UtahDuck

I think Oregon has some benefits that just aren't present at other Universities. First and foremost is the relative expectations. Sure you need to win, and win frequently(I'd argue this is the 'expectation' at all colleges) but I don't think fans/admin/booster expect double digit win seasons every single year. If you don't do this at Florida State, Tennessee, South Carolina, or pretty much any university you will be out in 3-5 years. Second, Booster/Boosters. Texas just fired their head coach for producing their best 4 year streak since the end of 2009. They Forced their most winning head coach Mack Brown to resign and as most Texas fans would say they have to many hands in the pot. Surely not every university is like this but the ones with paycheck$$ are. Oregon has one booster you have to impress. one booster you have to 'schmooze'. I won't pretend to know the full politics of boosters but I can promise having to deal with one is a lot better than the dozen(s) at other universities. Lastly, reputation. I think the concept of blue bloods needs amending. When it comes to working with and long term factions, if you haven't won anything in the last 20 years it doesn't matter. no recruit cares for a championship in 1991(Ahem). the next class of 2022 was born in 04-05 they have lived through 1 losing season at oregon. They have grown up with the 'oregon' jerseys. Oregon coaches are set to succeed because of this. That doesn't mean Cristobal et al. has it easy. I think Cristobal et al. Recruits harder than anyone else.

Counterpoint(Kinda). Marcus Arroyo cost Justin Herbert the number one draft pick. Not even getting into the scheme of Oregon's Offense. Herbert obviously didn't have the talent that both Burrow and Tagovailoa had, and probably never would have put up the stats those players did. With that the biggest knock(rightfully so) on Herbert prior to the Draft was his Mechanics. Herbert didn't improve at all during his three seasons post Helfrich. While the offense may have been stale and utterly boring at times, Why did herbert continuously make the same mistakes, overthrowing in the middle, neglecting to see LB's in zone and struggling to progress through reads. Sports pundits often pointed out that the offense was bland but they also commented it was bland and then noted his struggles. Arroyo was a bad OC and terrible QB coach.

First I feel bad for every rating system this year, it is nigh impossible. I mean many players just need that senior year to actually showcase their physical abilities. next players have lost the chance for breakout years. I don't care if its rivals, 247 or ESPN i feel bad for them having to evaluate 2020. Now to point out Troy Franklin, his drop in the rankings wasn't actually 247's fault. First to clarify 247 has a composite and a 247 ranking. Next on 7/31 247 ranked him at .95. his final ranking in january was actually a score of 96(247 not 247 composite). He dropped in the composite due to other factors. Rivals ranked him at 26th in September and dropped him to 33 by January. ESPN finished his ranking at 71st(They don't publish historical rankings). 247 would probably be better if they removed ESPN rankings from their composite system. Dropping espn still wouldn't fix their own evaluation problems.

I'm not entirely sure your point here. Rivals doesn't rank schools purely on the average of the athletes either. Example: Georgia is ranked 6th with 20 recruits and an average of 3.85 stars, while Clemson is ranked 7th with 19 recruits and an average of 3.95 stars. Rivals gives every player a rating that adds to a score and so because they are so close the added player gives Georgia the edge. Also 247 has system in place that the more recruits you get the less value they add to your team placing, a team with 85 2*'s would probably top out at 30th in their rankings. Look 247 has major evaluation issues, and consistently views when athletes commit as a reason to promote or lower the athletes ranking but I honestly wouldn't bunk them based on their ranking system. 247 has a few things I like. I think star averages are bad(which 247 doesn't do) because not all stars are the same. a 3 star with 4 offers(rated 1500 nationally by 247) is not the same as a 3 star with 24 offers(rated 400 nationally by 247). so to combate this 247 publishes their player rankings and scores. The score looks like .99 - .80. 5 star = ~.985 and above, 4 star =~.89 and above and a three star is .80 and up. I also like they layout and UI of 247 more and it is significantly easier to compare within conference on 247 as well. The issue I think Fishduck takes with 247 is the said 3 star i mentioned earlier, if he commits to Ohio State/Alabama becomes a 4 star in the next published rerankings, while if he commits to oregon he drops 40+ spots.

The NCAA has a special rule where upto 5 early enrollees(EEs) can count towards your previous class. This only works if your previous class has the space. USC signed 12 and had 1 transfer in 2020. The reports show that they had 4 2021 recruits early enrollee. With both of those they can sign up to 29 players baring they have the space on their roster or they make the space(cutting players). if you look at the numbers, multiple top 10 teams sign over the 25 'Limit' every year. they just can't sign over 30.

Arguably outside of the SEC, most conferences have 1 Elite team. The Big Ten has Ohio state, Big12 has Oklahoma, ACC has clemson. Each of these conferences has a secondary team who has the talent but curfuddles it every year(Michigan, Texas, Miami). Oregon doesn't need a balance of talent they need to hog everything they can, take as many elite west of texas players possible and fill in with some national players. The only other option is for the pac 12 relevancy is for USC to hire competent coaching and maintain their level of recruiting. I don't think anyone here will be arguing for the second option.

I know a lot of us don't like how shough performed in 2020... I didn't especially as the season progressed, but I definitely wouldn't argue that Washington has a qb either. Morris through 4TD's-3 INTS. of which 2 of his TD's came against the worst defense in the pac12(AZ). He was 9th in completion %, and 7th in passer rating(every system is slightly different. I would not be surprised if Huard passed him in fall. Although if Lake is anything like peterson, he will probably keep Morris because he is the veteran. This doesn't even factor in that I think Moorhead will actually improve our offense next year as he has more time to instill his vision where I don't think Donovan will improve washington.