UCLA · L 15-17
No tackles.
Nebraska · W 17-14
No tackles.
Illinois · L 10-21
No tackles.
Northwestern · W 34-26
No tackles.
Flowers has tackles in 4 of Oregon’s 8 games: none in the other 4.
6 stories in the last 30 days, from 4 outlets.
Four Oregon Ducks Who Could Help Fill the Void After Aaron Flowers’ Injury
Sports Illustrated Oct 15
As of
The discourse around Oregon's defense this offseason isn't really about Flowers — it's about the room he plays in. The Ducks reeled in Minnesota safety Koi Perich, an 82-tackle transfer who 247Sports calls 'all but a lock' at one spot, and with Brandon Finney Jr. rising at corner the beat writers have started using phrases like 'one of the best secondaries in the country.' Flowers is the quiet constant inside all of it: he logged 399 pass snaps in 2025, started every week, and put up 37 solo tackles, three pass breakups and his first career interception, picked off against Rutgers.
The wrinkle is the math. 247Sports' post-spring read has Flowers as the favorite at boundary safety — but the names listed behind and beside him are loud: five-star-pedigree Peyton Woodyard, Jett Washington, and Trey McNutt, the 'supremely talented' wildcard whose 2025 was wiped out by a broken leg and who, healthy, is back in the mix. He carried On3 preseason True Freshman All-American buzz a year ago; the production has been steady rather than spectacular, which is exactly why the boards file him under 'expected to keep the spot' rather than 'lock.'
So the 2026 question writes itself. In a secondary everyone expects to be elite, does Flowers make the leap from dependable incumbent into a name — the kind of versatile, ball-hawking safety the Thorpe watch starts to notice — or does the deepest room on the roster quietly move on without him?
So far in 2026 Flowers has 17 tackles, eight of them solo, and a pass breakup. Oregon lost 17-15 at home to UCLA on October 10.
Update (Oct. 28, 2026): Oregon lost 21-10 at Illinois as a 10.5-point favorite on Oct. 24 and is 4-3. Flowers' line on his page is unchanged at 17 tackles and a pass breakup in four games.
Sources
Play style
A 6-foot, 200-pound safety built for Oregon's positionless secondary — recruited as a top-60 national prospect who projects across safety, nickel, and emergency corner. He plays like a coverage-first defender rather than a downhill thumper: 399 pass snaps in 2025, three pass breakups and a pick suggest a back-end role reading routes more than filling alleys, and his 37 solo tackles point to clean, in-space finishing rather than box volume. The scouting read is range and versatility over splash — a chess-piece safety the staff can move around, still hunting the takeaway production that turns a solid starter into a star.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
from 4 outlets
Four Oregon Ducks Who Could Help Fill the Void After Aaron Flowers’ Injury
Sports Illustrated Oct 15 · 1 outlet
from 4 outlets
Four Oregon Ducks Who Could Help Fill the Void After Aaron Flowers’ Injury
Sports Illustrated Oct 15 · 1 outlet
On3Sports IllustratedEach week: his team’s game, the stories about him that week, and the week’s biggest news headline.
Stories are headlines grouped by what they are about, counted through Nov 4.
Fans first named Aaron Flowers at Oklahoma State.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 4 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-27vs Boise State | 8 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 8 tackles |
| Wk 2 | L 31-39@ Oklahoma State | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | W 84-0vs Portland State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 41-27@ No. 12 USC | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 17 | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 |
3 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
1 tackle.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
5 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
8 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 7 of his 8, sacks included.
Ratings of the games shown run from +11 to +14 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
6%1 pass breakupsTackle volume
17tackles this seasonTFL rate
0%0 TFL17 tackles · 1 pass breakup.
3 seasons under Dan Lanning — 31-6 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 4 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 4.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road2g | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 4.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Dan Lanning
Pass share
52.9%
289 pass / 257 run
Plays / game
68.2
8 games
Team sack rate
3.5%
313 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #41 of 77 Big Ten DBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 20 games over three seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coachPlayed every college season under Dan Lanning.
