David Marsh

Experience is invaluable but it isn't the end-all-be-all. We saw in 2016 Prukop (a senior transfer) was beaten out by Herbert half way through the season, though there could probably be an argument made that Herbert should have just started game one. I think Shough practices well and I think his potential ceiling is significantly higher than Brown's. Something happened in the second half of the Cal game that made Shough regress dramatically. I am not saying that Shough was all conference before that game but Shough was putting up good numbers and Oregon's offense had scored over 30 Points-per-game up until the Cal game. Shough had some freshman mistakes and some turnovers that are cringe worthy but he still finished the season with one of the better quarterback ratings in the conference. Getting a future quarterback that invaluable experience is super important because it is very difficult to have a team live off transfer quarterbacks. Oklahoma has done pretty well but in 2020 they had to finally turn over the offense to a Freshman. LSU had an incredible one-hit-wonder in Burrow but last season they had to turn to their roster and they settled on a freshman with potential in the end (I think... in truth I kinda lost track of who was the quarterback at LSU after awhile). I'm not trying to defend the decisions made by the coaches, in the end I personally really hate it when a team runs two quarterbacks. It can be gimmicky and it can work in small amounts, as we saw in the Pac-12 Championship game as USC was completely unprepared for Brown. Though on the whole I find it creates more chaos than actual production. I do agree that I think Thompson or even Butterfield may take over this off season and become the starter next year. It is possible Shough gets himself back on track. Though I feel in College experience matters but it comes with a caveat as overall athletic potential and ability and beat experience. Brown will have a chance to win the starting job this year though is he athletic enough to beat some of these big time youngsters? and by the way... I wrote an article about this last theme last summer... Graduate Quarterbacks: Saviors or Usurpers give it a read if you have the chance!

... He will have yet another nondescript season at Washington.

True.. but at this point he is OLD ... for a professional football player. He doesn't even have youth on his side at this point.

Experience matters! That's what kept popping up in my head with Brady winning another super bowl. At this point in his career Brady isn't the most athletic guy out on the field.... Not even the most athletic quarterback on the field. He is, however, the most experienced player on the field. That experience gives him such an edge, especially at quarterback. Brady tends not to make the same mistake repeatedly in the same game. He also tends not to get flustered when he's beat. He also knows when he is beat and just gets rid of the ball or protects the ball and goes down. Brady isn't the most exciting player, he just gets the job done. Thinking about this year's Oregon team the big thing missing was experience. With such a young team they just didn't have the depth of knowledge that experience brings. Athletically Oregon was fine... But the mental errors were what hurt Oregon this season. Especially when talking about Oregon's offense the biggest problem was at quarterback. Both Shough and Brown tried at times to do too much and they lost the ball.

Oregon has room for one additional coach right now with the departure of Heyward. If this hire is for Tight Ends that would mean that there is some reshuffling of the position coaches on the defensive side of the ball. Does Rod Chance take over coaching the entire secondary? Does DeRuyter take over some of the secondary and leave Wilson to coach all the line backers? If this is a coaching hire that would mean Bobby Williams takes over coaching special teams exclusively. Oregon's special teams do need some love and attention right now. Kattleman looks poised to take hold on the place kicking job... Snee was ok at punter... kick off was horrible. Special needs need some special attention right now.

A big difference going into 2021 is also need. Oregon has a full quarterback room and ONE of them is going to emerge as Oregon's starter and one of them will be operating the Oregon offense at a better level than we saw last year. Simply because they will have all spring to reinstall the offense and then fall to install the offense again. Someone is going to emerge from the quarterback room a starter and they will have an incredible supporting cast around them. Washington on the other-hand has really dubbed (pun intentional) Huard their savior and NEEDS him to perform. Washington's passing game was non-existent. Thompson may take the starting role at Oregon, he may not but someone is going to emerge and become the next rising star at Oregon. Washington really only has one option... hope Huard works out.

To be absolutely blunt... an undefeated USC was NOT going to get into the playoff no matter what in 2020. They failed the eye test. They had to beat ASU (2-2), Arizona (0-5), and UCLA (3-4) in the last minutes of the game in order to win. If anyone watches those game winning drives they saw there were some incredibly lucky bounces the ball took. If USC made the playoff they would have fully embarrassed themselves.

RatherBe thanks for getting the clip... I remember Herbert fighting for extra yards just not the overall play. I know Braxton was just in over his head playing. Though there were a lot of plays just built around running the ball and it was very predictable. This was mostly when Herbert was was injured.

2021 will be the real test. Though I have had the feeling that Oregon has really lacked the personal for the past 5 years. Yes, I'm going back 5 years because in 2015 Oregon had a good group of recievers (many of whom were injured during the national championship game the previous season) and solid runningback in Freeman and a quarterback who could and throw the ball everywhere. If you watch the games from 2015 and earlier you see the quarterback throwing touchdowns to multiple recievers. The talent dried up in 2016 and Oregon has really hobbles along trying to get good recievers. Now, there have been some bright spots but I can't in good conscience say that we have had a recieving corp as good as the one in 2015 yet. Though I do believe that is about to change in the next year or two as all this young talent gets a shot at playing in an Oregon uniform.

Where I criticize the Taggart system with Herbert is really in how Taggart wanted to run Herbert more up the middle rather than more opportunistic run plays. I would have to check to see what was going on in the Cal game in 2017 when Herbert broke his collar bone. But the biggest problem with the Taggart system is its overall lack of half time adjustments. So Herbert would be wasted in the second half of games. Granted, that was really the biggest problem with the Arroyo offense as well. Though I do agree that the loss of supporting cast members was what really hurt Herbert. 2015 was really the last time Oregon had a stellar cast of receivers. Mitchell was good but he was really the only receiver that was any good in 2018. Really looking forward to seeing what this new receiving corp can do!

