David Marsh

This is totally worth your time and a watch. It breaks down what recruiting rankings mean and why they matter... or don't. Short answer... some positions have better ranking accuracy than others find out more by watching!

There is the potential that Oregon and Ohio State play each other THREE times this upcoming season. 1. Regular season game. 2. Conference Championship Game. 3. Playoff game at some point -- assuming that both teams only have 1 or 2 losses total (and possibly only to each other) they both make the playoff and have a chance for another rematch. What if Oregon and Ohio State end up playing their third game against each other in the National Title game? That would be crazy but it is theoretically possible.

Are the Huskies good dogs? sorry... dawgs. I suspect not.

Football is the sport I try my very best to not miss a game. I missed a chunk of the pac-12 championship game this year because I foolishly scheduled something on that evening without thinking about it. Oddly enough that worked out for the best because I didn't spend the evening agonizing in front of the TV but went to zoo lights with my daughter. Other Oregon sports I follow loosely and rarely watch games. I don't really have the time or patience. Basketball I used to love but I find it just doesn't have the same exciting flow and suspense as a football game. Also not a whole lot of trickery can happen in. A basketball game. It's fine and I might tune in come the end of a season but not during the season. Baseball and softball... Just can't get into it. But I'll pay attention to websites saying the teams are doing well. Same goes for pretty much everything else..

In the portal era ... The best teams won't have to take years to rebuild. I mean this should be a rebuild year based on what we lost but it's not. It's a stock up and reload and get ready for the next season. It doesn't matter who we lose after next season because they will be youngsters who step up into those roles or Lanning will go into the portal to find someone. Top tier programs and coaches won't be looking at big rebuilds if they're managing their rosters properly on a year to year basis.

I think he'll do just fine. It doesn't look like he is the DC but just a position coach and he has had success at other stops. I don't think he is a top DC by any stretch but I think he had a bigger problem in that he worked for Riley who doesn't care about defense. Now, it's funny that Riley is saying that defense needs to come first but I'll believe it when I see it.

Not saying he shouldn't bring players over from Washington... but Alabama kept things a whole lot closer with Michigan than Washington did. I have a feeling this is what is comfortable for him to do rather than doing what may be best. He has also lost a few Bama players to the portal as well but Bama's roster from raw talent is still better than what Washington had at the peak of last season.

I'd still argue that Chris Petersen made Washington into something. The only players left on that roster are DeBoer guys and some Lake guys. Looks like there isn't a whole lot left. Sure DeBoer brought in some key transfers, namely Penix, but holy crap he is talking a huge game right now. The funny thing is that as Duck fans we have felt betrayed by two of our head coaches, Taggart and Cristobal, and have gleefully watched their struggles after leaving Oregon. But I don't think any of us harbor the hate for Taggart and Cirstobal anything like what Washington fans are feeling for DeBoer right now. and I love it.

I'll check with the young people today... Looks like "Fire" might be the knew version of cool, but I'm pretty sure that is outdated now as well.

Also... take a look at this 2024 class out of the State of Washington. Looks like one school is suspiciously missing from it's top 15 state recruits. 2024 Rivals.com Washington Top 15 N.RIVALS.COM The definitive source for all Rivals news. Looks like the Huskies are MIA in their own state in 2024. Even the Cougs managed to recruit an in state player.

Resources... NIL in particular and how much a school has available to aid in recruiting (flights and such). I think Oregon is in an expanded playoff club of 12-14 teams because the amount of Oregon teams since 2014 that would have made a 12 team playoff is ... a lot. Washington in that same time frame would also have a lot of teams that would qualify. 2015 (maybe but a good chance), 2019, 2020, and 2021 the Ducks would have made it. 2021 was an unmitigated disaster towards the end with Cristobal's leaving. 2022 Oregon would have made it without an injury to Nix ... without a Nix injury Oregon probably would have made the 4 team playoff. Even before 2014 Oregon would have been a regular. 2010 (BCS Championship game already), 2011 (Pac-12 Champs), 2012 (top 10 team), 2013 (2 loss team on the bubble but decent shot of making it into a 12 team playoff) But I don't think Washington has the NIL programs surrounding it that makes it as good of a job as Florida or many SEC or B1G schools. Namely, Washington's success was built on Chris Petersen's tenure, even last years team! A large bulk of Washington's personnel were Petersen recruits and sure DeBoer brought in some key transfers to help fill out the roster but the bulk of the offensive line, and defense were Petersen or Lake guys. They're gone now... so the question is whether or not they can replenish the roster. A big red flag for the outgoing staff is that Washington didn't recruit a single notable player from the State of Washington according to Rivals! Does Washington belong in that 12-14 team group? Fisch has a chance to insist that they do going forward but they quickly could fall by the wayside again.

Could this be cool and fun? Yes. Am I interested? Not really. This shouldn't be seen as a replacement for the TV or an in-person experience but its own thing. Another example is... I don't see VR replacing the TV because interacting with VR is far more work than interacting (or not interacting) with the TV.

Until recently the amount of misses we have had with Washington recruits far outstrips the amount of hits and when we discuss the vast majority of our hits its not on four or five star recruits but three stars. For the 2024 class here is the Rivals link for the best recruits from the state of Washington. 2024 Rivals.com Washington Top 15 N.RIVALS.COM The definitive source for all Rivals news. Couple big points... the University of Washington failed completely to recruit their own state. Furthermore, Jason Brown (the No. 2 ranked player from Washington on Rivals) was recruited by Oregon but the Ducks turned him down at the end of his recruitment. Just think how mind-boggling that prospect this that Oregon turned down a four star runningback from the state to the north. Then Oregon secured two of the top ten from Washington as well.

