Haywarduck

His 22 second 200 shows in his film. When he gets up to speed in the open field, few can catch him or slow him down. With a stiff arm in his repertoire he will be a tough one to stop from getting the extra yard(s). Fingers crossed on this guy and JTT, of course.

I like the ceiling concept for a players ability. I think we have seen the ceiling on some of these players, and we may see some players come in with more potential. These seniors and experienced players will, can play a role. They can show these young kids what it takes to get yourself to heights of their potential. The bar needs to be raised for every player who wants to see the field. One note is Barner rushed for 1700 yds 2013, two years later, 2014, Royce came on, and rushed for almost 1400 yds. The year between those, 2013, Byron Marshall rushed for 1,000 yds. He then became a 1,000 yd. receiver in 2014. Who is going to become Byron Marshall and get big receiving yds? More importantly who is going to become the Royce? Who is going to come in and take over the RB position and run for substantial yds? I tend to think we are in this type of scenario, where Byron did a very serviceable job at RB, but the talent coming in may take over. It will be fun to watch!

We were backing into an Ivy League type athletic conference. I think there may have been some who really didn't care about the direction we were headed, some presidents who are more academically focused perhaps. Something had to be happening to have Larry get another contract and the carnage to have continued. We can all be grateful for this step. Now can the Pac-12 hire a Cristobal type commissioner that can bring the action back to the Pac-12 like Mario did, I hope so!

The fact that he helped developed Von Miller has to be a selling point to our elite LB's and maybe even JTT. The fact that his record at Fresno State was a downward spiral doesn't bode well for his recruiting ability. In the end I have faith in Cristobal and what he thinks we need. Welcome Mr. DeRuyter to the Oregon Family!

T squared on both sides of the ball in 21! That would be teeing it up and hitting it way out there.

Great point, and I heard stories about how Royce Freeman came onto campus, the team and made it known he was the alpha dog. I think we will know, again, who is going to lead this team come fall.

This isn't the Oregon football program I grew up with. Student athletes came away from Oregon as credible young men, but they often came with a nick or two. These guys are coming in already pretty polished, indeed.

Ty comes to college with a 4.3 grade point average. I doubt too many of us came to college with that and his 5*'s. It is more likely just the goals Ratherbe expressed, I know that was my focus, although I didn't have a car, just a bike. The spring and summer are going to be a lot of fun to watch.

Great points, but it is the green and yellow, not gold. I do agree he looks to be a generational pick up at just the right time. I also like the talk about each qb's ceiling. Each player has a ceiling and it will be fun to see where these new guys end up. We could have a couple guys who have NFL talent, but which one will win out. Think back to when we had two Heisman winners in one class, they didn't both stay, but we may have some very good players competing this spring, fall for the starting job.

Anyone remember this splash, nobody knew what was coming with this 3* recruit who became a freshman All-American.

Chico makes some great points. I do think Brown is the guy who is on the sideline in case our qb position melts down. You need a guy in clutch situations to just go through the progression without distraction. What we saw was the qb position break down. Brown was brought in to finish the job, as the coaches lost faith Shough could finish. I think the coaches will continue to look for the guy who can start and finish. My hope is the history of Ty winning multiple tight games in high school will translate to the college level. We need a clutch qb, something Oregon has had in the past. There is nothing like knowing the qb behind center is going to lead the team to victory. I look forward to that sentiment again!

I think we have a lot of talent at the qb position. It will be imperative to develop more players than Ty at the position. Another player will lead the program early in the season and Ty will take over after the OSU game. Playing the Stony Brook Seawolves at Autzen will be the perfect start for Ty to take over the program. He may surprise us all and lead us from day 1, I hope so, but I think he needs to watch a game or two from the sidelines and he has at least 3 years to be on the field going forward. So I think he starts against the Seawolves, but if we throw him to the wolves, I mean Bulldogs, early then he truly must be something else or we don't have much behind him.

I really don't like the use of the next, insert name here, the guy is going to be Seven, good enough. I suppose this is where we can all differ, respectfully. I will agree we need the next speed threat, as that has been missing. Not sure DAT will ever be replaced and maybe that is why I am not a fan of the whole next thing. DAT is almost a sacred Duck to me. I also don't remember anybody ever really catching DAT. The guy just moved fluidly, at speed, through and around people, and nobody caught the guy from behind. Certainly not like Metcalf caught the husky, Budda Baker, from behind.

I think you just verbalized the sentiment of the fans, and most importantly, the coaches. Without the spring game and more scrimmage time it is hard to tell who has it. There is something about game speed and the dynamics of the games rhythm that separates those that just look good from those that play good. Without game speed, college game speed, there are a multitude of players who have looked good, but just didn't have it at the next level. We need to find out who has it at the next level. I personally like Ashford, but he will need to compete this spring if he really wants to win the starting role. We do need a strong back-up and maybe he thinks he can come and win the job as a back-up. The one who is really exciting is Ty Thompson. The kid has a 4.3 GPA and has been called Mr. Clutch. He won a multitude of games on the last drive. Supposedly the kid has ice in his veins. We need a kid who doesn't get rattled, while having the skills. I think we have the support around a qb to make the offense really special. It may take a year to jell, but one of these guys is going to rise up and take this job and run with it, exciting times coming up!

