Solar

I can't argue with this list, I think it is pretty good. I'm wondering about Pleasant possibly being one of those guys as a DB over one of the transfers/JCs but we'll see. It hadn't dawned on me that Payton Woodyard is actually a 2024 recruit, not a 2023 recruit, so he's a 100% true freshman without a spring camp at this point. We'll have to see if he is able to live up to his ratings in time.

First time I've noticed Lanning saying this will be his last job. Can you imagine what it would mean for the program to have Lanning for 30 more years? That kind of stretch as a relevant powerhouse football program, likely with a few national championships, would cement the Ducks as a true blue blood forever.

This actually extremely noteworthy if true. We just reset to the next generation of kids where "Oregon was my dream school growing up. I remember playing the game as the Ducks and always dominating." We've got as many as 12 years ahead now to cash in this check. We don't have to worry the recruits won't remember and idolize DAT and Mariota and James anymore with our current relevance, swag, and this video game.

I thought about starting a new topic, but they aren't that important these days as the article makes clear to Husky fans: For Washington Football, Wednesday Turns Into Reality Check WWW.SI.COM We'll call this wake-up call Wednesday. The first alarm went off with the latest ranking provided posted by prolific...

Fall camp starts on the 31st then our first game exactly a month later! This has felt the shortest off-season ever, although every year seems to go by faster than the last one the older I get.

This is my favorite uni of all time. The GOAT. That is my thought. Why? I love the all green unis, and I love that it has both the O AND Puddles' bust on it. The old school yellow block letters with the white outline really pop too. Yeah it doesn't have wings, diamond plating, or eggshell textures, but if there is a traditional Oregon uni that would be timeless, this is it!

Just yesterday I posted how I thought the late drama is bogus and they know where they are going all along. Maybe these kids are benefitting by make all sides reconsider their final NIL offer in the heat of the moment of the player's self imposed deadline, then just go with the highest bidder to a place you are confident will be great even if not your true top pick. And for all this, nothing is final either way until signing day.NIL offer can be changed and player can change their commitment.

It's hard to believe these discussions of last minute decision making around a self imposed deadline. There is zero benefit to doing that from the athletes perspective. Once they set a date they've made up their mind. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I think most of the time it is the recruiting media that fans the leftover coals to maximize eyeballs on their websites and subscription renewals.

Since they can kick the can to 2026 there is no reason for them to worry. I expect the ACC to become "The Conference of Leftovers" by then and would probably be willing to bring them into the fold. Not ideal for travel but 4 west coast teams could form a pod to mitigate that.

It's a pretty close match on paper, close enough that it is reasonable the game at Autzen is a tossup. But if we have to play OSU 3 times this year they should beat us more than not. A lot is TBD though with the change of QBs and Kelly as OC. Lanning's teams have typically made excellent improvements early in the season so playing OSU at the point in the season we do and having home gives us our best shot to win.

The public also seems to ignore the most unique selling point for Oregon: Once your football career is finished, Nike will give you a nice white collar job if you want it. Basically we'll take care of you for life one way or another. It may not quite be a guarantee, but it's pretty close to one, and for top shelf recruits to hear "We've got you covered financially right now with NIL, we'll give you as good of a shot as anywhere to be developed to make the NFL later, and if that doesn't pan out or you pro career is semi short we'll get you a good job." Easy to sell the parents on that too!

I'm still in show me mode about the B1G's statistically tough defenses, as in show me it wasn't just that your offenses statistically suck. Also, I think the bad weather thing is a little overrated too. With exception of the PO games we are talking about late fall Midwest weather for at worst, which isn't that bad 95% of the time. I'd strongly prefer 20-30 degrees and dry vs 40 and raining having played football in both. I think they use the weather as an excuse for archaic offensive systems. As in we have to have a strong running game in case the weather is bad. Ok but what about the other 95% of the games where you can't keep up? Even Fickel at Wisconsin has seen enough to feel confident to bring in the air raid.

I am shocked how good DeBoer is doing recruiting at Alabama, which reflects really poorly on UW as a program inclusive of their NIL. So Fisch does have an uphill battle recruiting to UW, but he hasn't made it any easier on himself telegraphing so clearly that UW is a pit stop on his way to bigger and better things. At the slightest wiff of success at UW he will be gone.

Seeing how violent players were with their own teammates in the spring game backs up the talk from my perspective. Ohio State speed with Michigan physicality is a scary combination for opponents. Just like last last year "Oregon is team nobody wants to play."

"The pair (James and Whittington) averaged better than seven yards per carry last season." I don't think people are truly letting that sink in. Those are 1a and 1b in the country respectively. I do expect B1G DLs to be better on average, but I also expect Gabriel to force defenses to respect the QB as a runner more than with Nix and Stein making sure to take advantage of that with read options.

FSU vs. Georgia enters the chat.. Agree, Alabama will continue to be a problem with DeBoer at the helm.

I address the coach to coach communication further in my posted comment. I don't disagree with your "definition" of stabilization as you state it here. There have been self imposed guardrails to keep things in check, just no speed limits yet.

The trajectory is important. We saw what happened with Helfrich. We saw players that played their best as a freshman and only regressed. My rational self says USC should have a good season with a new excellent DC and some decent talent, but reality is anybody exposed to LR for more than a year regressed. Grinch was a fine DC, but LR just wore him down to incompetence. Honestly, the trajectory is down for USC, so it's not out of the question they finish 4 and 8, falling apart as the season wears on like our Ducks did in 2016, where the internal rotting of the culture fully exposed itself.

My only skepticisms with the article is I'm not sure rates have or will ever stabilize without salary caps. Secondly the statement that when bidding is over the top institutions have bid a similar amount and the recruit will then make a decision purely on other merits. That's not how auctions bidding wars end. The end when one bidder is not willing to pay as much as the other individual. I will say that coaches at other institutions have said Oregon coaches reach out to confirm an offer value the recruit said the other school had made. I'm sure this is mutual, but this only serves to keep the bidding in check without an auction house managing the bidding process, so at the end of the day I would assume that 99 times out of 100 a recruit has many unequal NIL offers to weigh against the historical differentiators. There is a strong chance that on average we are the highest bidder for recruits that pick us. It takes too much illogical hand waving to assume otherwise. That being said, choosing top dollar for yourself and having strong character ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. It is more than conceivable that humans both buy the cheapest option available, and take the highest job offer presented if all options are "good enough." What's wrong with that? Absolutely nothing.

Helfrich 2016, Taggart 2017, Mario 2018. Auburn 2019 was his second season as HC.

We'll see, but keep in mind how high of a bar it is to start at WR for the Ducks going forward. If you aren't at least borderline elite you'll be leapfrogged by a portal transfer of one of the best in the country and won't start. Justius Lowe is arguably a better WR than his dad was given his physical abilities, but I don't know if he will ever start either.

Dickey may not live up to the hype. Before the spring game interception he completely misjudged the trajectory of the football. That's not something 5 stars do. He had a great excuse regarding the injury, but he was whole in the bowl game and spring game and was ineffective. I don't think he ever starts for us. Same with that other fast and tall dude that never connects on a pass.

I don't think Dante Moore has the intangibles to lead us to a championship. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not optimistic on him.

Judging by that recruiting board, it seems inevitable that at some point Danno will have to overcome his DeBour problem. I really wasn't expecting Kalen to do this good at Alabama. And this REALLY doesn't reflect well on UW's recruiting apparatus.

Didn't cross my mind that I don't have to worry about that. I'm not exactly itching to say something stupid, but it sure is nice around here! Thanks a bunch!