David Marsh

Development of receivers has definitely been a concern. Mitchell was a Helfrich recruit. Mitchell was a good receiver but he was made better because he had a good quarterback throwing him the ball in Justin Herbert. Great receivers need great quarterbacks. Pittman and Williams have a lot of potential to break out into stars next year but they need someone to throw them the ball and allow them to make plays. Shough had some decent deep balls but from what I saw I don't feel confident that Shough has the arm strength to get receivers the ball over the top of a defense... or on a crossing route across the middle of the field as he missed a LOT of those over the season. For a receiver to be a star we need a quarterback who can run the offense better and get those receivers the ball. Alabama's Heisman winning receiver wouldn't have won the award if his QB didn't throw him the ball.

I'm less worried about the receivers than I am about the trigger man. Receivers Primed to breakout: Williams, Pittman, Hutson, Webb and DJ Johnson. Williams and Pittman both missed quite a few games this year due but both had some great moments. Hutson is a freshman who was thrown into learning a college system with only the bare minimum supports and practice time to actually learn the system. He had some flashes and saw the field. Webb didn't see the field this year (at least not to my knowledge) and Johnson overall has some nice hands and runs with some insane power. Webb has a lot more speed than Johnson but Johnson has some decent speed if he gets free and even then he isn't easy to tackle. Granted, I don't see either of these two TEs being a featured receiver. Super Promising Freshman: Franklin, Thorton, Brevard and McGee I do expect to see Franklin on the field this upcoming season. Thorton and Brevard may see the field but I wouldn't be surprised if they end up maintaining their redshirts as there are still other receivers on the Oregon roster who may surpass them. However, this freshman crop might just take control and all play significant roles. I am also including McGee on this list because he is really a hybrid type player in the mold of a DAT or Nelson who may be deployed in the the slot or as a runningback depending. The Vets: Johnny Johnson and Redd Both have had their moments but neither have really proven to be that breakout star that demands special coverage from an opposing team.

And their uniforms are pretty cool.

Oregon also had about 4 turnovers with quarterbacks who were really trying to be constant heroes... And... Iowa State had the ball for at least three times longer than Oregon. Not a good game to display Oregon's potential in general.

Arroyo left last year and took no Oregon staff with him. Avalos leaves and is taking some support staff with him. One of the assistant strength coaches is going to Boise with Avalos and some office staff as well. Could be a bit of bad blood there. Who knows?

I vote for Millen to switch positions that's for sure... he demolished USC's kick returner in the Pac-12 Championship Game. I think he should see the field, and if it is as QB sure, but he is stuck in deep in the depth chart right now.

Bend-but-don't-break is the worst to watch as a fan. The offense is never on the field and we just watch the clock drain away from the game. Iowa State was one of the most agonizing boring games I have watched in some time... right up there with the games against Stanford several occasions this last decade. Personally I would like a defense that is aggressive and can break the opposing team's offense. Get that ball back to our offense and lets see some more points!

If Mario Cristobal hires them that coach is going to be oozing energy. The job requirements that Cristobal demands from his coaches require a lot of energy.

Additionally Washington's recent tenure as standard-bearer for the Pac-12 wasn't that great... 0 playoff wins 0 NY6 bowl wins Yeah... Oregon didn't look too hot this year but this whole year was a mess for the entire Pac-12. But in the last decade Oregon has... 2 national championship appearances 1 playoff win (more than Oklahoma I might add) 4 NY6 Bowl wins.... 3 Rose Bowl wins and 1 Fiesta Bowl win 1 Heisman Trophy

Need to get receivers consistently behind opposing defenders AND a quarterback with the arm strength and accuracy to hit them deep. Dillon Mitchell was really the last receiver Oregon had that had the speed get around opposing defenses. I am really looking forward to seeing what these receivers can do.

It would make for a great script... 2016 ... beloved team bottoms out 2017-2018 ... the rebuild 2019... Rose Bowl victory and then... NFL breaking records and Rookie of the year.... It checks a lot of the boxes needed for sports movies...

I would also like to say that maybe Avalos' style of defense is the right one and the one that Oregon should continue to use and develop. That would be completely fine! Though now is a prime opportunity for Cristobal and his staff to evaluate the current state of the defense.

I would say Avalos' defense was in a lot of ways closer to what Alioti ran in terms of philosophy of aggressiveness. Wanting to get pressure pressure behind the line of scrimmage and try to disrupt the opposing offense up-front rather than as much on the back end. If both are working in tandem as we saw last year in numerous games we really saw how that creates a lot of errant throws to be picked off. I would say Pellum's bend-but-don't-break defense was really a more passive back-end prevent defense. Typically rushing three and dropping eight into coverage to prevent the pass. A whole lot more bending and in 2014 with a defense that was completely loaded with modern Oregon legends this worked well enough to get Oregon to the National Championship Game... though I think we can all agree that defense was far too passive and was prone to bending far too much.

Or play defense that can stop or at the very least slow those offenses. I think Avalos' defense would slow them but not enough for the current state of our offense.

The pistol is like dessert... Sometimes food... It can certainly work but it shouldn't be used as an every down formation. Oregon has had some nice runs from the pistol both this year and previous years.

