Bryce Boettcher planted his feet in the middle of the field, got a jump on the ball in the air and made a diving catch for \u2026<\/p>\n
An underneath interception against UCLA? A hit-saving catch in the left-center-field gap against Seattle?<\/p>\n
Actually, the same guy made both plays.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Boettcher is Oregon\u2019s baseball-football star (and former two-sport walk-on) who was selected in the 13th round of MLB\u2019s 2024 draft by the Astros but delayed the start of his minor league career to see how far he can go on the gridiron. He is expected to be a mid-round pick in next week\u2019s NFL draft as a linebacker and core four-phase special-teamer.<\/p>\n
Bryce Boettcher #28 of the Oregon Ducks tackles RB Kaelon Black #8 of the Indiana Hoosiers during the Indiana Hoosiers versus Oregon Ducks College Football Playoff Semifinal. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t hit anyone on the baseball field,\u201d Boettcher said at the NFL combine. \u201cI love baseball, but [football] makes me feel alive. And there\u2019s a reason I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boettcher isn\u2019t going to be confused with Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders. But, in an era of one-sport specialization in youth, he is a model for a dying breed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s smart, tough, instinctive and plays faster than he was timed,\u201d one NFL executive told The Post. \u201cHe should be a good special-teamer and compete to start \u2014 if not be a good third linebacker. He\u2019s done a good job making it known that he is focused on football.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Baseball was Boettcher\u2019s first love \u2014 Derek Jeter was his favorite athlete during childhood \u2014 and his ticket to stay in his hometown of Eugene, Ore., fulfilling a lifelong dream to be a Duck. He flashed an elite glove but struggled with the bat before walking into new football coach Dan Lanning\u2019s office and asking for a tryout in 2022.<\/p>\n
If anything, joining the football team and developing a hard-hitting reputation seemed to elevate Boettcher\u2019s baseball career.<\/p>\n
On April 29, 2023, Boettcher played in Oregon\u2019s spring football game and later hustled over to the baseball diamond to enter the game as a ninth-inning defensive replacement. By 2024, he was the NCAA\u2019s Gold Glove-winning center fielder who hit .276 with 12 home runs, 35 RBIs, 46 runs scored and 15 stolen bases.<\/p>\n
Bryce Boettcher of Oregon during the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 26, 2026 Getty Images<\/p>\n
Boettcher was evaluated by baseball scouts as a long-striding, graceful center fielder who relied more on natural physical ability than refined skills. He was cast as a value pick for an organization willing to bet on high makeup and blossoming tools such as raw power and a short stroke to pull a fastball.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcellent athlete with hard-nose style to play, similar to Eric Byrnes,\u201d one MLB scout told The Post\u2019s Joel Sherman. \u201cBut the bat comes with risk to get to major leagues.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Astros took a flier in a draft slot with a $150,000 signing bonus and supported Boettcher\u2019s decision to go all in on football.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Baseball] is on hold right now,\u201d Boettcher said. \u201cI\u2019m pursuing fully football, and I want to win a Super Bowl. Obviously we\u2019re waiting to see how the draft shakes out, but [the Astros] have been super understanding, knowing that I\u2019m from Oregon and wanted to finish out my football career there and that I have an equal opportunity in football.\u201d<\/p>\n
What happened when Boettcher became singularly focused?<\/p>\n
He won the 2024 Burlsworth Trophy as the best FBS player who began his career as a walk-on and reached another level with 136 tackles (No. 6 in the nation) in 2025. He is a missile on punt and kickoff coverage and an option to block kicks.<\/p>\n
Bryce Boettcher #28 of the Oregon Ducks tackles Cameron Dickey #8 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the second quarter in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal game at Hard Rock Stadium on January 1, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n
And he threw out a ceremonial first pitch at an Oregon baseball game while wearing shoulder pads.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t met someone who is as passionate about [football] and plays as hard as I do,\u201d Boettcher said. \u201cI feel like that\u2019s No. 1 in football. Somebody who is passionate and somebody who is physical is going to win you a lot of games \u2014 and that\u2019s me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another NFL executive said that, in his organization\u2019s eyes, Boettcher\u2019s viable Plan B if he struggles in football is not a deterrent that could lead to drafting a lesser player without a fallback option. Boettcher\u2019s \u201cintangibles\u201d give him a boost over other mid-round linebackers.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost proud about \u2026 the way I\u2019ve grown when it comes to the mental game of football,\u201d Boettcher said. \u201cWhen I first came in, I was more raw. I knew what Cover 3 and Cover 2 was. But there are a lot more ins and outs to the game that I\u2019ve learned, and that\u2019s definitely helped my game grow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bryce Boettcher planted his feet in the middle of the field, got a jump on the ball in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,462,514,1044,198781,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-604578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-draft","13":"tag-nfl-draft-2026","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}