NJDuck Moderator No. 1 Share Posted January 19 Read up on this person's assessment and see if you agree or disagree. Jahlil Florence – Defensive Back Bryce Boettcher – Inside Linebacker Ross James – Punter 3 Oregon football players who should be replaced in 2024 AUTZENZOO.COM Despite a stellar end to the season, Oregon was far from flawless in 2023 and the starting lineup could use some tweaking. 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Featherbutt No. 2 Share Posted January 19 At times like this I do wish I knew enough about football to counter an argument in support of the CB and LB. I just have to lie down and take it. I will say that I am surprised, especially about Florence. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haywarduck No. 3 Share Posted January 19 I will counter with, every position player needs to improve, or they will be replaced. There will be no sitting still, or maintaining one's situation. Just look at the receiver group, we have a 5* coming in to compete with another 5*. We have more talent at this position than ever before, yet we brought in more to compete. I don't look at it as being replaced, as much as run over by competition if they don't upgrade their skills and enhance their knowledge. Also players need to work on execution of their duties, not just statistics. Players can be productive and not be starters. We need back-ups ready to step in and there be no drop off. 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFITZ81 No. 4 Share Posted January 19 I thought all 3 did a pretty good job last year. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElPatoUO No. 5 Share Posted January 19 (edited) Unfortunately, the lady that wrote this article obviously does not follow the team very closely, nor does she have very much football knowledge in general. Sorry to those this may offend, but that is just the truth. 1. She obviously has absolutely no idea that Florence didn't even play in the Pac-12 Championship game (thus the mind-boggling omission in her "article") while blaming him for the struggles against the Washington passing attack. At least part of the reason the Ducks had so many issues with the Washington passing attack is a result of Florence only being able to play in 2 1/2 of the possible 8 quarters. He had 1 interception and 3 tackles in the limited time he was able to play against the Mutts. 2. Including Boettcher on this list is just strange. She seems completely unaware that he had a larger role to begin to the season due to injuries. She is calling for him to get less playing time, something that already happened as players got healthy, while seemingly being completely unaware that he is one of the top special teams players. 3. Ross James??? She says he "only averaged 48.4 yards" per punt. Uhhh, Sam, there is only one other punter in college football that averaged more yards per punt. Ending the "article" by calling out Ross James (of all players) is a fitting, facepalm worthy finale to this ill-fated foray into football analysis. Edited January 19 by ElPatoUO 2 2 8 5 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Hilarius Moderator No. 6 Share Posted January 19 I haven’t read the article, but I am pretty sure Florence was highly rated by PFF and James was one of the best punters in the country but didn’t qualify for awards bc OBD didn’t punt enough. Boetcher was a surprise as a dual-sport athlete, but he was and will continue to be solid depth at LB. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanducky No. 7 Share Posted January 19 On 1/19/2024 at 7:10 AM, ElPatoUO said: She says he "only averaged 48.4 yards" per punt. Uhhh, Sam, there is only one other punter in college football that averaged more yards per punt. At the NFL level, only 11 out of 33 qualified punters averaged more than 48.4 yards per punt. James outkicked two-thirds of the pros. This is some deeply misguided criticism. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElPatoUO No. 8 Share Posted January 19 On 1/19/2024 at 7:24 AM, Vanducky said: At the NFL level, only 11 out of 33 qualified punters averaged more than 48.4 yards per punt. James outkicked two-thirds of the pros. This is some deeply misguided criticism. He also ranked in the Top 10 of college football in NET punting, so her implication that he hurt the team by failing to induce more fair catches isn't supported by any sort of statistical analysis. Ross also only had 1 touchback the entire season (one of the top marks in the country). By virtually any measure, Ross was one of the top 10 or so punters in the country (at worst). 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastBayDuckDad Moderator No. 9 Share Posted January 19 There is an old saying about statistics: "Figures don't lie but liars will figure" The author is very selective with the numbers and like the other posters on this thread have noted, ignores situations and the true meaning of those statistics. James did a good job in 2023. Florence missed 5-6 quarters of the UW games and can hardly be blamed for the troubles with Odunze et al. He only had one PBU because he hardly ever was the target of the opposing offense. Boetcher was a backup that played because Jacobs was not recovered from injury and filled in well against TxTech 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 10 Share Posted January 19 Soon as I saw the punter listed I stopped reading 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augduck No. 11 Share Posted January 19 All about the clicks. