Darren Perkins

Nobody is questioning that he's going to make a lot of money and that he'll be set for life. The question is how good will he be in the pros. Will he be a Clowney 2.0? Or. a perennial pro-bowler.

Of course, but will he get as many green backs as he could have gotten without the red flags? It is not looking that way. But, the main point being, will the red flags that are hampering now continue into his NFL days, and he'll be considered an underachiever as a pro? Or, will he fulfill his talent and be a great pro? TBD

For sure. Hopefully he'll be willing to be coached up, and not become Clowney 2.0.

We're all cheering for him succeed, hopefully he can become a defensive version of Herbert, but there are some things that have raised legitimate questions. Hoping he focuses on football and gets defensive ROY in 2022.

He's the kind of guy where if he played at a different school I would have been sooooo sick of hearing about him, especially with the questions that surround him. But, I do carry a certain unconditional love for us Oregon folks.

Agree. He just needs to zip it, and go out and play good, tough football.

You get these young guys and they see football as part of their "brand," when football needs to be everything first, and then if you are successful in the NFL, you can expand your brand. But, first things first.

He comes across as more contrived than real.

Thanks, Jordan. I'm gonna go with something much more reliable than metrics, I'm going with MY GUT! (wink,wink) Obviously the Ducks need to sweep the Washington schools, then, if they "only" make it to the championship game of the P12 tourney, they should be good for The Dance. If they only make the semis, there is a sliver of a chance. But of course, winning it all would be the preferred method.

There first priority this past season under Coach Staley (Former Rams DC) was to get the offense going under Herbert. Safe to say they did. 2022 is the defenses turn. Staley brought in a very complex system, so in year 2 they should be more comfortable. Plus, as you mentioned, all that cap space , 2nd in the NFL. So, things so far are going as planned.

Grew up in Eugene. NEHS '92, UO '97. In 1980, at 5 years-old, I was finally old enough to tag along with my Dad and big-brother to go to the football games, and the rest is history.

I'm definitely looking forward to next year's team, this is kinda of a 'tweener year.

Yeah, being arm chair qb's that we are, they probably should have ran a play with some hard screening to get somebody open.

True. And, not sure Richardson has the "quicks" to really get his own shot on a regular basis.

Totally true. There's nothing wrong with Richardson, he's just not a goto guy. It's like putting an under-sized forward at center, it's just not their natural game.

Bold Prediction: Now that I've written this watch Richardson hit two game winners this weekend .

I saw it as Richardson couldn't get a shot off with that 7-footer on him out top so I think he thought he could drive and dish, but when nobody was open he tried to draw the foul and make the basket..... and thud. I'll cover what i think is their top weakness tomorrow, which pertains to this exact moment in the desert.

Great stuff. It blows my mind how even in the NFL, come draft time, teams are often more in love with the "athletic" qb who still needs to develop in the area of reading defenses and actually throwing a nice, catchable ball (i.e. throwing the football in general) over the less athletic guys who can read a D, make quick decisions, get the ball out, and make NFL level throws. I mean, afterall, Mac Jones was the 5th qb taken last year and he's no doubt the best of them all. I saw a piece on him on tv and his work ethic in studying the game is amazing. I'm pretty sure Lawrence will come along and be good, but the verdict is still out on the other three more "mobile" qb's, for sure. Poor Zach Wilson having to play for the Jets. Point being, for college, ya gotta' at least try get an idea of a player's acumen in the recruiting process and not just rely on the physical ability.

I was going to bring up the 10 game scenario, while the Ducks woulda' had a punchers chance, Miami wins 8 out of 10 games.

I lived and/or worked in west LA/ Santa Monica for 11 years, very close to Westwood. So, I have some insight to the dynamics of LA. I hate to say it because I love the old stadium, but UCLA should really move to SoFi. Closer to campus, much easier access for students, and if they ever become a winner, a much better destination for celebrities. Not to mention more appealing to recruits. Just a better all around buzz, period. The trade-off being that the Rose Bowl Stadium would most likely have to close its doors. Yikes. But it should probably be done.

Just for fun I looked up the Trojans all-time win percentage against all Pac-12 teams. Of which, of course, they have a winning record against all. UCLA .590 ASU .622 UW .624 Ducks .629 Stanford .641 Utah .650 All else are pretty awful (Buffs 0-15, 100%, yikes), but the above 6 are pretty close together.

Chip just needs to coach at a lower level where accumulation top talent isn't a necessity. Where he can coach and teach and let his scheme do the winning while not being burdened by recruiting. I mean, he recruits to UCLA as if they were located in Pullman and not in the middle of a recruiting hotbed. You don't need look for diamonds in the rough in LA, but that's what he looks for. Maybe he''ll finish his career in a place like New Hampshire, or, maybe even New Hampshire. And, there's no shame in this, it's just who he is.

Yeah, this makes it even worse, bargain shopping his way to a Pac-12 title? Good luck, Chip.

In the hiring of his new DC, Bill McGovern (linbabackers coach for Chip in Philly), Chip just swapped out one of his old crony friends for another. A massively uninspiring hire by Kelly, but did we really expect anything else? Chip needed to at least try to make some sort of a "splash" hire, perhaps bring in a youthful up and comer who could inject some energy into the program and relate well to players, which could/would help recruiting. But, nah. Having said that, I could be totally wrong, I don't know much about McGrovern and could turn out to be a great hire, but given Chip's overall handling of the program to date, I have some serious doubts.

Thanks, Charles. I knew it would get a solid response but it was way more than I thought it would be. Without a doubt the juiciest of the off-season!!