As stated the husky is a proud breed and Nick the Siberian Husky won best in show in 2020. Nick beats out all of the mens programs for a national tltle. The dawgs may want to hire Nick to consult on what it takes to win a national title. What a real champion husky looks like, because we have never seen one before.

The University of Washington isn't a school where a men's program thrives or ever really wins anything. They have never won a NCAA title, they do 'claim' some, but they haven't officially won anything. Oregon has won 33 National title, 19 men's titles, 14 women's titles. Until the men at Washington step up and win something, they just aren't relevant. Also remember last time we played they were laying down on the field before they even got the ball. I would imagine any self respecting huskie probably doesn't appreciate being call Washington's mascot, it is a proud breed.

2020 made Oregon stronger, 6th place, in the recruiting rankings, stronger. That is really all that matters in this truncated preseason, season and how the program should be measured. As far as usc getting much stronger, haven't I heard that before? I hope somebody in the Pac-12 gets stronger, but I wouldn't count on the trojans, with Helton at the wheel. What will help Oregon going forward is the DC hire. We also need to see some decent transfer action and maybe another recruit. This is what will make the Oregon program going forward. The season was a joke, which Oregon made the best of. The best thing which can help all of the programs in the Pac-12 is to get rid of the comedian in charge. The guy who is making a joke of the Pac-12, lavish Larry, needs to go.

I think if the program was on a teeter totter we would have barely fell to the side of a winning season this year. We could have very easily fallen to the losing side, and there would be more questions about the program. The question going forward is which side of the teeter totter will we fall going forward. The recruiting has most convinced we will continue the accent to the elite status. I know I am extremely excited to watch the massive infusion of talent on the program. The biggest question is how is Oregon going to stop the teeter totter from falling to the weaker side, when it really shouldn't? For those too young to know what a teeter totter is, it was a piece of equipment deemed too dangerous for most playgrounds. It does give one a pretty good lesson in physics, but the world is more than just physics, especially the football world.

Two things have to happen, we have to recognize the talent, and develop the talent at the qb position. Once these two things happen all will be good at the Oregon Football Program and their qb. Tom Brady, the GOAT, wasn't utilized at Michigan as one would think he would have been. He didn't start the first couple seasons, and was way down on the depth chart. Even when he started he was always under pressure by a back-up who never became the GOAT. The first item is Oregon needs to recognize who has it, even if he is way back on the depth chart. The next item, which is of concern, is we need to develop the qb. With Justin Herbert, the front runner for the NFL rookie of the year as an example, we haven't done the best job of developing the talent at qb. Moorhead has to show he can lead the next great Oregon qb to his potential. Can Moorhead develop a guy with potential into a leading college qb? It isn't the battle that will have a longterm impact, it is the process which will have a longterm impact on the Oregon Football Program. Can our coaching staff pick the next great one, and develop him. The other item is making sure we have a viable back-up, but the primary job is the process of who the next great one will be. My number one fear is we do what was done with Herbert. We don't see the guy, even if he is way back on the depth chart, and pick him because he has it. We can't just go with the experience and the safe choice. This battle needs to be wide open, and the choice needs incredible support along with a road map set out to create the next great one!

I agree we go for most pounds per transfer, at this point for our needs.

I think we are all appreciating what Gary Campbell brought the program, more and more! He is also one of the truly great humans, people, amazing man.

I would be interested in what the experts say, but I think we didn't have a qb who could make the throws needed at the college level. A college qb needs to be able to throw over LB's and into zones. It seemed like Shough didn't have these throws in his repertoire. A college qb also needs to be able to see these zones and defensive players in game time, game speed. I remember Kellen Clemens and others struggled at this initially so all is not lost. We do need a qb who can put the ball where it needs to be and can see that in real time. For a go to receiver to make catches he needs a qb who can make those throws. I tend to think Kris Hutson could be the guy, but it is hard to tell when our qb's weren't making the throws to expose defenses and show who the go to receiver might be. I think this is what was said about Justin Herbert from day one. He made the throws and could read the defenses. So far we haven't seen the next guy who can do that.

Is Auburn in the hunt?

I am pretty sure most seasoned fans will balk at any talk about a bend don't break defense, lining up way back for the line of scrimmage, or having our DB's play behind the first down markers on 3rd and long. I look forward to hearing the new DC describe his defense. I am even more excited to see what he can do with all of this talent. I just ask that he build, don't break the defense! I am also hopeful the players will excited to play for the guy, probably most important.

My big fear is any of the older guys are going to have flaws, or the new guys generally means, fraught with mistakes. We need another generational talent, or the qb position is going to be an area of weakness. I have to pick our new guy to be the next generational talent, Ty Thompson is our next great qb! I have to say I still like Ashford, so who really knows?