idontrollonshobbas

Sorry, Charles. I only posted it because I was able to read it without an Athletic subscription so I assumed that it wasn't paywalled....perhaps because it is nearly a week old now? In any event, I am unable to delete it at this point, or I would. My intentions were to follow protocol, so I beg forgiveness. A summary follows in case others are unable to access the article. Wasserman lists the Oregon signing day flips and last minute 5-star signings as an indication that Oregon is efforting to stay in the major leagues of college football, namely the NCAA blue bloods. He cites Phil Knight's wealth as the main reason for this ability and likens our class to last year's Texas A&M class. The schools we are afflicting include: Georgia, USC, Baylor, LSU, Texas, tOSU, Notre Dame, etc. He further suggests that Dan Lanning's SEC experience provides him with the insight into what it takes to have a championship roster and he is using Oregon's (read: Phil Knight) resources to try and cultivate a championship team quickly.....following the path of the aforementioned Universities. Hence, the scorn of the elites

In case you missed it, from The Athletic on 12/21 Wasserman: The SEC has reached Oregon, and people don't like it THEATHLETIC.COM This is the new world we're living in. Either figure it out and win or complain about it and lose.

Miami has always had the natural recruiting advantages of Florida. FSU and UF as well of course. Between them in 20 years they have 4 championships. Impressive. But, those teams had Bowden, Meyer and Coker as coaches. Is Mariø a better overall coach than any of those guys? Sure, he can recruit, especially with NIL money, but can he coach at the highest level.....color me skeptical.

Big Texas defensive lineman? Ummm, yes please! If we get this guy, he may well equal the production of our other notable defensive end recruits....past and present. As the Lanning/Malchow syndicate overhauls this roster, it is becoming clear how systematic this coaching staff is in roster management. Sometimes with the past regime I felt they would prioritize stars over evaluation for the recruiting buzz and regional bragging rights. But without the cattle, you're just wearing a big hat and you can get exposed. Especially with less than sophisticated schemes and development.

Add the fact that as Charles' article pointed out yesterday, Klemm is one helluva O-line coach who represents an upgrade from Mariø and Mini-me. Rather than straight ahead drive blocking into a stacked box, we now have a stunting scheme with pulling lineman that can augment Bo's read-option fakes and deep balls. Getting defenders back on their heels and guessing will open up lanes for the up the gut pistol runs from our bigger backs who can also pass block for the deep balls. https://forum.fishduck.com/topic/8192-i-admit-i-wasnt-sold-on-adrian-klemm-at-first-but-now-how-about-you/?_rid=147

I am shocked that anyone is shocked by Deion's actions. He is the same guy he was 40 years ago. He is the epitome of consistency of character. Primetime, all the time. No room for anything else.

There is also the "medical redshirt" option which allows players to stay on academic scholarship to finish degree work but not count against the 85 team limit. That is the other option besides transfer portal or simply not renewing the annual scholly.

Neil and Chris Miller both got more concussions than most in the NFL

Just the type of player we need about 3 of.....I think you have to take a shot here. Heck, keep him on IRL until December so we have him for UW, Utah and OSU

Secondary......most glaring weakness last year and we lose our best players in Gonzo and Williams. I am not sold on Manning. The Bama transfer helps if he gets on the field, but we are still shy at least 2 solid role players with him. I am hoping that the front 7 emerges from the plethora of D linemen we now have plus the Brown/Taggart/Harrison/Bassa LB's. But the backend needs buttressing.....no pun intended.

Isaiah Crocker......2 out of 3 years played with no receptions. On the field fewer than two dozen plays?

Klemm has gotten the job done despite limited high quality West Coast O line recruits these past 2 years as well.

File this under "Things that make you go....hunh!?!"

Jonathan Smith gets more out of QB's than they know they have....himself included. He played beyond his stature and athletic ability while under center for the Nutria.....made Jake Browning dangerous and willed Gulbranson into a Power 5 starter. He might turn DJU into Fran Tarkenton.

Nice get. This staff is working it! Confirmed on Ducks Wire Oregon Recruiting: 4-star OL Georgia Silva signs with the Ducks DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM His name may not draw the same buzz as a Kadyn Proctor or Ajani Cornelius on the recruiting trail, but the Oregon Ducks just got one of the best available offensive linemen in this 2023 class. 4-st…

Yep.....with Bo back, use his NLI dough for Proctor and Hicks. In the portal era, taking a HS QB seems like a gamble unless he is the next Herbert/Mahomes and you don't have a potential Heisman candidate in uniform. Maybe Phil can convince the Uiagalelei bros. to sign on?

The only acceptable renaming of The Civil War was the one bequeathed upon the series in my Freshman year, 1983: The Toilet Bowl

Those burgers are killer.

What if the recruiting sites have a logic fallacy built into their methodology? They start from the premise of a Top 300 5-stars every year, with regional sites dependent upon a geographical distribution to keep their subscriber base paying for 12 months of updates. From my cynical view, I suspect that every year most of the Top 300 come from a narrow geographical spread that is most likely not conducive to generating ongoing interest in following recruiting across the widest possible subscriber base. I further suspect that total talent is not consistent from year to year. So, by limiting yourself to 1-5 star scaling and an annual Top 300 and a need for the business model to "spread around" the clickbait, it would be easy to understand how a Haloti Ngata was really worthy of 10 stars, for example. While in another year maybe 5 different 3-star DE's from Florida might be equivalent to a 5-star DE from California in a year with more than average DE quality. Basically, what I am saying is that I don't trust the recruiting site and blue-chip ratio as much as many others do.

Thank you for articulating what I couldn't.....I have had the same train of thought this season, tried posting some questions to get at it but fell short of your much more thorough analysis and framing. FWIW, from another guy whose only expertise is watching the Ducks for 40 years, one of the main answers is faulty recruiting rankings....specifically overrating West Coast players. Mariø, whose coaching and development chops have been questions, relied on these rankings to gain fanfare, publicity and brand awareness for the team based on a Duck fan base who was convinced that our only barrier to a Natty was blue-chip ratio. I am hopeful that Lanning is a better "coach" who can identify, develop and scheme in addition to recruiting well. Because that is what it takes to go from a perennial Top 10 to Top 4. Go find those under the radar 4 stars from the South and Midwest that make up the backbone of the Top 4's and seem to have a bigger development upside. In other words, I want to trust coaches more than website staff journos whose incentives are clicks, not wins.

I haven't watched the Big-12 this year. I keep expecting TCU to drop a game figuring they were good but not great. Curious the thoughts of Big-12 watchers here regarding TCU.....legit Top 4 team or is the Big-12 light on contenders this year?

Did Mike Parker precede Jerry as the "Voice of the Ducks"? I was a freshman in 83 and I have no idea who was on the call prior to Jerry & Jorgy in 1986

Tyrone caught my eye a few times against A&M....he drives to the hole with some authority

The last staff's supposed expertise was O-line. Maybe it was, but the offensive scheme never used the expertise. Lots of sacks, and RB's in the A gap getting scrummed. The same dudes, with a better coach and scheme are crushing their previous performance. That said, if Forsyth is dinged up and can't go, I am concerned this weekend.

Pre-CFP Oregon had to schedule tough non-conference games to get traction in polls with strength-of-schedule since we played one more conference game to our detriment. At least that's how I remember it used to be....but take me with several grains of salt.