DazeNconfused

There is some perspective missing. The 2021 Clemson team led by Trevor Lawrence had four other offensive dudes drafted. Travis Etienne - ACC career rushing and TD record holder, All American. ACC Player of the year and offensive player of the year went in the 1st round. Trevor doesn't have the career he had without Etienne. Trevor's left tackle who started as true frosh and moved to left tackle after that went in the second round. Two of Trevor's WR went in the 3rd and like 4th round. DJ didn't have the weapons Trevor did and what he had were being broke in during the 2021 season. If you look at DJ's 2021 stats to his 2022 stats everything was up across the board. he doubled his TD's and had less picks, and his pass rating jumped. DJ made a pretty big jump - but DJ was really bad in 2021. DJ's 2022 was sort of like Bo Nix's 2021 season with twice as many TD's. That said Bo Nix made the biggest late career jump we've seen since Joe Burrow. Clemson also has better talent that Auburn and those WRs were in year two - so DJ's level this year I would rate below Bo's in 2021. I also don't expect that even if he finds the perfect fit that DJ can make the jump like Bo did this year. But he threw for 22 TD's this year and around 2500 yards, but the pass rating lacked. If DJ can do the same and be more efficient (pass rating) with the OSU run game then he's not going to be seen as failing. The OSU run game sets up an efficient play action pass game -something that plays to DJs weakness. If TE Luke Musgrave is back with the frosh tailback he has two dudes to support him, and one of the WRs came on at the end of the year as well.

Hicks is a Texas A&M commit - not a Sooner. I don't see how he fits into this. We could be watching the first ESD live commit that is just a chess move NIL play. Last week it was rumored the Ducks and Sooners were in a NIL bidding war over the kid. Now he is giving the Sooners a chance to up the NIL offer if they want - he could also be trying to rope the Ducks into a new bid on his NIL. Maybe he will put on a Sooner hat today and a Ducks hat on Friday.

I could be reading the NIL thing wrong. It could be we are spreading the NIL around in smaller chunks on the rumored four-star kids who are said to probably be Ducks Jayden Limar Aston Porter Jamari Johnson Solomon Davis Then we have kids like Daylen Austin and Austin Novsad along with a portal right tackle. Is a final group of five guys is better way to spread the NIL and maybe the reason why we are trending for those kids?

This is VERY interesting! Both 247 and On3 have him as a top 10 corner back in the 2020 class. They also both have him as just outside the Top 110 and that would make him the second highest commit in the class behind Dickey. I wonder if we offered if we are giving him a crack at some NIL if he signs tomorrow that's making him jump up his commit date? Sorta of sign now or the NIL will go to a portal kid? Daylen is also friends with Coach Meats kid and has been to a couple games this year. He is very informed as to what Oregon has to offer and knows Coach Meat well.

Proctor is not a transfer, he's a high school commit. Dang I thought we would drop some of Dante Moore's NIL money and pull a surprise on Bama. I'd think we would seal the deal with Moore's NIL money on some guys either HS or portal.

I've heard rumors of this as well. He is the Baylor class headliner and Top 100 kid. If we can flip him great - but I don't want to make a big NIL spend on him. Rather throw that money at Hicks and Proctor - unless the spend on Proctor has gone over the value. We are in the dead period of visits but the phones are still being worked. Anything it seems can happen still. Portal we need Edge ready dudes bad and if we don't get Hick we need a impact DL - all that is a bigger spend need then a QB.

I've talked to this Charles about this. I think you need to recruit and spend NIL on one Top 100ish kid at WR, RB, LB, Safety Corner, Edge that both you and the player think they can be a starter year two. The rest of the class you want the best kids you can get at those positions, but if they aren't starting they tend to hit the Portal at a high rate now it seems. Kids want to play year two now or they have the portal option. It seems now every year we will have to find a good WR, RB, Safety, Corner, Edge and LB in the portal who can some right in and start - and we should save some NIL money for them. Think Pittman, Thornton, Jaylin Davies who went to UCLA, Seven was outie last year before Lanning brought him back, Daymond David same deal. Matavo just bailed after year two. The OL and DL guys seem to get they have to grow and develop to start in the trenches unless they are Elite kids, so they don't seem to bounce as quick. RBs will thrive here if our scheme and OL is solid - so they are more of a dime a dozen. QBs seem to be something that you want to sign a Top 100 guy - but he might bounce early. QBs are hitting the portal at such a high rate that you can get a QB every year if your the Ducks. Franklin, Thornton, Seven, Brevard and Matavo, Fergie were four-stars and all the same class... only Franklin, Brevard and Fergie are left now! I'm surprised Brevard hasn't bailed yet.

