Max Torres does a great job at On3, and I always encourage people to join the membership sites for great reporting. I cannot copy the whole article, but a couple of tasty tidbits were pretty cool...

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On Who’s Stood Out as Consistent at Receiver:

Stein: “Gary Bryant is one of the most consistent football players I’ve ever been around. He’s a complete pro. He does everything you ask him to do. He blocks his a** off. He runs routes at the specific depth. He catches the ball, makes plays, good with the ball in hand. I was really saddened that he couldn’t have an impact on our team like he wanted to, like we wanted to last season because of injuries.

And I would have loved to have him Tez (Johnson), Traeshon (Holden), all those guys out there have been working together, but obviously injuries plagued him last season, so I think he’s in a great spot mentally, physically. He’s super gifted. I mean, the guys made plays here in ’23 and he had 40 something catches, 500 yards. He’s extremely consistent, and it starts with his prep. He’s definitely I would say the leader of that group, and not just vocally, but just how he approaches every single day.”

On What He’s Seen Translate From Dante Moore‘s Skillset at Oregon

Stein: “What I saw when I turned on the tape—-wow throws like, oh my gosh. Like, dang, that was a ball. When those kept showing up on the completions, some corner routes or scramble throws, you’re like this guy’s got elite arm talent. And I’d previously known Dante, because, if you remember, when I got here, he was committed. So I went to MLK and went to Detroit, like two times that I was allowed to when I first got here. So knowing him, knowing his family, knowing the people around him, his high school coaches—I knew he was about the right stuff.

“It just it didn’t translate to UCLA and not because of lack of scheme. I think we all know Chip Kelly is a great coach, and I just don’t think he had the players around him that you need, if you’re a true freshman, to go be super successful. So when he has gotten here, you could see his talent has flourished. He’s so humble. He’s willing to learn. He reminds me, he’s a great blend of like Bo (Nix) football IQ and Dillon (Gabriel) can pull everybody together, which is really unique and special.

I think I’ve said it in here before, but he wears five, he’s got glove on his left hand I played with Teddy Bridgewater. He does remind me a lot of Teddy. That’s a lofty comparison for me, but he’s just got that kind of that moxie about him. That IT factor that people just gravitate towards.”

Gary Bryant Jr.

(Remember that as a true freshman at USC--he had more catches than any Oregon receiver that year)

Lots of sneaky talent on the Ducks. Well... not sneaky as it was all highly recruited.

But it feels like everyone is sleeping on it. I think we might see the best defense of the Lanning era this year and I think the offense kicks it back up to the 2023 year's production levels. Yes, last year was a down year for Lanning and this offense, sure we went 13-1 overall but the offense only scored more than 40 three games (less than 5 for sure) and we averaged around 35. Looking for that number to go up to around 40 again this year.

I'm not surprised Gary Bryant Jr. is mentioned as the most consistent...I think he has the most years in the program within the WR room (at least for the ones that have started games) so he should know the offensive schemes inside and out. I think this is his chance to move from WR4 to as high as WR2 if things go right for him.

For Dante, I think it will all come down to how well he can read the defense...guys like Bo and Dillon had pretty much seen it all after 5-6 years so I expect him to struggle this year with that and be much better at it next season. That being said, I think either he or Austin Novasad are good enough to manage the offense well enough for a 10 win season this year.

Article in Oregonian this morning mentioning Alabama/FSU WR transfer Malike Benson…seems like the random (to me) transfer, 1 year “rental player” that could have a huge impact.

Love paying attention to the roster more once we hit August! 😆

The delivery on the Schwartz video is a bit plodding, but there is a treasure trove of information on defensive schemes and QB reads based on what the defense shows pre and post snap.

Moore exhibited elite arm talent as a UCLA freshman but also the fundamental errors a young QB will make: Locking on to one receiver and telegraphing the throw with his eyes, trying to throw off balance into a tight window and getting fooled by a safety that cheats his coverage with a little motion. On each of those bad judgement pick six throws Moore had another open option.

In his defense, the O-line and RB blocking was abysmal and barely gave him enough time to get to read #2. And the Chipster's offense may have been simplified for certain preset throws to get him started. It added up to Dante kind of getting thrown to the wolves with the confidence draining outcome that multiple picks would understandably have on a young QB.

That he has picked himself up (pun intended) and prepared himself with a year under a QB whisperer OC and behind an experienced Heisman candidate is a testament to his resilience and smarts. Those first year errors seem correctable, and heaven knows Moore will have better scheme, weapons and protection at Oregon than he would have ever had at Westwood.

I think that barring something stellar from Novosad coming out of fall camp, the job is his. Either way we OBD fans should feel pretty good about the QB spot going into the season.