Our Oregon Football program has had some MAJOR wins as of late. Evan Stewart, Gary Bryant Jr., and Dakorien “Metro” Moore were all spotted at practice this week in limited action. That bodes extremely well for the Ducks’ postseason hopes and gives the offense a much better chance to stretch the field against some of the best defenses in the country. ...

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Great read. My thought is that with NIL, the rush to "get the bag" is not as motivating as it was less than 10 years ago, thus allowing top players to continue to develop in NFL-Lite before moving on to the NFL-Heavy.

This in addition to the "free for all" free agency via the transfer portal allows more opportunities to play in/with complete teams thus maximizing your abilities, being surrounded by equal or greater talent.

The expectations to Win Now are currently far less demanding in NFL-lite than with the NFL-HEAVY, where you are playing with "grown*ssed", rather large and beefy, MEN that have developed their "ManMeat" against the elite players in all of football. Big difference between a sack from a linebacker two years outa high school and one by a ten year veteran with NFL playing experience. There just is.

That all being said, Dante seems to have a solid support structure and people close to him that are more interested in his development, here at Oregon, rather than making a premature push to the NFL-Heavy. At least it appears that way. Dante himself has shown maturity and logic applied to his college career to date, and I fully expect him to make the appropriate and best decision for his professional football career.

Dante's is going to have a long and fulfilling career ahead of him. I am hoping that he understands that an extra year under the Oregon banner can and will make him that much more valuable and efficient when he does move up to the NFL-Heavy.

As a rabid Duck Dan, I am hoping that the best choice made is to return one more year to Defend(!) our first Natty and secure a second Oregon Football Heisman Winner in the past ten years.

Either way we be good. Oregon Football is no longer a team that needs to rebuild after top talent leaves...we simply reload. Probably the most important aspect of the current Dan Lanning era. I am so here for it all!

OBD 🪨'S.

GO DUCKS!

Thanks for posting another excellent ponder point Alex!

I too, think DM is in it for the long haul. He has shown his maturity and invested in his future by sitting behind DG last year, and has already indicated he sees the value of experience going in to the league.

I would be surprised if he makes the jump this year and forgoes the opportunity to continue to learn from DL and start to meet his potential.

I see a lot of upside in returning to college. While the NFL awaits for your arrival for another year, you build your skills, and put off a potential physical, and mental beatdown of playing for a team in turmoil.

DM gets paid which ever route he takes. Another year in college puts eyes on his game, and with the receivers that will be available to him at Oregon, a Heismann run is certainly on the table. Which certainly enhances endorsement potential.

If the goal is to make money, improve skills, be successful, and be a leader of something bigger than oneself, then returning to college seems to check a lot of the boxes.

He had the maturity and long-term outlook to realize he needed to sit for a year and learn.

My guess is that same approach will be applied here. Moore will recognize that more experience is what is best for him.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by WTD25

25 minutes ago, WTD25 said:

He had the maturity and long-term outlook to realize he needed to sit for a year and learn.

My guess is that same approach will be applied here. Moore will recognize that more experience is what is best for him.

And if he were to talk with Bo & Dillion, they'd probably talk about how the extra college years really helped them prepare fort the NFL....

Great ponder point Alex. And great comments by the Forum posters.

The road to the Natty for OBD's goes thru some nasty aggresive defenses once JMU is dispatched. TT, IU and tOSU are a combined 37-2. If Georgia,beats tOSU then that's another tough out.

How Dante and the Ducks handle that juggernaut will be a snapshot for Dante to see how he has grown from the IU game. He did not read IU's schemes and sets very well. However, Dante has improved since that game.

I feel, as others do, if Oregon wins the Natty that Dante will be headed to the NFL. There is no comparison money wise between NIL and the NFL.

A top 5 pick is in the $50 million area. The 5th year option for a QB would be $30 million plus alone.

In 2030, for a,QB starter it could very well top $50 per season in a 2nd contract.

However, it is a double edged sword. The sooner the journey starts the sooner you get to that 2nd contract But teams like the Raiders, Jets, Browns etc are an absolute joke. Tbey are POS franchises that offer very little upside for a QB.

Unfortuneatley, if Dante returns and goes in the 2027 NFL draft, the casyt of POS teams will be the same.

Dante, get a Natty and get gone.

When does Saturday get here. Good gosh, get the playoffs started by the 2nd Saturday in December...