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noDucknewby No. 12 Share Posted January 19 First of all terrible analysis, secondly why even go this route? These are not professional athletes, they shouldn't be held to the same standard. Boettcher is a walk-on for criminy sakes, he's an overachiever and he gets dissed? Lame. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDuck Author Moderator No. 13 Share Posted January 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 14 Share Posted January 19 The guy knows nothing... He was completely WRONG about Florence as his argument hinges on the two losses to Washington. In the first game Florence was injured in the second half. Bridges got burned a couple times and made some decent plays but Florence wasn't in the game. The second game Florence didn't even play because he was out with an injury. So that right there is an argument based around no evidence. He should be replaced because he was injured is the argument which is a poor argument. Our punting was pretty solid so Ross James, we just didn't punt all that much. I know mid way through the season he would have been considered perhaps the BEST punter in the country but he didn't have enough punts for him to be ranked. That's a testimony to the offense. And as for Boettcher... Incredible athlete to play linebacker. I'd be a bit surprised if he plays as much this year because I feel some of the youngsters are more athleticly gifted but need to learn the system. They know the system now so they will probably surpass him. But does he need to be replaced? Probably not. I fully expect him to play next year and contribute, especially on special teams. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Ducky No. 15 Share Posted January 19 Whoever wrote that article is the one to be replaced. 1 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllOregon No. 16 Share Posted January 20 Not. A. Clue. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 17 Share Posted January 20 I had to dive back into that mess and this line stuck out about Ross James the painter that I thought was really another poor argument. "James’ punts were only fair-caught 55.6 percent of the time which means that returners found it in their favor to attempt to run the ball back. Only 11 of his 27 punts were within the 20-yard line and each punt only averaged 48.4 yards." The argument here is two fold... First that James didn't pin teams back inside the 10 very often. That has more to do with the offense and decision making where Lanning was far more likely to go for it on fourth if we were around mid field or just over midfield and on the opponent's side. So not a lot of opportunities for those kinds of punts because the offense just wasn't stopped on a regular basis. And when the offense was stopped and forced to punt James was punting deep in Oregon territory and his job was to flip the field and he did that. Also the comment about how returners didn't fair catch his punts enough feels logical or more of a punt protection problem. The hang time and distance on his punts were pretty good. And again it goes back to the fact of the matter that James didn't punt thatich because the offense was just just that efficient. This one felt more like he just wanted to see the newer guy, Australian Like Dunne, rather than the vet. If Dunne wins the job more power to him but James was by no means a liability. I like Camden Lewis... Who is out of eligibility. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElPatoUO No. 18 Share Posted January 20 (edited) On 1/19/2024 at 6:26 PM, David Marsh said: "James’ punts were only fair-caught 55.6 percent of the time which means that returners found it in their favor to attempt to run the ball back." Given the clueless nature of the article in general, I doubt she did any research whatsoever into how a 55.6% fair catch rate compares to the average. I don't know what the average fair catch rate on punts was for this past season, but I read an article written in 2020 that revealed the average was 34.7%. Unless that average has risen dramatically over the past few seasons, Ross was way ahead of the curve in that category as well. The fact she just throws out statistics, implying they are somehow negative without providing any context of how they rank nationally, is really strange. Edited January 20 by ElPatoUO Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 19 Share Posted January 20 Facts are troublesome things. John Adams Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Hilarius Moderator No. 20 Share Posted January 20 This must be an AI article. It’s just so random. Random players, random stats, random author… 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyToBeADuck No. 21 Share Posted January 20 Good post Dr. Hilarius! Now that Sports Illustrated has been found out for AI articles under false names, well anything is possible. The article was presented like my many 10 year old grandchildren write. Uninformed, but spouting like an expert. What dribble...... If you are a player that sees the field on a Top 10 team then you are a cut above...... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
