Oats as a cover crop?

I'm thinking about using oats this fall as a cover crop to fill in the gaps in my gardens prior to the approach of winter.

I've heard that oats winterkill, which is desirable to me for ease of spring planting. I have also heard that oats have a decent fibrous root system that will both hold together the soil as well as drill down to some degree depending on soil composition. What I'm incredibly interested in however is the fact that oats will form bonds with mycorrhizae, keeping a living root in the soil will hopefully maintain some fungal dominance in the soil to overwinter.

(source)

Oats (80 Days Growth)

For those who have or currently use oats as a cover crop, what have been your experiences? Anything to watch out for?

Oats work well for this. I've used them the last couple of autumns and they reliably winterkill here, so spring cleanup is just pulling off the matted dead growth. Root system is decent for a cover crop, not particularly deep, but enough to hold the soil together and break it up a bit. Main thing is to sow them early enough that they get established before first frost, otherwise they won't bulk up much before dying back.

More academic experience than practical--oats for sure are good hosts for mycorhizal colonization which will benefit your soil.  Additionally, the roots of oat produce avenicins which are compounds known to suppress certain disease-causing fungi.  So you will get a multiple benefit here from the organic matter, soil conditioning, mycorhizal build-up and disease suppression from an oat cover crop.