Solar

Broncos has two things going for them to decide to jump up 20 spots to grab Troy. #1 is Bo Nix chemistry with him is worth something if you truly believe Bo will start. #2 Troy was who Bo was throwing to in the private tryout he had with the Broncos, so they had a pretty clear opportunity to see who they could be getting. It was interesting to hear that one of the things that turned Sean onto Bo was Alex Forsyth, who was Bo's center at Oregon in '22.

I couldn't catch the game live but watched it delayed, here are my notes: It was a bit jarring to how different this team is this year. The turnover of talent was much more obvious than I expected. There is serious work to do to become an efficient unit on offense, and the staff definitely has it's work cut out to select a two deep that can work cohesively as a team. I've never seen so many runs in a spring game. Usually they are minimized to prevent injuries. I think it's two things, 1 having enough expendable RBs on the roster and 2 an extra intensional focus on the run game going into the B1G, as previously mentioned by Stein at least. Worth an article by itself. Surprised by the level of violence in the play. It was violent compared to in season games let alone a spring game against your own teammates. It came from everywhere and everyone. Offense, Defense, starters, walk-ons, and even the true freshmen. It was clear last year that James has been running with bad intentions, but jeez instead of heading out of bounds he knocked Savage out cold. Kyler Kasper is legendary, I mean legend has it he has caught a pass, but I've never seen it. I'm certainly hoping that changes, that he can show up when the lights are on. Being excellent in practice isn't worth much. Bryant is an enigma, he typically seems a little lost when running routes, but as soon as the ball is in his hands, he knows exactly where he is and what to do with it. He's the best true running back in the team with his sense of spacing, feel and quickness in tight spaces; too bad he's stuck in a receivers body. Give the man some tunnel screens this year Stein. This is the most powerful DL Oregon has ever had. We have elite OL but the pocket was consistently collapsed. Bullrushes to oblivion from every position. I wasn't expecting that. Perhaps the OL were overthinking things at the snap, rather than playing nasty, but it was so consistent, hard to explain away. There was also little room to run. That didn't stop Jay Harris from being productive. He is who we wanted Dowdell to be. He is 6.2 and 215, but he runs like he is much lighter than that. His size shows up when he refuses to go down.

The biggest thing I was hoping to see from the spring game was just this, seeing Lanning's HS recruits start to shine, and they really did. Fantastic to see.

It's just a spring game as we all know (Jeff Lockie went 12 for 12 once). So many things had to be discounted. Pocket presence by all QBs was bad, and efficiency was bad, but lots of potential explanations for that. All can throw a good ball at least. It seems clear that per the order of taking the field it DJ Moore is past Novasad already on the depth chart, despite this difference of experience in this offense.

He's too skinny/weak and didn't run the gauntlet drill in a straight line are the two reasons I'm seeing. Could be the teams that were interested in him over thought it and went with a less risky pick and nobody else was really paying attention. It sounds weird but people are assumed to not be available after a certain point in the draft so if they miss that window they can fall farther than they should.

Coaching turnover will have that affect. Fits become misfits.

We are over our scholarship limit. Word on the street is that some will be voluntold to leave. Could be the case here. Which makes this a possible sign that we are going to pick up a DL in the spring portal.

Just a $28 million dollar choice, no biggie. Just kidding. Our new transfer qbs are feeling pretty good about their decisions right about now.. Best landing spot possible for Bo. So many comps to Drew Brees, should be a great fit.

This is likely a sign that there is too much uncertainty about the future to make any decisions yet. IE let's wait for the ACC to implode, G5 to form a separate division, and a few other pieces like Notre Dame to fall into places first.

Most top shelf portal transfers know where they will go when they enter. Meaning they absolutely have been tampered with. I've got a good feeling about this. As others have said we are an anchor NT away from a title level defense, and we have the ability to pull him in accordingly by offering him the highest value. If he goes to tOSU I'll be really upset though! LoL

Caleb has the ability to be great and he cares enough to be able to achieve it. He should go #1.

A change of circumstances with an enlarged playoff, and pay for play will help level the playing field. As an example, 2023 was not an exception, it is the new reality with the Transfer portal and NIL circumstances affecting team ceilings.

I'm just not sure the individual universities' administration have the time babysit any of this. If I had to make a guess, the conferences will be delegated most of the responsibilities.

Rams or Broncos would be a good fit for Bo.

Finally. No point in have 130 teams in a single division where 100 of the teams have no chance to ever win it all Power X should be D1, G of X D2, FCS D3, D3 should be D4. Each division level is defined by their own playoff/bowl structure and pay to play arrangement. The only thing we should be debating is who is in which D level. Let's get the easy decisions worked out then the harder stuff is a little easier to deal with.

Bo is more accurate than Marcus Mariota, and has better pocket presence and does better working through his progressions when he has his confidence. The only thing Marcus did better was his elite breakaway speed, which isn't worth much in the NFL where everyone has world class speed. Marcus went #2 in the draft. This QB class is better, but Bo is a first round talent, and I think scouts get that.

So do the NIL collectives get absorbed by the University or does the University now just say "call these guys" instead saying "We'll give them your name and they'll call you."?

So this means OSU and WSU are now eligible for that guaranteed best of Group of 5 (now 6) spot in the playoffs.

So, are you thinking the Conferences become the management independent of each other, or do you think the conferences form a new umbrella management structure over the pay to play power conferences? Do you think they will only bite off Football or will they bite off all revenue sports?

I wanna see Lanning's HS recruits (all classes) standing out, especially on the defensive line and at QB. I also wanna see some Jay Harris carries.

The NCAA is the organization in place to manage athletes as employees. Even if their entire existence has been dedicated to preventing athletes from being treated as employees, they need to hit the reset button and do their new job, which is to establish a framework of athletes as employees. If they really care about the students, they will set up a union as well. But they won't because they get paid by the colleges who will be on the other side of the bargaining table if a union is created.

Speaking of Bo and JPJ, I saw them front and center in an Old Spice commercial during a Netflix movie intermission! No other collegiate players, just the two of them alongside two former NFL players presumably giving them the tips on how to stay fresh in the NFL after they get drafted. Cheesy and cool at the same time. I'd call it a sign of NIL success Oregon is having.

I agree Jon. College athletics can adapt to revenue stream changes, but only if there is time to adapt. Getting hit over the head with a 4B dollar bill at the same time you are reacting to the revenue changes that are hitting over just a few years time puts the future of non revenue sport in great peril.

All it will take is one of those scenarios being made into a court case against the NCAA and it is goodbye eligibility limits on college sports. There is no compelling technical reason why you can't continue to play while you continue to go to school.

He also took it very well when Lanning took Samples. Impressive dude.