Oregon has been blessed with two generational talents in the same decade. I do think Thompson is going to be the next big quarterback at Oregon but does he need a few years to prepare is the question. I think no matter who is the starting qb there will be compromises made in terms of skillset. Butterfield may not be a great runner but maybe a great passer. I watched some of the masoli games and the scheme was what really helped him out. He was not a great passer (lots of passes to open recievers that recievers still had to go out of their way to catch) but he was a great runner. I think just as big as who is the quarterback is who makes up the supporting cast? That will make even an average quarterback look great.

Dye and Dollars have shown some better bounces to the outside. Dollars in particular had some very nice cuts in the Pac-12 Championship game. I would say the Pistol, the way it is being run, tends not to allow for much more than run straight ahead. Verdell tends to just want to run straight ahead and looks for contact and as he isn't that big of a back it results in minimal gains.

My only hesitation with Ashford currently is that he is very low on the depth chart at the moment... which can obviously change with a good spring and fall. Butterfield was solidly running with the threes and I wouldn't be surprised if he takes the next step and really challenges for the starting spot. It is true he is not a true runner... but neither is Shough and Shough's biggest problem down the stretch wasn't his running ability but more his decision making. He would often keep the ball when he should hand it off. Having a more pure passer would open up the run game, even for the QB, as it could stretch the field vertically and as a result the run game opens up for the runningbacks and the quarterback run. Moorhead's desire to run the quarterback isn't to make the quarterback a rusher to the degree of a runningback but make the defense respect the quarterback run and defend against it. There needs to be some qb runs in the game for that to work but it shouldn't be the quarterbacks primary job to run the ball. Right now I feel Oregon needs a solid passer who can run the ball a few times a game more than someone who is a stronger runner. Ideally we want a Marcus Mariota type who can do both things incredibly well... Mariota was a really rare talent. I would like a Vernon Adams or Justin Herbert type QB who can really stretch the field with their arm ... granted VA had some major durability issues and Herbert didn't have a receiving corp that could reliably allow him to stretch the field. Depending too much on the quarterback run just crowds the box and makes the defense's job easier.

Early front runners in my mind are ... Shough, Butterfield, and Thompson ... if Brown decides to stay throw him in there too. Though I think with a solid off season Butterfield is going to catch up on Shough and Brown. Thompson is young but you can't discount the potential.

Big... but what's their speed like? We have a big back in Habibi-Likio but he isn't terribly fast... or more to the point he isn't fast enough.

Nose Tackle would be great to get some instant impact players there... Another corner or safety wouldn't be bad... Need some depth there. Maybe a runningback? Need someone who is capable of more of a power run game than what we currently have the on the roster, but I don't feel great about picking up a quality runningback through the transfer portal at this time.

Mastro is actually one of the best recruiters in the conference... so it is very baffling why Oregon hasn't been able to land a blue chip runningback in the style of a Freeman. Verdell is really too small for an every down back and his injuries are troubling... though he is a fantastic weapon out of the backfield and even with some dumb pistol plunging runs he did seem to manage to fall forward... the big problem being that he didn't necessarily gain too many yards in the process. Dye is a wonderful change of pace back and super dangerous coming out of the backfield as a receiver. Cyrus Habibi-Likkio has the size but no where near the speed needed to be a true power back. Also his blocking is a bit suspect. Sean Dollars looked great as a runner in the Pac-12 Championship game... though he does seem to struggle with passes as he motions out of the backfield. I also suspect that he is not seeing the field as much as he is probably still developing as a blocker. Blocking, receiving out of the backfield, and running are all critical components to being a runningback in the Oregon system. Verdell seems to have all three things down but lacks the real size needed. So does Oregon need a new runningbacks coach? Maybe... Moorhead seemed to use less pistol in the last three games of the season so if that trend continues then I personally feel like it is less of an immediate issue. There are also some younger bigger backs on the roster though they weren't considered blue chip prospects... but maybe they can be developed into some powerful runningbacks. The runningback room right now is dominated by the 2017-18 classes and that has created a sort of barrier in recruiting as it would be difficult for younger players to break through... though Oregon really needs some bigger and faster backs to reach the next level.

Thanks for the update there 30Duck ... Steele is off the board but there are still a whole lot of names on that board that would be great at Oregon.

In truth I think JTT is dreaming if he thinks he will truly be able to play both football and basketball, their seasons overlap too much and the body type he would want for football doesn't necessarily covert to the basketball court. For football he needs to be big, strong and explosive and for basketball he would generally want to be leaner. Now this doesn't always hold true but will he be able to successfully cross train and practice enough to be legitimately good at both sports to play at the Division 1 level? Possible. Much better opportunity to play football and a spring sport... but I know he also loves basketball.

Offering him to play basketball is reasonable... HOWEVER the reality of it is that he probably wont see the court too much with ANY of the teams on his list as all have good football teams that will play into January. As we saw with Armstead, he had the chance to play basketball but by the time he could reasonably make it to the team his overall play time was impacted by the fact that he didn't have as much practice time as the full time basketball players. On the basketball front Oregon has had a better team on the whole than Alabama and Ohio State. So if he wants to be apart of teams that have the best opportunities of seeing the most of the post season Oregon is the destination.