectations already met or passed at Oregon
For an Oregon Ducks fan base that was deprived of the talents of Justin Flowe a year ago due to a season-ending knee injury, it’s understandable that the former 5-star recruit has stolen much of the show so far this fall.
However, we should not let that detract from his running mate in the middle of the defense, Noah Sewell.
A former 5-star linebacker himself, Sewell put on a show in his freshman year with the Ducks, racking up 48 total tackles with two sacks in seven games, and earning the Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year award.
A year later, after finally enjoying a semi-regular offseason that has allowed ample time for development, the bar is being set even higher for Sewell, as he projects to be part of a two-headed monster in the middle of the defense next to Flowe.
According to defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, there is a reason for all of the hype that he is getting.
“I think Noah is practicing as good as anybody on our defense right now,” DeRuyter said after practice on Wednesday. “Every time we turn that tape on — whether it’s guys making strip attempts to take the ball away; whether it’s guys pursuing the football; whether it’s guys finishing a tackle — he’s almost always on the example tape.”
At 6-foot-3, 250-pounds, Sewell is a monster in the middle, serving as one of the more dominant run-stoppers that the Ducks have seen in quite some time. As the younger brother of Penei, who was drafted by the Detroit Lions with the 7th overall pick in 2021, there were high expectations coming into Oregon, and Noah has met or exceeded nearly all of them.
“I think it’s just a really nice testament to him and Coach Wilson getting him to that point,” DeRuyter said. “But the intensity with which he practices at really sets a high standard for everybody else and sets that bat where everybody has to go play at his level.”
While Flowe has been the media darling this fall thanks to the violence and speed that he plays with, it’s easy to let someone like Sewell fly under the radar. That will be the last thing that opposing offenses want to do this coming year, though.
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