Joshua Whitted

Hey Hayward, I always welcome your thoughts, and am glad to hear a different perspective. I think your conclusion of this being a good-not-playoff-level team is spot-on, and kudos to you for being able to reason that even after the win at Ohio State. I fell victim into believing this team was at a higher level due to that win than it really is, and much of that is due to quarterback play, as you stated. A QB switch needs to be in order, and that will certainly improve the passing game...but I don't believe that is all that is wrong with the team. Honestly, much of my concern is with the defense -- a unit that has failed to impress me even once this season. Dorlus has developed into a nice pass rusher, but other than Thibodeaux, he's literally our only other threat. That Mase Funa and Adrian Jackson have never been able to establish themselves as even good edge rushers is a concerning sign to me. The safety spot opposite McKinley has been disappointing and the cornerback spot opposite Wright has been even worse. Again, I'm really not trying to rip on these players. Not every four- or five-star is going to develop. But it is frustrating to see so many talented players struggling so often, when other coaches with far less blue-chippers are fielding elite defenses. I agree our young receivers need more play, but I'm concerned they're not seeing the field because they're not good enough (they're certainly talented enough, but are they underdeveloped because of poor coaching?). I generally trust the coaches' handling of the depth chart. They see those players everyday unlike the rest of us. I worry that the lack of youth at receiver on the field is another sign of development gone awry. Regardless, I am with you that they need to be given a chance. They're too physically gifted to not make somewhat of an impact. My comments about Sewell were not meant to disparage him in any way; he's a great player with one deficiency. But I'd be lying if I said that his poor coverage isn't a contributing factor to our defensive struggles. Now he's far from the only one. For what it's worth, in his one game, Flowe had an even worse PFF coverage grade, so take that for what you will. The overall point is not to pick on the players. It's to call out the coaches. I don't believe these players would be struggling elsewhere, with better coaching staffs.

Always love hearing people's in-game experiences and expertise, even at the high school level. It seems like we like to spot drop a TON, which is super simple (albeit easier to install), and relatively easy to beat once the offense knows what coverage you're running. The commentating crew made a good point too about our cover 3 looks, which has the linebackers crashing down hard on the run, which leaves a sizable hole behind them, which leads to those 10-yard slants, digs and seams. It's certainly not an enviable task being a linebacker in modern college football, but I would like to see us up the man coverage looks to save our backers from being in such a bind all the time. We have the supposed personnel on the outside to run it...

Great, great, great points, Jon. I agree with so much here. It is entirely possible to separate Mario Cristobal the person (an undoubtedly all-around great guy, whom the players and recruits obviously love) and Mario Cristobal the head coach -- who in my opinion hasn't done much to suggest that he's that much better than other coaches who couldn't get their talent to perform at a high level, such as Tom Herman or Jim Harbaugh. I am way past "give him some time." You are exactly right; great coaches would have a team consistently playing at a top-10 level with the all of the talent Cristobal has accumulated, especially in such a weak conference. I firmly believe we'd have a top-10 offense with Sark or Kiffin at the helm right now. I'm not calling for Cristobal's job (without him, all of the talent I'm referencing wouldn't be here, after all), I'm just frustrated that he hasn't really improved from a coaching standpoint.

I think that's a fair point, but it is a fine line. Chemistry certainly matters more at some positions than it does at others (it matters a ton at offensive line and QB/WR). But it is nice to have a defensive line rotation that is basically 6-deep of starting caliber players.

When it comes to "coaching up" players, I'll use my very minimal experience as a wide receiver in college to illustrate how a coaching staff can really get the most out of their players. Starting with route running (probably the area coaches need to spend the most time with receivers), are players being taught to always sell the go route, with their body language, and especially their eyes? Are coaches monitoring players to ensure they're dropping their hips and exploding in and out of breaks, eliminating unnecessary movement? Is ample time being dedicated to ball tracking? Are reps in one-on-one being analyzed and reviewed by the coaching staff with each receiver? Are different releases being taught and practiced based on how cornerbacks try to jam receivers? Are contested catch situations being replicated/repped in practice? Are individual cornerback/secondaries tendencies of opponents being analyzed by the receivers? Are receivers being coached on coverages (quarters, cover 3, tampa 2, match coverages, etc.), and are they aware of the defensive rules regarding each coverage? Obviously every team practices/teaches these things to some degree. But some teams simply go through the motions. For example, they'll have their receivers line up and one-by-one run routes on air, check that "box" and move to the next drill. But that isn't teaching the players anything. If a receiver runs a comeback route in practice without selling the go, dropping his hips, and exploding to the sideline in practice, and the coaches don't take any time to pull him aside and demonstrate how it's supposed to be ran, he'll run the same, mediocre route in game and won't gain any separation. Where the disconnect lies within the Oregon coaching staff right now is beyond my expertise. But I do know that plenty of other programs across the country are getting better production from "worse" talent, and I do believe that starts in practice and in the film room.

I definitely want to dive into all of the things that Sewell does well later in the year, because in the run game, he's a wrecking ball and a huge asset. But coverage is not his strong suit, and a lot of his struggles are things that I believe the coaches should be working with him to improve upon (like dropping to the proper depth in spot-drop zones, or passing off and picking up the right players underneath). I look forward to seeing where we end up at season's end and taking another deep dive to see if Cristobal fixed many of the issues discussed in the article.

I absolutely agree about the position groups. All do respect to longtime veterans like Johnny Johnson, but players like Troy Franklin and Devon Williams are just a different caliber of athlete/body type.

Couldn't have said it any better myself.