Herbert had a pretty good freshman year with the Helfrich offensive system. The Taggart and then Arroyo systems didn't do him any favors.

I would like to mention that Oregon has more playoff wins than the following teams ... Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Florida State, Michigan State and Washington Oh... They also have more playoff wins than all of those teams combined. Just thought I'd throw that stat out there for funsies.

Though... Wilson and DeRuyter both coached at Nevada together for a year so they are probably more in sync than most... But still... Gotta love being a duck fan right now where when the prospect of coaches leaving generates excitment and speculation rather than dread and fear.

Is linebacker coach Ken Wilson leaving to become the head coach at Montana State? It is possible... and if it does happen this defensive staff is going to undergo even more changes this year. Though on the bright-side... it only helps Cristobal's reputation for recruiting new coaches as he can say, "come to Oregon, look at how many of our former assistant coaches have become head coaches elsewhere." If Wilson leaves it could also help DeRuyter as well as it would give him and Cristobal an opportunity to hire a new coach that can work in DeRuyter's scheme more closely.

He is a preferred walk-on ... So if the list you are looking at excludes preferred walk-ons that might be why.

If he can't right now he will learn real fast. I doubt Cristobal would have hired him if he didn't believe DeRuyter wouldn't be an asset in recruiting. DeRuyter might need some on the job training but taking Cristobal's recruiting class will have him good to go before we know it.

Led the team in tackles as a freshman absolutely a beast in the making. Though the 2016 defense was non-existent.so he was one of the bright spots in another wise terrible year. Dye had learn a lot and become a leader real fast... And that can be tough for a true freshman.

Ty Thompson has been interesting to watch at 247 ... he has done everything and MORE and has moved up in their rankings over time. Though they have flat out said the hasn't done enough to earn a 5th star. Meanwhile... players who didn't play their season have maintained their stars ... conversely... Troy Franklin lost his 5th star for not playing his high school season. The inconsistencies are just mind boggling at times.

Oregon has a lot going for it... namely Knight money and LOTS of it. but in terms of recruiting... all those schools have it MUCH easier than Oregon. Remember.. Cristobal just makes it look easy but he is out working everyone to get Oregon a top 10 recruiting class. On top of all that... I would say Oregon fans have the same expectations for our head coach as any of those programs. While we want a National Championship that is not our base expectation... our expectation is being in the conversation and we will be patient but at some point the coaches will have to deliver or it will be a very angry fan base. Right now we are content with conference championships, top 10 recruiting classes, and the dream of what can be tomorrow...

Good information RatherBe, thanks for the break down. The other thing I would like to point out that this year more than most has forced schools to be dependent on hype, reputation and above all brand. Without official visits getting potential recruits on campus is incredibly difficult and if you were a young player who had to choose a school without seeing it in person what are you looking for? Relationships with coaches is always to no matter what is going on... after that it all comes down to the trajectory of the program and the program's reputation. USC has picked up a handful of recruits this year because USC has a good reputation and is close to home and is a safe choice. Alabama is a safe choice for a lot of talent because you know pretty much exactly what you are getting if you join that program. Being a Washington State or an Oregon State it must be really difficult right now more than ever... they usually struggle to get many four-star athletes and in a year where they can't get students on campus it is even more difficult to get one to commit. Branding matters... and Oregon has that in its favor right now in an abnormal and brutal year for recruiting.

Everyone will think usc is good without any results for years to come. USC has been on the verge of a breakout season where they return to form like they were in the pete carroll days... People have been saying that since carroll LEFT USC. The assumption is usc will be just on the verge of a return to greatness for years to come. We just need to keep on beating them.

Not that far outside the norm for Cristobal. He has said it every single time he has hired a new coach. Leavitt to Avalos ... upgrade... Avalos to DeRuyter ... upgrade Arroyo to Moorhead.. upgrade YES it is also true that all these hires are pretty much objective upgrades but still what else is MC going to say... "eh... we found a guy... he seems ok"? ... that works at Washington but not at Oregon!

For the conference's competitiveness it is a problem... HOWEVER, if the Pac-12 is to be "saved" or is to survive in this current environment it is less important to have many good teams and more important to have 1 or 2 really good teams. Clemson carries the ACC and has given the ACC football relevance even though most of the ACC is terrible. Alabama elevates the SEC and while the SEC is more prone to having other programs rise up year to year Alabama is a mainstay. The B1G needs Ohio State more than Ohio State needs the B1G at this point as OSU is the premier program in the B1G. We saw this last season the conference bend over backwards to make sure OSU had a shot at the playoff. The Big-12 may be in a similar position as the Pac-12 if it wasn't for Oklahoma reaching the playoff as often as they have... granted they haven't won a single playoff game but they bring the Big-12 a level of relevance as winning the conference with only one loss is a way to make the playoff. The Pac-12 needs one or two very strong teams that can make the case that the Pac-12 can field a playoff team. If Oregon and USC are able to take control of their respective divisions and make the Pac-12 championship a win-and-in (the playoff) game then all the better for the conference. Spreading out the talent at this point only serves to maintain the status quo of the conference, irreverent in the eyes of the college football world. Though spreading out the talent would help solve some of the long term problems of college football... but that would take some significant institutional change at the highest levels. So for now... Oregon and USC need to battle it out and forget the rest of the PAC.

That is some INSANE wishful thinking... It looks like they just looked up all the top recruits in the west and put them on a list and called it good, or at the least just put a dream list together.

Well... not without out working everyone!