Joshua Whitted

Yeah the penalties are a big, big drive killer. Without much of a passing game last year, they would pretty much spell doom for the offense.

Also a very good point. Not all turnovers are created equally (field position is another one of those five critical factors Bill Connelly mentions).

Thanks, Charles! I had stumbled upon that article a while back but was quite shocked to see just how important explosive plays are when I circled back to it for my research.

Another very good point. So many areas of the offense stand to benefit from vertical shots.

I'm ready to run out on the field after that haha! I love it!

Absolutely; I think the vertical passing game will give us some much lighter boxes to run in from now on!

I do agree that I'm a fan of falling under the radar. And I'm also equally as baffled by Russell Wilson's need for 12 (!) bathrooms haha.

I agree wholeheartedly with all of this, thank you for reading and commenting!

Hayward, this is a very, very good point, and one that often gets overlooked. I think the X's and O's are actually less important to being a good coach than managing people and handling situations.

I certainly a proponent of taking risks in order to succeed in just about every area of life. This applies to college football especially.

Haha, that just means you have a lot more wisdom on me, Jon! Patience is key. Success doesn't come over night.

I had a similar experience when visiting Texas, it is truly a different world when it comes to football down there. The fact that they're a factory for top high school prospects makes it all the more surprising that UT hasn't bounced back in recent years.

Yeah, I definitely don't disagree that plenty of SEC programs invest more in football. I just don't think that makes as much of a practical difference as their fans seem to think -- at least not nearly as much of a difference as their proximity to talent does...

Yeah I wanted to be very careful not to blame Dillingham at all, as he's far from the only person to perpetuate the narrative that I discuss in the article. Unfortunately, I think it kind of speaks to my argument that Oregon is #1 in facilities and our best recruiting class ever wasn't even a top-5 class nationally. It's not the fault of anyone at Oregon, it's strictly a geographical issue. Not one that Oregon can't overcome, but it takes a staff full of elite recruiters. I do think we have a group of recruiters capable of taking us to high heights, though!

That, in a nutshell, is the crux of my argument. I do think plenty of SEC programs invest more in football than the Pac-12, but I don't think that is the biggest determinant of their success.

I like this one a lot. He could be a real leader on defense this season.

I certainly agree with all of this, and I'd love to see an RB (likely Caldwell) emerge, as many have noted. I think our O-Line will be a real strength this season, so whoever gets the majority of the carries should have some holes to run through.

I could not agree more, the TE position has been sorely underutilized and we have a bunch of talent at the position. I'd love to see one or more of the players have a big year.

I love it! And the picture says it all!

I actually agree entirely that we shouldn't (and certainly won't) know who the starter is until later on...I really just needed to juice up the title a bit

I think you bring up a really good point about the physicality perhaps leading to injury. It's why many NFL teams like the Rams dial things back in practice, to preserve their players. Obviously it's different with NFL players, but that ideology may be worth looking into.

I really, really want Butterfield to get a legitimate shot at the job. How quickly people forget that he too was a big signee at the time.

I think you bring up a great point about the type of QB that fans want to see. The good and bad news is that Nix is totally the guy you're describing. He's a playmaker and really has top-level upside. But he's sooo inconsistent, and we'll have plenty of turnovers and drive-killing sacks with him at the helm. Ideally, of course, Thompson brings the upside and limits the negative plays. Either way, I'm pretty confident both will be more of a "playmaker" than AB was. No shade to AB, but he was way more of the game manager you described.

I think that was the Colorado game, right? Yeah, Thompson got no legitimate action in 2021, which makes his current status such a wildcard.

Yeah, I don't think their was ever a truly fair QB competition last off-season at all. Basically AB was handed the job. I think MC gets some blame, but so too does Moorhead, as much as I like him. He liked AB from the start (even over Shough), and I think MC deferred to his expertise.