'Freak of Nature;' Freshman Tobi Haastrup looks like an Oregon Ducks' diamond in the rough

USA Today

2 days ago

Oregon's Incoming DE is absolute unit !Tobi Haastrup… #Goducks pic.twitter.com/F45XbKjC8R
When you look up and down the Oregon Ducks sideline at Autzen Stadium this fall, several players are going to stand out at first glance. There are some massive guys on the roster, from the likes of Isaiah World, who stands at 6-foot-8, 320 pounds, to Jericho Johnson, at 6-foot-4, 345 pounds. These are NFL-type bodies; guys who have the stature to play on Sundays and compete with the best athletes in the nation. Many on Oregon's roster have the makeup necessary to play at the next level and will likely be able to do so down the road.
Among them is true freshman Tobi Haastrup.
Looking at him, you'd think he was a diamond, ready to step into the league next year. He stands at 6-foot-4, weighing 241 pounds of pure muscle. His workouts are the stuff of legend, and his ceiling is sky-high. It's not hard to see No. 19 in pads and think that a long career in the pros is ahead of him.
Considering that he has just a single year of football experience under his belt, though, his story of being found in the rough becomes that much more interesting.
Haastrup was raised outside of London until he was nine years old, where he spent his time mostly playing soccer. After moving to Texas and trying football in junior high, Haastrup gave up the sport to focus on another love: track and field. He was fast and strong, running a 10.93 100-meter, a 21.89 200-meter, and throwing 52 feet in the shot put. But ahead of his senior season, Haastrup was convinced to give football another try.
He came around and, in his first game, posted five sacks and picked up 20 scholarship offers in a single week.
Ultimately, Haastrup would end his senior season with 48 tackles, 20 TFL, 9 sacks, and 23 hurries in 10 games. He quickly became a hot commodity on the recruiting trail, coveted for his raw talent and untapped potential. It was the Oregon Ducks who landed a commitment from him, picking up the No. 223-ranked player and No. 24 EDGE in the 2025 class, on paper.
What they see in Haastrup is much more than that, though.
"Tobi athletically is exactly what we thought," defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi said early in fall camp. "We take a lot of pride in our evaluations. We felt strong about who we were getting there from an athletic standpoint."
While he may be as athletically gifted as anyone on the team, Haastrup has years of catching up to do when it comes to learning the game. It's one thing to be able to bull-rush a passer, try to get home, but figuring out alignment, assignment, and the complex defensive scheme of Dan Lanning is something else entirely.
"Tobi is still new to the game, so sometimes those are the funnest guys to be coaching and kind of mold their technique," Lupoi said. "But I think the guys got the right mentality, certainly got the right athleticism. He has a freakish explosive capability, and now it's just directing that in the right technique."
After missing the spring season, Haastrup was thrown into the deep end this summer. Early accounts are that he's doing a great job of treading water, and he's certainly turning heads while doing it.
"Freak of nature. Like really swoll," said linebacker Devon Jackson. "I thought he was a transfer at first, to be honest with you. I'm like, 'Why are you bigger than me, and you're like 12 years old?' Like that's crazy."
'That guy right there, he came in here real built," said defensive end Ashton Porter. "We grew up in the same area, so I kinda knew about him, but when he got here, man… I like to say his head was on fire. He's gonna go 110% every play.'
While there is still a lot of room to grow in understanding why he does everything he does on the field, Lupoi says that early on, Haastrup has the effort part of football figured out. Whether he's running in the right direction or not, he's doing so with everything he has in him.
"He's playing hard and physical," Lupoi said. "So we want that first, and then we're gonna get the alignments and assignments down. And so it's cool to see some growth there in this last week. That's what's been cool to see about him answering that bell, just playing with some relentless effort that we're requiring.'
Whether that relentless effort leads to production this year or not is yet to be seen, but it's clear early on in his career that Haastrup has the physical attributes to be a really special player for the Ducks. After rising from a zero-star athlete a year ago to where he is now, Oregon undoubtedly feels like it found its diamond in the rough.
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