To answer my own prompt, I'm not too concerned about Moorhead's offense. I really, really liked the wrinkles we saw early on, particularly in the first two weeks. Shough seemed to really struggle going through basic progressions as the season went on, and that coupled with his adequate athleticism hamstrung the offense. We don't need a superstar at QB for the offense to work, just someone who can make the basic reads and threaten defenses in the option game. It's early, but it looks like we have at least two players on the roster who bring that to the table in 2021, maybe more if Butterfield turns out to be a better athlete than expected. I love the point David brought up about installing the offense via zoom. It's really way too early to panic, as I don't even know how much to take away from Moorhead's seven games given the circumstances.

Wow, so much to unfold in this discussion... First, I don't think the coaching staff should base the decision on the likelihood of a transfer from the loser(s) of the competition. In today's day and age, transfers are going to happen, plain and simple. To be honest, it's highly unlikely two of the three freshman quarterbacks on the roster (Ashford, Butterfield and Thompson) will be here two years from now. That's just the nature of the business these days, and that's okay. With the way we're recruiting, they'll be replaced by other blue-chip prospects (many of whom will also transfer, and so the cycle continues). I agree that Thompson should not start (now or at any point) simply based on his recruiting ranking. If the coaching staff believes other options are better, then he should sit. However, I'm merely suggesting that in all likelihood, he will eventually emerge as the best option (whether that's as a true freshman or sometime in the future) based on his skill set and talent. It's not a guarantee, but a reasonable assumption. The points brought up about the presence of the QB in the running game are critical and cannot be overlooked. Shough isn't a natural runner (which is why Brown was brought in on goal-line packages), and it limited Moorhead's offense to a degree. I think it would take an extremely gifted passer for Cristobal and Moorhead not to roll with a dual-threat this time around. Perhaps Butterfield falls into the "extremely gifted" category, but I think that's the only way he beats out the more athletic players ahead of him. Ashford is the wildcard in this race, and his athleticism is a huge benefit. The question is, how much can he develop if he has another sport on his mind? I'm in complete agreement that it does nobody on the roster any good to leave the fall without a clear determined winner. I've never been a fan of rotating quarterbacks, and while it can work under the right circumstances, I'd rather not take that chance. Personally, at this way-too-early juncture, I think Brown is the QB that gives us the best chance to win out of the gate. I was very impressed with how well he functioned within the offense in his limited action, and while he's not an exceptional talent, he executed the routine plays that Shough seemed to struggle with as time went on. Plus, he's a good, physical runner that should actually threaten defenses and open up the inside game for the backs. A few months from now, my thoughts could be completely different, as Butterfield and Thompson have the potential to be NFL-type passers. But there's just no way to determine how comfortable they are reading defenses and going through progressions at this point. Accuracy and arm strength don't do all that much for a quarterback if he can't consistently locate open receivers. Brown did that much last year, and I think that in and of itself will upgrade the offense significantly. Regarding Oregon's playoff/championship aspirations, there's really no reason why 2021 shouldn't be the season the Ducks make a run. By now, we're far more talented on paper than just about all of our conference foes. The roster is bigger, stronger and faster than ever. And I believe we have a gem of an offensive coordinator. The Ohio State game is tricky (although it's far more winnable this year than it was a year ago), but there's really no excuse to drop any other games. We have weaknesses (I'm with everyone else on the backfield situation, and our defensive line -- minus Thibodeaux -- is a big question mark), but none that should be detrimental during the regular season. I don't think we have the guys on the defensive line to beat the Clemsons and Alabamas of the world just yet, but I'd consider it a disappointment if we don't find ourselves in the playoff conversation by the season's end.

I think this about sums up my thoughts. It's possible to have success in the short term with less-than-elite talent, but as far as program sustainability goes, it's near impossible to do so without recruiting at a high level consistently. The ideal scenario is to have a great scheme and recruit at a high level, but we do have to remember that schemes need to continue to adapt to survive. Kelly's spread option attack wouldn't be nearly as productive now as it was when he first unleashed it (which is why he has overhauled his offensive strategy entirely now with the Bruins), and the teams that once added elements of it to their offenses have largely moved away from it to keep up with the newest trends and strategies (like the advanced, multi-level RPOs). A program can't rely on a system for sustained success. Talent acquisition gives a team the ability to survive multiple scheme changes and maintain high-quality play.

QUACK! Great pickup for our backfield! I can't wait to watch the one-two punch of Benson and Cardwell.

Love the discussion here. As many have pointed out, I think it's very fair to take this year with a grain of salt considering the extremely unprecedented circumstances of 2020 in general. I believe that both Avalos and Moorhead are better as teachers and coordinators than what they showed this past season, as they've developed talent elsewhere at a high level (and Avalos has developed some talent here in Eugene, as well as Tandaian pointed out). But there have been troubling developmental signs going back to Cristobal's first season as head coach, and that's what really concerns me. The defensive line and pass rush have never been overly impressive under Cristobal, which is one of the reasons why we have to dial up so many unique and potentially confusing blitzes. Thibodeaux has been awesome, but the rest of the line has either remained stagnant or worse, regressed. At linebacker, no one has even come close to replacing Troy Dye. (Remember, we saw the struggles of the linebacking corps last year when Dye was out with injury.) Our receiver development has been questionable at best, and we have too many former four-stars to use lack of talent as an excuse anymore. As others have pointed out, the fact that we have multiple blue-chip running backs on the roster, and yet our primary rotation is three former three-star prospects is concerning. And we have already seen how much better Herbert has been in the NFL than he was in his last collegiate seasons, which speaks to a really poor job of quarterback development on our end. We thought moving on from Arroyo would be the solution, but clearly we still have to answer questions about our quarterback developmental strategy. I think Cristobal is the right man for the job, and I think we'll see improvement next year, almost by default, having most of our roster return. But I do think the staff needs to acknowledge that it has struggled to get the most out of multiple key position groups and work on a plan to change things in that department moving forward.