The career trajectory for defensive lineman Bear Alexander has been a roller coaster, to say the least.
Once a blue-chip recruit in the 2022 class, rated as the No. 50 player in the nation, Alexander signed with Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs , hoping to be next in a long line of incredibly successful trench players to come from Athens that include Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter , and Travon Walker . Despite winning a national championship with Georgia in 2022, Alexander saw little playing time, totalling nine tackles, three tackles for loss, and a pair of sacks on just 169 total snaps.
Looking for more opportunities, Alexander entered the transfer portal and headed west to join Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans. He had a bit more success, with 48 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks, but then things turned in 2024.
After just three games, Alexander announced that he would leave the team and enter the transfer portal, looking to utilize his redshirt and preserve a year of eligibility. While it may have been the right move for his career, it also put a target on his back, as far as most college football fans were concerned.
Being called anything from a quitter to a head-case, Alexander sat by and waited for his chance to join a new team and get a fresh start in 2025.
It just so happens that the Oregon Ducks were interested. Dan Lanning helped recruit Alexander to Georgia during his time as the defensive coordinator and kicked the tires a year later before the transfer to USC.
On Dec. 20, Alexander announced his transfer to Oregon. Some fans loved the move for its upside—at 6-foot-3, 315 pounds, Alexander can be a force on the interior—while others approached it with some hesitancy because of the track record. Ultimately, Lanning and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi made this addition with confidence.
"You don't know all these details, and you do everything you can to research them. And obviously, a guy that's been a part of two different programs, now his third, there's going to be natural concerns there, and all you can do is research the heck out of them," Lupoi said on Saturday after Oregon's second spring practice. "Thankfully, we've had a lot of strong relationships at the University of Georgia, both myself and Coach Lanning with his past experience, so there are some guys there that we can trust. And then we have faith in ourselves. If there are some concerns there, you know, that's up to us as far as we make that decision, then how we can attack that and challenge him."
So far, the results have been promising. While we are only through a pair of practices and still not in full pads, Alexander's commitment to the work and the program as a whole throughout the offseason training regimen has left coaches encouraged by his ceiling.
"I'm really excited about Bear," Lanning said earlier in the week. "This guy has been through transition, but he hit Oregon with his feet on the ground and running. He's up here every single day, trying to get extra football. He takes it very seriously. I'm really pleased so far with how he's attacked things."
That was a sentiment that Lupoi echoed on Saturday.
"To this point right now, Bear has been, I'd say, one of the hardest workers on the entire defense, from a from an extra work and mental standpoint."
Intriguing for Oregon fans? Absolutely. But remember that spring football is a season for hype and flowery language. None of that is to say that Oregon coaches are fluffing Alexander up, but rather that there needs to be proof in the pudding before we start to declare this transfer a massive success.
At this point, though, the Ducks are in a place where Alexander can be the icing on the cake for this defense. If things click, and the former top-50 recruit finally finds his home and maximizes his potential, it could be the step Oregon needs to bring a championship to Eugene. Should history play out as it has before, c'est la vie.
But from where we stand right now, 168 days away from Oregon's 2025 season opener against Montana State, things sound promising. Spring football is underway for the Ducks, and there's a man in the middle who could be a monster if he buys in.
According to coaches, that hasn't been a problem.
This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Ducks' Bear Alexander impressing early on in Eugene