Good point. And it begs the question.. Have we offered Moore's NIL money yet or did we sit on it and wait for him to flip?!?!??? If so then are we calling Hicks with a bigger NIL package?? Tunmise Adeleye was almost a five-star DL kid in the 2021 class who left Texas A&M and is the highest rated DL guy in the portal. Lets make a run at him with some NIL! Spring 2020: Spent the spring semester at IMG Academy in Florida but did not return for senior season, instead opting out of football and finishing classes... 247SPORTS.COM summary

Penei was a really high four-star - like a 97 grade or a 96.8. on the 247 composite Byers and Cornelius are 92 grades in the Portal and the JUCO Silva is a 89 grade.. There is a huge difference in those four-stars.. Penei was top 55 or so player - projected 2nd round NFL Pick Byers and Cornelius rate out around top 200ish and 6th or 7th round picks. Silva is barely a 4 -star and with a 89 grade he is a top 350ish player. I'm not saying a low rated kid can't develop or be under rated. Herbert was a top 550ish three-star and we know where he got drafted. Proctor is about a sure thing as a prospect - but if we don't get him our options will work.

There was no 3 rear ROI on Thornton. Dickey could hit the portal next year or in two years to go catch balls from Moore or Arch Manning

Bama got Proctors last visit and he may well sign with them - but he has a few days of the dead period to think. Did Bama beat the Ducks NIL offer or come close? Money talks, lets see where he goes. But there was no promise he starts as a true freshman at Oregon, so maybe if he sits he goes to Bama. Also Ducks commit George Silva is a four-star and is ranked the No. 1 JUCO offensive tackle in the nation. Think Bass and Sala as they were the same rated type JUCO guys. Plus the Ducks had the UTEP tackle Jeremiah Beyers who is the ranked No 2 ranked OL in the transfer portal and 92 grade four-star in Eugene last weekend. Ajani Cornelius the Rhode Island FCS transfer tackle has placed the Ducks in his top four and he is a DUDE. 6'4" and 315 lbs with 24 starts under his belt and the NO, 1 ranked OL in the portal. He is ci9mmiting Wed so we will know on him soon. We might not get Proctor and we don't know the reason why for sure. But maybe... Did we low ball him because we felt we could get a day one starter at right tackle for cheaper and we can use the NIL money elsewhere? Silva might be a day one starter and we still have a shot with these two transfers. Did Bama match or beat us with NIL - if so then going to Bama is a easy choice. It's Bama. Oregon isn't in bad shape with possible starting group of Conerly, Harper, JPJ, Luli, Silva - that's 1 five-star, 3 four-stars and harper a three-star who can play well. Lets see what we can add along with incoming frosh Lalloula a four-star. If we can hit on Byers or Cornelius then we are sitting great without Proctor.

Charles I'd say Lanning played it right. If we can't have it all then give me Hudson Card right now! He can get lots of backup reps next year as he will score points with the offense - unlike Ty. Then in 2024 we have 12 team playoff and Card has a great shot to be a QB of a playoff team. Card is a 2020 kid, so with covid and a redshirt year he should have three more years? Card in 2024 and 2025? If not Card I'd take DJ and his brother Matayo right now. Card or DJ both give a QB who can step in and play if Bo goes down

Dan gets paid 4.6 million and Tosh gets paid 1.7 million this year. When you get paid that type of money and field the worst defense since Brady Hoke in 2016, then questions are fair game. Could all the blame be on the players? Maybe be and it's a fair question. Another fair question... Is why these highly regarded, highly paid coaches took the most highly rated defensive talent we have ever had at Oregon and had such a poor defense? I don't claim to have the answers to all the questions. But I know they need to figure out how to field a better unit next year based on the talent Oregon has and the serious money they are being paid.

