OregonDucks

If Moore’s goal is to compete for a national championship, Oregon is by far the better option. That’s regardless of what conference UCLA is a member of. How long has it been since the Bruins have won the PAC or played in a big bowl game? With the expanded college football playoff, Oregon’s path to the playoffs just got a lot easier and he would play against the best. If Moore doesn’t care about a national championship, then he should go elsewhere and I wish him the best.

UCLA’s new transfer QB has two years of eligibility, Nix has one, so it appears that Moore would now have a path to earlier playing time in Eugene. He would also get a chance to learn from one of the best college QBs for a year. I would also be happy with Hudson Card. With Nix coming back, everything else is gravy, at this point.

Made my offseason!!! The biggest possible recruiting pickup for the coaching staff was convincing Bo to stay for one more year! Bo Nix is a 10-star in my book. I can’t wait to watch you again next year, Bo. Selfishly, one season was too few. Let’s win a conference championship next season and make a run in the College Football Playoffs!!! Go Ducks!!

Alabama to Oregon pipeline?! Yes, please...keep it coming! This is a great pickup, in an obvious area of need. He was the #1 JC cornerback before choosing Alabama over the Ducks and many other programs. It should be a good battle for the starting cornerback position and the players who don’t win could potentially move to safety or still see playing time. Lanning and the coaches are killing it in the portal.

This. Hopefully Moore and other top recruits listen to what Nix can share about being a former 5-star recruit and what they should and should not consider as they are making their decision, even if they choose to join another program. Listen to someone who has been there before. He can also tell Moore how Oregon is still better than Chip Kelly’s best UCLA team!!! LOL.

I disagree. After watching Bo’s pre game bowl interview, I got the impression that he really is uncertain on whether to throw his name in the hat for the NFL draft or return to Oregon for one more year. He obviously has really enjoyed playing in Eugene for Dan Lanning and is a DUCK for life in my book. As Joey Harrington and Anthony Newman pointed out, if he had already made up his mind to play in the NFL then it makes no sense to play in the Holiday Bowl and risk injury. Nix seems like a thoughtful young man and I wish him the best, regardless of the decision he makes.

I would be surprised if Chip was still UCLA’s coach in 2-3 years. Many at UCLA wanted to get rid of him last year but his buy out was too rich.

I’m tired of the Moore drama. Just sign Hudson Card and hope that Nix comes back for one more year.

Stein is in a great position to decide what QB he wants to lead his offense, having coached Card in high school. Card is the more proven QB at the collegiate level, even with a small sample size. He did play against Alabama. Moore is naive if he thinks he is going to start for a top P5 team without competition. UCLA would be stupid not to bing in a transfer QB to compete for the starting position next year. I’d love for Moore to sign with the Ducks, but we’ll be fine if he doesn’t. Depth next season has me a bit concerned. I don’t see any possibility that Thompson stays if we bring in a transfer QB and he might leave if Nix announces that he is coming back. A team needs 4-5 QBs on roster, in case of injury. This brings me back to QB recruiting strategy. IMHO, it’s better to recruit two 3-4 star high school QBs every year and, if they don’t work out, plug a hole with a proven transfer QB. All of Oregon’s best QBs over the past 20+ years have been 3-4 stars (e.g., Herbert, Mariota). Many 5 star QBs don’t work out, as it is the hardest position to predict at the next level in all of sports.

I wish I could feel bad for these players. It just goes to show that they should pick a school for reasons other than simply how much NIL they are going to receive. I hope that Lanning and company recruit players that want to be at OREGON and are not just the highest bidder. Our NIL deals have to be competitive but it’s dangerous to just try to outbid other programs for recruits, as ATM is discovering.

I think that schools should keep 50% of their post season payouts (playoffs, bowl games, NCAA tournament) and the remaining 50% should be split evenly among the other conference members. It incentives schools to invest in their sports to be better and earn more. Teams should keep 100% of their home game ticket revenues. I've heard that some conferences may split their home game revenues among conference members. Not sure if the Pac-12 does this. In terms of Cal, perhaps the other Pac schools insist that they carve the subsidy that they receive from UCLA out of the TV deal revenues. Why should Cal get more than the other Pac schools because the UC Board of Regents decides so? Cal brings very little to the conference from a revenue generating sports perspective.

We will see but those colors haven’t been featured on the hard court. Is Oregon the home or away team in the Holiday Bowl?

No one, that I have seen, on FishDuck is calling for Lanning (or Tosh) to be fired. Some are questioning a few of their decisions this past year. Isn’t this what message boards are for - to have discussions? I have certainly learned a lot from this site, which has made watching the games more enjoyable.

