David Marsh

Right now... I'm going with Riggs. I think he's going to have a breakout season. And I'll call my shot right now. He's going to be the No. 2 back for this team. I think Hughes will probably get the no. 1 job and Whittington will be a change of pace back and might even start the season as the no. 2 but I think Riggs takes that spot. This season hurt without a true one-two punch. It was James and then... Whittington but outside of a couple games Whittington never felt like he was on James' level. 2023 the Irving, James combo was fantastic as they really did compliment and elevate each other.

I remember reading a year or two ago about one of the big reasons for Altman's struggles in recent years. In short he hasn't had that many leaders who have to be told to go home at night. I remember in this interview Altman was saying that what made some of his best teams great was from the leadership of his gym rats that he'd actually have to tell to go rest. Players like Pitchard and Brooks who would just work. Part of that I feel is the culture of NIL and high ranked players when paired with the one-and-done mentality. Part of that I feel is a post covid world. I have noticed the years after 2020 that my high school students are wired differently. There just seems to be less motivation and resiliency on the whole. It's getting better but it's taken a long time.

My gut is saying no. He had a super special team that was robbed of a shot at the national championship due to covid. But since then he has brought in some of the best recruits in Oregon history and has failed to develop them. This year showed a good step in the right direction but the problem is that he had so many years of failing to develop talent that it's going to be difficult to rebuild some of that reputation. Could he do it? Yes... If given enough time. But will there be the patience for him to get there?

I think he'll get drafted but I don't expect him to start. However, I think he'd surprise many as he isn't the prototypical size for the NFL but he does have many of the other intangibles that NFL teams want. The two guys standing next to him weren't supposed to amount to as much as they have so far in the NFL. Wouldn't at all be surprised if Gabriel exceeds expectations.

For me the offense needs to get back towards the 2023 standard and exceed the 2024 standard. However... as Charles mentioned, it's the defense that needs to take the next step more than the offense.

There is part of me that wants to go. Only having the time available to do so these days is in awfully short supply. Maybe some day...

My understanding is that Moore is ahead in the starter race as it sounds like he could have stepped in for Gabriel last year at any time and run the offense. I think Novosad isn't that far behind and will certainly push Moore. And will likely be the backup quarterback. The reality is that we need a solid backup QB. As for Moga I have heard from a few insiders over the past few months that he is still a rawer talent. He had some flashes last spring but spring games tend to show off the improvisational skills in a way that a real game doesn't. Moga can certainly use his athletisim to improvise but can he run the offense smoothly and proficiently and consistently take what is given to him? Not sure he is there yet. I think it's great that the confidence in this room is so high that the coaches opted to not bring in a transfer this year. Players sticking around is also a massive benefit and shows how good Lanning is at maintaining and recruiting his own roster.

Keeping this staff around will only help build chemistry and continue to develop Lanning's vision for the program. I'm not at all surprised that Lupoi signed an extension as he doesn't seem too interested in a head coaching gig. If he wanted to be an HC he would already be one somewhere, he's got the resume for it for sure. Stein is a little surprising, never got a sense that he is climbing the ladder as quickly as possible and was going at his own pace. It'd be telling to see if he signs another extension and opts to stay beyond 2027 because that will really be telling as to where he wants to go with his career. Chip Kelly proved last year that sometimes it's better to be a happy coordinator rather than trying to take on the head coaching job, unless you REALLY want to be a head coach. The state of college football today is just a pressure cooker in the head coaching ranks.

I do think Championship Weekend needs to see a major face lift. For instance this last year Oregon was the de facto winner of the B1G going undefeated in conference play. Then they had to play Penn State, a one-loss team, in the B1G Championship and they won that but they could have lost. I believe in scenarios where there is a clear cut winner of the conference based on their season's performance should result in them winning the conference outright. Only one undefeated team and that played against other contenders for the conference, they win the conference. If there is no clear cut winner then there should be a conference championship game (based on our current desire to crown a champion). Otherwise play in games are fine as long as they don't affect those who have already earned their spot by their regular season record. I don't think the B1G had any other teams outside of the four that made the playoff that were even sniffing at the playoff. But the SEC currently would have had some fun with a play in game between some of those three loss teams.

No game on ESPN is starting before 7pm with this arrangement. ESPN was really missing the Pac-12 in their late night programming last year.

I'd settle for June at the moment.

Dink and Dunk is still going to be a staple of this offense. So much of the offense is built around getting the ball out fast and to play-makers who in turn make a big play. This last year it did feel like the deep ball was a consistently missing element of the offense. I don't see the offense going deep every series but it should be a bigger factor in the play calling. Nix went deep more often it felt like than Gabriel did this year and Gabriel threw a pretty good deep ball. The difference could have been in Gabriel's shorter height and his difficulty to see over the linemen at times and the offensive line's decline this year. Yes, the offensive line generally did well but I think a lot of that had to do with Gabriel getting the ball out fast so that the line didn't need to hold up for too long. However, the big game that stands out as an outlier is the win against Ohio State as Gabriel did go deep and that offensive line absolutely held up during the course of the game.

Or he is too afraid of his fan base and doesn't want to put anything on display for them to watch.

I'd agree with that sentiment. But the title "Is 2025 the End of Lanning's transfer portal dependent teams" doesn't have the same ring to it. Lanning this time around has gone big in the portal for offensive linemen. The line is going to be a point of concern to get them all on the same page this year I feel. However, I also wouldn't be at all surprised if some of those linemen were brought in as insurance policies for the current roster and are rotational pieces rather than pure starters. We'll have to wait and see. What is clear this year is that Lanning didn't cast nearly as wide a net for position players this off season as he had in the past. He definitely went after certain positions and didn't just try to grab a bit of everything.

I don't think so... Transfers, especially ones that only play one year, may be the best option to play due to their expirence. However, that does usually put a limitation on how deep the playbook can go. Players need to learn the scheme and learn how to play with each other. Year two Bo Nix in the Oregon system was better than year one Nix. He was also better than one year Gabriel. Lanning's defense has improved year-on-year but still doesn't feel like it's reached it's potential yet and the mercenary like feel to the team makes them successful but not inherently good enough to win it all. My article tomorrow will talk about how we may be seeing the end of the Lanning Mercenary teams.