Almost exactly a year since an injury forced Oregon football safety Trey McNutt to miss the entirety of his first season in Eugene, the former five-star recruit and top-40 national prospect is ready to roll ahead of his second season. Ranked as the second-best safety in the country and the No. 31 overall prospect by 247Sports' composite rankings, the Ohio-born safety was in line for early playing time like his freshman counterparts Brandon Finney and Nasir Wyatt before he broke his right leg during the first half of fall camp. Though McNutt was healthy enough to play by the postseason, Ducks defensive coordinator Chris Hampton said McNutt "wasn't quite ready to go" in the College Football Playoffs after all that time off.
Now McNutt is fully healthy, participating in every drill and an improved player after sitting and learning from the likes of Aaron Flowers, Dillon Thieneman and Jadon Canady. "I learned a lot last year, just being able to sit on the sideline and just learn from the guys that were here," McNutt said. McNutt said he broke his leg after diving to make a play in the back of the end zone and running into another teammate. In the immediate aftermath, he admitted he was down emotionally but took that as an opportunity to grow his "mental" game. "This year is definitely easier," McNutt said. "I got mental reps last year and being able to put it on the field and really get those true reps on the field, it’s been good. I’ve been able to play faster and really put able to put into the field." Even back in the spring, McNutt's coaches and teammates were seeing the dividends of that work. Speaking in March, Hampton said McNutt was moving very well and prepared diligently while suffering that setback to start his college career. "Watching Trey in the offseason work, he works extremely hard," Hampton said in March. "He’s a guy that’s a weight room fanatic. He’s extremely strong and fast. He can change directions, and now he’s just getting the reps that he needed of executing the defense at a high level."
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football and women’s basketball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com. This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Trey McNutt ready to contribute after missing first season with injury