EastBayDuckDad

Sorry to see Dowdell transfer but his parent's statement was honest and likely accurate. At the start of the year it looked like Dowdell had the edge on Limar by virtue of size and pure 'bowl you over' running style. Limar seemed more versatile as the the season wore on and certainly got more snaps. When Noah went down, James stepped up and solidified himself as the #2 rotational back behind Bucky. These young men are always only one torn ACL away from starting and it looked like Dowdell was going to be behind James and Limar when Noah returned. He will be a stud for whatever program he transfers to, and he may have a ceiling as high as Benson has had at FSU. Oregon definitely needs another depth piece at RB and it's reasonable to conclude there will be either a recruiting flip or quality transfer in the works. Locklyn has established himself as one of the premier RB coaches in the country and the cupboard will be full come spring ball.

Nice that he might want to follow Gabriel to Oregon. Wait and see.

Soon OBD will living rent free in tOSU's brainpan, just like they do now in U$C's.

That's kind of apples and oranges, QBs and safeties are graded on dramatically different scales. I just don't see a healthy Bo having so bad a combine performance that he would drop to the 5th. No one is arguing that he has the elite arm of Caleb Williams or foot speed of Jayden Daniels, but in a QB heavy draft Bo is in the top five. Third in the Heisman, Maxwell finalist, Campbell winner and Pac-12 Offensive POTY. His Wonderlic score will likely be first or second. There are at least ten NFL teams that need to draft a quarterback or a solid backup. I can't imagine them sitting on their hands until the third day thinking "No worries, Nix will still be available".

Like U$C......

I think it is possible to get a fair shot and a raw deal at the same time. As has been mentioned, we never got the opportunity to see TT at practice. How he reacted in do or die situations, when exotic blitzes and pressures were thrown at him or what he switched play calls to based on defensive looks. The coaches did. I'm pretty sure that at the start of the 2023 season when Bo said he was returning, the coaching staff evaluated TT, decided to give him the year to develop into the next starter and told him so. That was the fair shot. The raw deal was that DL and WS decided he didn't develop as hoped and went to the portal again. Thompson now has the opportunity to go to a program that will start him and let him develop on the job. A luxury he didn't have at Oregon. Somewhere he can make mistakes and learn from them, where a 7-5 season and a minor bowl game is considered a good season. More power to him. Maybe he will end up in NYC and be able to look back and say "told ya so". I don't predict that but like most everyone on this forum I wish him only the best wherever he goes.

Taking a deep dive into Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel’s advanced stats DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM A breakdown of the advanced passing and rushing numbers for Dillon Gabriel in the 2023... Worth a read for folks that want to take a detailed look at Dillon Gabriel's stats with a focus on the 2023 season at Oklahoma. It outlines his strengths and relative weaknesses in the passing game and throws in a comparison or two to Bo's numbers. It's particularly interesting to look at his success (and occasional struggles) in the RPO, which was run more frequently at OU than at Oregon. It reads as a nice predictor of his potential in Will Stein's offense, particularly in the mid-field passing game Stein schemes for and that Bo excelled at. With the fast skill players and stout O-line that OBD posseses, Gabriel looks like a good fit.

5th round? Are there any draft predictions that have him going on the third day?

Not a bad idea. Slide Pancho to center and there's room for a quality transfer guard. If he's a winner, Terry will try to get him here.

Offensive lineman Iapani Laloulu makes True Freshman All-American team DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Offensive lineman Iapani Laloulu makes True Freshman All-American team from 247Sports. I was really hoping to see JPJ commanding the O-line for one more year. You cannot agrue with his decision after winning the Rimington as he is ready to compete in the pros. With his departure to the draft, Pancho is set to fill his shoes at center or slide one position over to guard. Coach Terry was able to mold this year's group into a formidable line that dominated the trenches in every game except the Pac-12 CG. Even with JPJ gone the talent is there. Pancho is only scratching the surface of how good he will be anchoring the interior. Big kudos to him for being one of the best young linemen in CFB.

Just watched a 20+ min Gabriel OU season highlight film on YouTube. Granted, a highlight reel is just that, the best of the best, but I was struck by several things. He has very good pocket presence and seems to know where the pressure is going to come from. He's elusive in the pocket when it starts to break down (which won't happen to him as often with Oregon's better O-line). Keeps his eyes downfield and is looking to make a play even when things are going to crap around him. Uses the dump off/safety valve RB or TE when his #1 and #2 reads are covered. He is very accurate in the short and midfield game. Tough as nails when he decides to take off with the ball and can break tackles. The biggest negative I saw was a tendency to underthrow his downfield receivers. Sometimes they had to slow down when they had clearly beaten their man. Throws that were behind the WR were touted as 'back shoulder' by the announcers, but several looked underthrown to me with good receiver adjustment, or a blown play by the DB. He may not be the field general that Bo is, making the right calls at the LOS. There wasn't a ton of RPO but he does appear to read the field well once the ball is snapped and generally finds the right guy in space. My bet is that Stein's offense will play to his skill set really well, giving him tons of options in the short and mid field while not stressing the long bomb unless it is there for the taking. I think that Oregon fans have good reason for optimism for 2024.

DL has talked about having a rolodex of potential candidates for the inevitable coaching vacancies that will occur as a successful Oregon program produces new OCs, DCs and HCs. I'm sure that coaches like DL have files compiled by staffers that look at each portal player at QB. Stats, strengths, liabilities, etc. Adaptability to the offensive scheme as well. They are probably then ranked in order of who can help the Ducks now and who can be developed. My bet is that Gabriel was #1 on that first list and Ward either #2 or #3. Moore has got to be #1 on that second list. To be complete, the current QB room would be fit in. TT must have been #2 at best if Gabriel or Ward were avaliable. You go out and get the best player you can to fill a position of need. It's analytics and probabilities. I think DL and staff would have offered Ward if Gabriel had gone elsewhere. Moore will likely be offered as #1 on the development list if he truly wants to be brought into a system where he can be mentored by a great offensive staff and a top notch veteran QB.

