Oregon freshman LB Noah Sewell is “just scratching the surface”

“…And now that Sewell Part II has joined us, as well — looking forward to unleashing that guy.”

After so much uncertainty in the Pac-12 conference and playing football in 2020, that day has arrived and Sewell has indeed been unleashed.

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If that last name sounds familiar, it should. Noah is the younger brother of Penei Sewell, the 2019 Outland Trophy winner and former Oregon Duck offensive lineman projected to be a top selection in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Noah, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound five-star inside linebacker and consensus No. 1 prospect from the state of Utah, signed with the Oregon Ducks over offers from Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, LSU amongst a lot of other schools. 

Earlier this week, Sewell was listed as a co-starter along with senior Dru Mathis at the middle linebacker position on the depth chart ahead of Oregon’s Pac-12 season-opener against Stanford. 

In his Oregon debut, Sewell recorded four tackles (all solo) and one tackle for loss. He also led the team in tackles at halftime. Big brother was pretty excited about his performance.

Following Oregon’s 35-14 win over Stanford, Cristobal said that Sewell is just “scratching the surface.”

“It’s what we expected. Physical, downhill, knocking people back,” said Cristobal. “He’s just scratching the surface. He’s going to be as good as it gets. He really is. We expect him and Justin Flowe and Jackson LaDuke, those young guys, that trio right there is going to be something special in college football for as long as they’re playing college football. 

Special guy. Puts in time, puts in the work. And certainly made so really big today on defense. His presence was felt. You know, strong.

Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal

This 2020 linebacker core certainly has a high ceiling: Flowe a 6’2”, 246-pound five-star inside linebacker from Upland, California and LaDuke a 6’3”, 233-pound four-star inside linebacker from Spaks, Nevada.

Alongside Sewell, junior Isaac Slade Matautia was also impressed with Sewell’s debut when the two were on the field together. When asked what the junior sees in the freshman, Slade-Matautia kept it simple:

“A future star. He’s big. He’s physical. He really did impress me tonight. The way he picked up the plays and communicated like he ran this defense before. Him doing all that took some pressure off of me knowing that I have him, Dru [Mathis], some ofter guys, MJ [Cunningham], come in and take some pressure off me making the calls.

Again Noah did a fantastic job. I’m really proud of him. There’s always room to improve and I’m sure he knows that, but we’re only going to get better.

Oregon junior linebacker Isaac Slade-Matautia

One thing’s for sure, Duck fans can be really excited to watch this young man dominate the Pac-12 conference for years to come.

Like Cristobal stated above, he’s just “scratching the surface.”

Next up, the Ducks will hit the road and face the Washington State Cougars in Pullman, Washington on Saturday, November 14.