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.

The Heeler Family... From Bluey! First off I have two girls and I have seen all the Bluey. Beyond that Bluey is more than a kids show. If you have Disney+ it's worth watching just a little bit... And you'll be hooked. Also my family is the Bluey family it feels right now.

With recruiting comparisons you always need to see how they recruit and not who they recruit. Syracuse isn't going to compete for many top tier receivers so instead you have to look at who did he bring in and develop. What qualities does he look for in a receiver? The Ducks don't go after any and every five star. Nor should they. I'm assuming he does a good job getting the players they need to be successful. Now put a bigger brand and more resources behind him... And he'll elevate it. First recruiting job he has is on the Oregon roster and the incoming freshman. Convince them he's their guy and I have no worries.

He's right... The meta game is stale. “But it’s a copycat league that we play in, and you can’t have everybody playing one way, a successful way and you playing a different way. You’ve got to get in line with what’s working to win, and right now that’s what it is.” Now this isn't entirely unique to the NBA. The NFL is saying has a very very similar problem but not to the same extreme. All pro sports suffer from it to some degree. When you only take the top 2% of the best athletes from the lower leagues you're dealing with a level of athlete that is functioning at such a high level that they can execute the game in the best way possible. Now that may shift a bit... But in the NBA right now the best athletes can chuck up threes without a problem. The officiating has been punishing physical defense for years so trying to play physical defense is pointless. Just shoot more threes! Between the ability of athletes to shoot threes at a high rate and the rule administration being what it is is it any wonder the NBA meta game is all threes all the time? College ball has variety because few teams can field enough top end players who can play the game the pros play. So they have to find other ways to win. And the officiating allows and encourages players to play defense.

And unlike Herbert he should have plenty of receivers who can actually catch his throws. I can't tell you how many times in 2018 it was frustrating to watch Herbert throw beautiful balls to JJ3 or Redd only to watch them fail to secure the catch entirely and it result in an incomplete pass. There is a reason in 2018 why Herbert seemed laser focused on Dillon Mitchell and that was because he was the only one who could reliably catch his passes. 2019 got better. But Herbert never had the stable of recievers he needed. Moore absolutely does.

Someone posted this on another forum but I wanted to post it here with some observations. Dante Moore has an incredible arm and I think we all knew that. But what really stood out to me in all these highlights is his comfort and ball placement. Yes, the bulk of the first half of the video is against less competition but his smoothness and perfect placement on those passes is beautiful. Not to throw Dillon Gabriel under the bus or anything but this last season he didn't look THAT smooth in his deep throws. I think part of that is the better defenses Oregon played but the other part of it is Gabriel's height is sub 6ft which made seeing over linemen a whole lot more difficult than what Moore has to deal with. I am expecting the deep ball to make a big impact next year. Moore has the arm talent to get it there consistently.

Samples is in an incredible negotiating position. He's getting a pay raise for sure and probably a title bump too. I'm sure his agent is pushing his name everywhere he can. I feel Lanning is going to want to keep Samples but it will come with a steep price tag.

The way the NFL and all pro sports work is that success is repaid with difficulties. The Chiefs have been successful so as a result their stars have required bigger pay days which eats into the salary cap. As a result, they have to make roster cuts at some point due to salary cap issues. Additionally, their success has resulted in lower draft picks. So is it surprising they've hit a couple bumps on the road? No.... That's how pro sports work and to get out of this takes some very, very careful roster management or a few downish seasons.

Fun formation and it was fun to write about. It's going to be a long off season as we all wait for the next one to begin.

Nahh I think he would have left. It was the destination, timing and money. MC didn't even consider the Miami job at the end of the 2018 season when it opened up. But when it opened up before Diaz was even fired it was only for Cristobal and it was served up in such a way that he couldn't say no. MC wasnt leaving for anything else than this particular opportunity served up especially for him.

Does this hurt, yes. Is this surprising? Not really in truth. Last year I made a forum post on how Adams only got a one year contract extension. I thought that was a little odd at the time but I think Adams has had an eye to move on at some point and I don't think either party wanted a big contract tieing them down.