Lots of great posts on this thread, that have my thinking cap on the points made... The third part of this year end defensive recap is tomorrow, I hope you all read it and keep sharing comments. I'll close this post with saying... I often like feedback to confirm a thought I have or to give me a counter point to my thoughts... I remember calling Charles to talk about the 4-0-4 front we were running and the two-gap as I was writing this season recap. I can say I would include some points that have been posted in this thread if I was writing the articles over. There is much to consider about the Ducks defense this year, many questions linger, and I know I don't have the answers to those questions.

I want to hone in on the two-gap tech - it's a read and react defense. Lanning had 3 first round draft picks on he defensive line last year. They were block beaters. His nose tackle was Jordan Davis a 340lb beast who went #13. Jordan could engage the center straight up, read the flow of the play and then shed the center and take his gap on the play side. He wasn't getting drove off the ball and he was beating blocks. Same with Devonte Wyatt the other DT and #28 pick and the edge Travon Walker the #1 pick. Dudes are all block beaters. The OSU offensive line wouldn't be winning blocks and driving those dudes off the ball. Plus Lanning had a LB who went #22 so he had 4 first round picks in his front seven. Why the two gap? Simple answer is.. The two gap is part of our nickel base defense that is a 4-2-5. It takes big DL guys who dig in and stand ground while you make your read to stop a good running team like OSU or UCLA. The Bruins ran for right around 200 yards on us. The Ducks run game did OK in the 4-2-5 for much of the year - but it didn't work against OSU. In short after the two picks and going up 31-10 we ran a nickel base defense against a running team while the last 19 plays they had were runs for a 159 yards. In our 4-2-5 base defense when we slant the defensive line they get into the gap at the snap - like we saw Casey Rogers doing a few times for big stops on 3rd or 4th down against Utah. In other words when we slanted in the Utah game we weren't playing a read and react two gap - Rogers was getting into one gap and creating chaos. We didn't see lots of slanting against OSU in our base 4-2-5 or LB blitzes - we saw lots of read and react play and Ducks getting drove off the ball. Against a good running team was saw Lanning didn't have the dudes upfront that could two-gap and win. We also didn't see any adjustment with more slants, run blitzes or going to a 4-3 with a one-gap Tech. The sad part is we saw against a good Utah team that our scheme mattered for our players.

Yes, the third down defense drove me crazy - I said so in the article. The Utah game stood out scheme wise from every other game we played during the year - and it was our best game by far. I think scheme did matter - we just chose to play a sit back passive scheme for 11 games of the season. The Utah was the one game where we played mostly Cover-1. We had the defensive line slanting into the gaps, we ran more stunts, overloads, blitzes. We had 6 tackles for loss, held Utah to 1-4 on 4th down, had probably our best 3rd down defense of the year. We got pressure on Rising but he was really good and scrambling away but he didn't have a good passing game at all. We had three picks, held them to 326 yards and only gave up 10 points on defense. You've made some good points, I hope you read tomorrows article and chime in.

Lanning had Walker the 272lb edge go # 1 in the NFL draft and his Nose Jordan Davis was 340 lbs and went #13 and another 300 lb DT Wyatt went #23. Read tomorrows article and tell me that Lanning's scheme choice might have been ill fitted to the personnel he had? He had three first round DL guys to run the two-gap scheme upfront with last year.

You can't call the STAR a typical safety. Bennett Williams played a lot of the Star position and it's really a Hybrid linebacker-defensive back. Williams had like 16 tackles in the Utah game and they had him up on the end of the line at times. He was getting into the front of run plays and even chasing them down from the backside. He was also covering the tight end on those crossing routes he had the two picks on. Bennett has great reads and instincts in the run game, and he is a solid tackler for his size. I do agree I was surprised that the LBs didn't have more tackle numbers - Hill and Addison made quite a bit of plays during the year in in the run game.

I think how you scheme your front seven is more important in stopping the run game than if you are in Cover-1 or Cover-2 with your safeties in pass coverage. Yes, Cover-1 gets another defender up closer who can help with the bubble screens, slants and short to medium crosses, he can even get into run support faster since he is closer. But what your doing with the DL and LBs can be more important to stopping the run game than the extra defensive back up closer. I will get into this tomorrow.

