If any player can come in and play well on short reps, it’s Huff

Josh Huff was sidelined with a knee strain in Spring Practice, but he did something that caught my eye.

He was wearing a red jersey and a knee brace, watching practice from the sideline. The Ducks were in full pads and working in an 11-on-11 period, complete with the sideline play cards and student assistants wearing officials jerseys, everyone going at full speed with the offense pushing the tempo.

It was what happened next that sticks in my mind. On one play, Bryan Bennett looks confused about the play call. Not unusual, he’s a redshirt freshman quarterback, and the Ducks’ blur offense requires the quarterback to think at a 118 miles an hour, with multiple reads and the responsibility to get the entire offense lined up on the same page and the ball snapped in fifteen seconds or so.

Bennett lines up in the shotgun, studies the play card, one with Neil Harris or Scott Van Pelt in one corner, but his body language isn’t right. There’s something he’s not picking up. Seventeen seconds go by.

And Josh Huff puts his hands in front of him, pantomining a quarterback taking a direct center snap. Ace formation, Bryan. You’re supposed to be under center.

Josh Huff, unable to practice or make a play, out for the last couple of weeks of spring drills, is so aware of what’s going on he’s coaching the quarterbacks.

Huff caught 19 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns last season. He ran the ball 12 more times for 214 yards and two more scores. He returned a kickoff 80 yards against Washington, 65 yards against Arizona. Altogether he had 1086 all-purpose yards playing as a true freshman, second on the team.

Go out to practice tomorrow, and if Josh isn’t cleared for contact, he’ll be doing some pass-catching drills on the side, or coaching up one of the younger receivers, helping them get lined up or showing them how to beat a jam at the line.

Chip Kelly isn’t worried about Josh Huff, and Duck fans shouldn’t be either. A guy who stays that dialed in to practice, watching on the sidelines in a boot, will be ready as soon as his left leg allows. He’s progressed to shoulder pads and helmets, and odds are he’ll be full-go when the lights go on in his native Texas.