Schools can’t offer/pay for NIL deals.

Oregon has some challenges to get to the 85 scholarship limit by next season with 25+ high school commits and the transfer portal players that have announced that they will be transferring to Oregon and the others they are pursuing. The coaches must be having the hard discussions with players about their futures in Eugene (hopefully they aren’t pulling scholarships). I’m not saying that that is what happened with Dawson but it makes you wonder about some of the other transfers.

In terms of recruiting strategy, what positions are most available in the transfer portal with high end talent and how hard is it to predict how talent will translate at the next level? It seems like offensive lineman are the most loyal and likely to stay at a school for 4-5 years, so it makes sense to recruit OL at the high school level and develop them. You can add transfer players to plug holes. On the other end of the spectrum, it seems like offensive skill positions and top CBs are plentiful in the transfer portal so perhaps you recruit 4-5 stars out of high school and try to add a few proven top level transfers every year, if needed. QB seems to be the hardest position to predict at the next level. How many 5-stars did not pan out in college? How many top NFL picks never worked out? Oregon’s best QBs over the past 20 years have been 3-4 star recruits. Does it make more sense for Oregon to recruit two 3-4 star high school QBs per year and look for transfers, if those QBs don’t develop? Seems like this would be the smarter play.

Great news! After this season, it was evident that Oregon needed a punter or two. I can’t wait to see what Luke’s got. It’s funny, punter is one position that none of us or even the coaches ever hope to see on the field. No offense to Luke, I hope he booms them high and far in practice and pregame, but hopefully we won’t see him on the field during games because Oregon won’t need to punt in the 4-5 years he is in Eugene!

Admittedly, I don’t know a ton about Coach Leach but I always admired his honesty and that he spoke his mind in a direct and straightforward way. He was a great interviewer and seemed to have interests and an opinion in many different areas. Coach Leach had a positive impact on many young men and coaches over his career, and will be remember by college football fans for his innovative Air Raid offensive. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Gone too soon. RIP Coach Leach.

I feel for Mr. Leach’s family and friends during this difficult time. Life is fragile.

Khyree Jackson was the #1 JC cornerback. Oregon, Georgia and a number of top programs recruited him before he signed with Alabama.

Deebo’s injury was a bit of a fluke/bad luck. He got his lower leg rolled up on in the open field. Had nothing to do with the playcall as it could have easily have happened on a reception. Hope it’s not too serious.

I agree with you, unless the game is on the line or if you are playing in the conference championship, Rose Bowl or playoffs (e.g., the way the coaches utilized Herbert his senior year in the big games). I didn’t like the obvious QB sneak against Washington after we ran the same play, out of the same formation, earlier in the game. UW even took a timeout when they saw the formation and we didn’t adjust. Did anyone else see the Chargers shift Herbert out to receiver and run the option with two skill players (RB received the direct snap), last night? I thought that that was a smart way to run the option in the NFL. Herbert stepped back at the snap so a lateral pass was an option that the defense had to defend.

That’s a shame Charles. I did not realize that. It’s unfortunate that the Oregon AD does not realize the service/value that you and this site provide to die hard Duck fans on educating them on all things Oregon sports. Thank you and the other writers/posters for everything you all do. Perhaps you or Dazed will get lucky and run into Lanning or Tosh in a bar, preferably after they have had a few...

I agree with you about the immediacy needs on defensive line. Hopefully we get some blue chip high school talent to sign (e.g., Hicks) and can find some transfers in the portal. The type of D-line players that Lanning had at Georgia are not easy to find/get, as every team is looking for those game changers. If we can find secondary help or if the young CBs on the roster continue to develop, I wonder if Bridges could move to safety. He knows the defense and is a really good open field tackler but may not have the top end speed to play the outside corner spot at an elite level.

Thank you for another insightful article. FishDuck has the best Oregon scheme breakdowns and strategy analysis. I enjoy learning more about OBD from educated fans and coaches. I look forward to reading your article on the Beaver game. Hopefully you let us know if we were playing a cover 2 or 1 defense most of the time (especially in the 4th quarter), as the game was too painful for me to watch the replay. You and/or Charles should try to conduct an interview with Lanning or Tosh in the off-season to get the answers to your debates. While I wouldn’t expect the coaches to throw a specific player under the bus, it would be interesting to learn more about their preferred defense style/strategy and whether that was limited this season by “personnel,” time, or was their strategy this year because of the high scoring offense. They certainly won’t return my phone calls and emails...