I'm going to argue that DL and his chosen OCs have and are developing QBs. Case in point is Bo Nix, who elevated his game in the two years he was here. It took the right system(s) for him to excell but I believe that Nix would be the first to say how much he benefited from the coaching. Stein is a former player at the position at Louisville and brings a QB perspective as an OC. Although TT didn't work out and hopefully will find success elsewhere, I think we all saw the improvement in his game under Stein. If Moore elects to transfer in, all the mentoring and coaching is in place to develop his considerable talent. If not, Novosad, Moga and then AKS2 are in the wings.

There it is. All the best to that young man. I'm optimistic that he will be a winner wherever he goes.

I agree that TT never got the game snaps to fully test his play, and we'll probably never know how successful he could have been at Oregon. It is a raw deal. However even with more snaps this year it struck me that he was not moving well in the pocket and tended to lock on to his primary receiver. We never got to see how he played in practice. All reports were that he had the faith of his teammates and coaches. Maybe he would have performed well if Bo had gone down. The fact is that Oregon has now gone into the portal to get another experienced plug and play QB and are entertaining adding Moore as well. Fair or not, it speaks volumes about what the coaching staff believes is the future of the Duck QB room. I would be happy to see TT excel wherever he goes and hope he does.

For almost everyone in the OBD family, TT is liked and respected for his athleticism and loyalty to the program. We have all seen him play well in mop up duty, but the game never seemed to slow down for him to read the defense, make changes at the LOS, rapidly go through his progressions and use the pocket to his advantage. That posting of him walking out of Autzen with the helmets on the shelf seems pretty straightforward. If he does indeed hit the portal, he should go to a program without immediate CFP aspirations, one that will let him start and develop his game. I for one would give the kid a standing ovation and wish him only the best wherever he lands.

I'm hoping JPJ sticks around to snap the ball to Gabriel, though he is the most NFL ready O-lineman the Ducks have produced since Penei Sewell. Winning the Rimington will put him into the 2nd or 3rd round but hopefully he feels like an extra year of OBD Pancake Mode would slingshot him into the first round.

Assuming Troy declares for the draft, Oregon still has a very deep WR room. This may mean there will be a very good portal addition coming in.

May be as simple as "Here’s $2 mill, now protect my son's blindside for a year"

As long as they put a "bow" in front of it, they are good.

The relationships that DL cultivated during his time at Georgia are paying off in the portal. Bringing in Bo initially, then Jackson, Johnson, Burch and Jacobs on the defensive side have reaped big benefits. Ditto the relationships the position coaches have and the Bo-Tez connection. Even if a recruit initially opts to sign elsewhere, when portal time comes around they remember who wanted them and how much success they could have under that coach and system. Nolen is a prime example of the elite player once sought after by DL for his NC winning defense at Georgia. You've got to like Oregon's chances at landing yet another difference maker on the D-line. The portal (and NIL) is now a fact of life in CFB. Might as well embrace it and utilize it to put OBD in the NC picture every year.

Matt Ulmer's team is coming together at the right time. Purdue was no slouch and the Ducks beat them 3-0. They are playing their best VB of the year. If you are not a big fan of VB or just haven't seen it much, take the opportunity to watch this match. Women's BB is a finesse game of speed, great shooting and defense but not much pure vertical play, WVB is similar but played above the net. The athleticism is apparent on the digs, screaming serves, big hits for kills and the dives into the benches for balls. Wisconsin as the #1 seed is formidable but the Ducks can beat them in their own house and move on the the Final Four.

If Gabriel transfers in, and it seems probable he will, TT likely hits the portal. So bringing in Moore would be with the understanding he's the #2 and heir apparent. Novosad at #3. Moore has a special skillet. He's had a rough start at the college level , and the Chipper did him no favors at UCLA but there is so much raw talent there that he will be elite for someone. He was fantastic in the 2023 All American Bowl, throwing for 3 TDs in the first half for the East team. Novosad started for the West and looked overwhelmed. If Moore doesn't transfer to Oregon, TT might stick around thru spring to see if he can compete for the starting job. If Gabriel wins the QB1 role, TT would almost surely enter the portal in that late May 1-15 window. If Moore comes in, I can't imagine TT staying past the close of the portal on Jan 2. This is all conjecture but it seems pretty plausible. I think it all adds up to DL and staff having some faith in Thompson's ability to lead Stein's offense into the B1G next year, but not enough to just hand the reins to him. Adding Gabriel and Moore pretty much lets us all know that the faith in TT is thin.

So what do these states have in common? Iowa Florida Utah Colorado Oklahoma Oregon Washington (and a few others if I thought longer) They all have schools that play D1 football where... University of 'so and so' and 'So and so' State University ...play in different conferences. While there are rivalries that cross conferences, that is not always the case. Oregon (and Fusky, for that matter) gets zero benefit and only has something to lose by scheduling the in-state Ag school annually. I understand the desire to keep the tradition going but it helps the Ducks out not one iota to do this annually. At first I thought keeping the 'rivalry' going would be a good thing. Not anymore after watching the evisceration of the Pac-12 and the blame and finger pointing at the Ducks. Past some modest and symbolic buyout, Oregon owes OSU and Wazzu nothing. The fact is that the talent disparity will likely only get bigger. Best to leave p-o'ed and fanny hurt Beavus alone.