I kinda doubt they'll do that ... UCLA doesn't seem to have much interest in being good at football.

I'm not surprised ... Whose even left? Those deeper in the depth chart have to look at Bama's roster and know they probably can't beat out their second string.

My list is pretty much the same as yours with only some minor tweaks. Completely fail. 1. USC - they destroyed the conference or at least started it's downfall. 2. Washington - because... Washington. 3. UCLA - they went with USC so they must shoulder some blame. Schools I would like see suceed. 1A. Utah - they were doing well in the Pac and were a team player. Let them own the Big 12. 1B. Arizona State - Dilly can make something of that program so let them beat up the Big 12 left overs like Utah. 2. Arizona - in football I have no I'll will to Zona, not a fan of their basketball program though. 3A and B - Stanford and Cal because they'll make ACC life miserable at times. 4. Oregon State - success varies from program to program but let them be good in the mountain west. You had Colorado as a program you wanted to see fail... I don't really care what happens to them. They went back to the Big 12 and I think their fan base assumes it will get them back to relevance but I think the reality is that they might win an extra game or two every season but struggle to compete with Utah.

Washington is going to be intense but with their roster depletion I feel they shouldn't be as tough this year. Also they are down 20 scholarship spots at the moment, that isn't getting filled with 4 and 5 stars. I'd put Ohio State ahead of Michigan. Michigan at Michigan will be tough but they have some significant roster losses as well that probably won't be fixed in a year. Don't get me wrong, I'm not disrespecting Michigan in putting them at the second hardest game with this depleted roster. But they were a team loaded with 5th and 6th year players (like Washington) and many are gone now. Wisconsin... They'll probably be decent to good this year. They're probably close to the right spot. But overall I don't know the B1G nearly as well as I knew the Pac-12. Kinda feel UCLA might be disrespeced a bit for being as low as they are but we'll see if they have someone who can play QB for them this year.

And Oregon State's head coach turned it down as well. But USC wound up with Pete Carroll so they're not complaining. But they are still recovering from those high expectations set. But I suppose we can forgive Pate for that oversight... He's a southern guy and that bit of Oregon trivia is a bit obscure. But in the last decade + at this point he's right.

He wanted a shot at playing runningback...

I had to dive back into that mess and this line stuck out about Ross James the painter that I thought was really another poor argument. "James’ punts were only fair-caught 55.6 percent of the time which means that returners found it in their favor to attempt to run the ball back. Only 11 of his 27 punts were within the 20-yard line and each punt only averaged 48.4 yards." The argument here is two fold... First that James didn't pin teams back inside the 10 very often. That has more to do with the offense and decision making where Lanning was far more likely to go for it on fourth if we were around mid field or just over midfield and on the opponent's side. So not a lot of opportunities for those kinds of punts because the offense just wasn't stopped on a regular basis. And when the offense was stopped and forced to punt James was punting deep in Oregon territory and his job was to flip the field and he did that. Also the comment about how returners didn't fair catch his punts enough feels logical or more of a punt protection problem. The hang time and distance on his punts were pretty good. And again it goes back to the fact of the matter that James didn't punt thatich because the offense was just just that efficient. This one felt more like he just wanted to see the newer guy, Australian Like Dunne, rather than the vet. If Dunne wins the job more power to him but James was by no means a liability. I like Camden Lewis... Who is out of eligibility.

The guy knows nothing... He was completely WRONG about Florence as his argument hinges on the two losses to Washington. In the first game Florence was injured in the second half. Bridges got burned a couple times and made some decent plays but Florence wasn't in the game. The second game Florence didn't even play because he was out with an injury. So that right there is an argument based around no evidence. He should be replaced because he was injured is the argument which is a poor argument. Our punting was pretty solid so Ross James, we just didn't punt all that much. I know mid way through the season he would have been considered perhaps the BEST punter in the country but he didn't have enough punts for him to be ranked. That's a testimony to the offense. And as for Boettcher... Incredible athlete to play linebacker. I'd be a bit surprised if he plays as much this year because I feel some of the youngsters are more athleticly gifted but need to learn the system. They know the system now so they will probably surpass him. But does he need to be replaced? Probably not. I fully expect him to play next year and contribute, especially on special teams.

I have to recheck... but I think you can get most of the channels (minus peacock) on one of Sling's packages. Pac-12 required both and then some.

Starters rarely transfer if they are in stable programs. I do think part of it is also Offensive linemen build each other up as a unit. So the best linemen don't want to transfer out and start over with a new line. Whereas if they stay with their guys and coaches they are going to start and put themselves in the best position to be drafted. Though in the end I'm not sure why the best linemen opt not to transfer on the whole. Part of it I do think is that the NIL money comes through at the top schools with the top linemen to ensure they stay put. There are always a few good linemen in the portal, not saying they're aren't any, but compared to quarterbacks, receivers, runningbacks, linebackers and the like there are very few. Colorado built their lines out of the portal so there are linemen available but the linemen Colorado got were relatively small compared to what Oregon, Alabama, Ohio State and Michigan have on their lines. There is a reason why Oregon bullied Colorado on the line of scrimmage so hard, its because the size of linemen. For whatever reason high quality linemen don't enter the portal at the same rate as other position groups.

Great link, thanks. Colorado being in the losers category even with 22 new transfers is telling because the one thing they need isn't in the portal en mass... Linemen. Sure there are some and some very good ones but no where near enough to build a roster on. Linemenust be recruited at the high school level.

It does still mean that they have one more coaching spot so someone is getting hired/promoted somewhere.