Tomorrow I dig into just that failure to stop the OSU run game. I think it will be the best article the Duck Media has put out digging into the question you and many fans have. I hope you all enjoy the articles. I also want to thank Mr. FishDuck again. The conclusions I draw and questions I ask have been developed in part with my discussions with him. Not only did Charles do an edit of these three articles to and add a few needed points, many of my points were drawn out of our shared talks. Thanks Charles! It's been fun putting our heads together this year - you've helped me connect the dots more than once.

That's Traylor's spread tempo off the chad morris tree and his old OC's (been five mins and I forgot his name) pro-style mixed into the TemPro.. The deep shots are the pro-style flavor. LSU with Burrow and Brady had lots of deep balls and routes with that true pro-style. But they had the OL to block it, and QB and WRS. It was a perfect storm

Yes Stein was there when Card was at Lake Travis and Card is going to portal to Oregon! lol No but I'm sure there will be talks with Card. Chad Morris coached Lake Travis back in the day and won state there with Blaine Gilbert who I think went to Mizz and played under David Yost the Ducks QB coach Helfs last year and he got drafted. We should have kept David Yost nd made him Marios OC Texas HS football players and coaches is where it's at!

lol.. I don't have to research much on the Malzahn - Morris - Norvell tree since I did that Dilly coaching tree article. Fun story. Mr. FishDuck told me the story that after Dabo hired Chad Morris at Clemson that before spring ball Morris came to Eugene to learn spread stuff from the Guru Chip Kelly. So the coaching tree could be. Chip Kelly = Chad Morris = Jeff Traylor = Will Stein our new OC I don't know anything about Lunney the OC who Stein was just under. I don't know who Coach Boles was getting at the was the Briles disciple Stein was around either. I don't know jack about the Briles disciple Traylor was around at Texas either - but Phil Montgomery was at Baylor as Co-OC or OC for a deacade?

Traylor's old OC's name wasn't Looney - It's Lunney and I don't know jack about him but for the "TemPro" name he coined with Traylor. Here is a link to an article about his hire this year. Lunney we can figure had a big influence on Coach Stein the first two years he was at UTSA Bielema turns to Lunney Jr. to push the 'tempro' for Illini offense 247SPORTS.COM Barry Lunney Jr. has a similar philosophy to Bret Bielema but will bring unique twist to Illini offense

Here is some quick info for everyone Stein spent the last three years a UTSA under head coach Jeff Traylor - it's Traylor's offense that Stein ran. ( BYW- Traylor is due a power-5 job, he's hot ) Traylor was a really good Texas HS coach who won like 3 state titles - something like that. He had lots of success. Around 2015 he was hired by Charlie Strong at Texas. In 2016 Traylor was named the associate head coach for the offense at Texas and the OC was a 1st year hire who has worked under Phil Montgomery who was Baylor's OC under the offensive legend Art Briles. That gave some influence of the Art Briles system to Traylor. Traylor then went to spend few years under Chad Morris who was the man who brought the spread offense to Clemson. Morris got fired from Arky and spent a year at Auburn as Gus Malzahn's OC with Bo Nix as his QB. I think it was Mr. FishDuck who told me Chad Morris was a Texas HS legend head coach who I believe has been working on adapting Gus Malzahn's for his team. When Malzahn left Tulsa for the OC job at Auburn, the Tulsa head coach Todd Graham hired Chad Morris as his OC even though he had no college experience. After Morris got fired from Arky Traylor got the UTSA job. So Jeff Traylor's offense has some Art Briles disciples - Chad Morris influences. Traylors old OC and him combined Traylor's tempo spread and his prostyle and named it the TemPro. I think Traylor's old OC was Looney? He left last year I think and Stein got the play calling duties. Lastly If I understood Coach Boles right today - Stein has also had Art Briles disciples in his career path. If we do a quick coaching Tree. Gus Malzahn = Chad Morris + disciples off the Art Briles tree = Traylor's Tempro = Will Stein TemPro Gus Malzhan = Mike Norvell = Dillingham So Stein will bring a tempo spread with pro style deeper passing routes - much what Dilly did this year. In closing Stein runs a system born of solid roots and both systems are known for teaching the upcoming staff and the staff being good teachers of the players. Stein comes from a proven line. He has only one year as the OC game planning and calling plays - Dilly had four years as an OC game planning but this was his first year calling plays.