Well, soo-prize, SOO-PRIZE!

Lane's war chest ain't Lame. O-line was one of LSU's biggest portal needs.

LSU opens with Clemson.

Week 3 at Ole Miss 😁, with road games against Kentucky, Auburn, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The games in Knoxville and Fayetteville are the final two games of the regular season.

5 SEC road games are a new thing for SEC teams.

In addition to Clemson, LSU plays two cupcakes at home, Mississippi State, an earlier in the season Egg Bowl game, Texas A&M, Bama, and Texas.

A far more difficult schedule than the one Kiffin played at Ole Miss last season. Even if QB Sam Leavitt stays healthy, I can see three and perhaps four or more losses. Kiffin is on a very short Natty leash.

Good fortune for Seaton, but none for Kiffin.

I imagine that we got outbid. I don't know if we really need him.

I doubt Dan flew to Atlanta just for dinner with him.

If we needed him, or whomever we need to pull off a Natty... just spend the damn money and get it done.

Easy for me to say... but if I were worth over 30 billion it might be even easier.

Go Ducks... I am looking forward to next season eagerly.

I hope LSU loses half their games.

No amount of $$ is worth it if a kid doesn't want to play here.

We'll be just fine.

I don't blame the kid, Baton Rouge is a lot closer to his Wash DC home and likely comes with the biggest bucket of NIL cash from the Geaux Tigers donor base. Shame he has to have Lame Kitten as a role model.

Yes, Oregon could have used him at LT to protect Dante's blind side. He is a notch better than the talent there currently, but one never knows how he would have fit with Pancho and the crew.

Crader and Wilson are solid tackles and starting them avoids the dropoff in efficiency that afflicts an entire O-line when transfer players are added. There is solid depth behind them. Incoming freshmen Iheanacho and Tofi are huge and talented kids, and it's possible that one (probably 'Nacho) could start inside at OG, or at least provide additional depth while they develop.

Every day the O-line will match-up against four future NFL, and probably two first round, players in practice. That will expose any weaknesses so DL and the Law Firm can then adjust and shift personnel to get the best starting four around Pancho.

Pregnon will be tough to replace, but World and Harkey maybe not so much. I'm 'glass half full' in my belief that the 2026 front can be as good, if not better, than the 2025 version.

My intuition tells me this is for the best.

Geoff Schwartz says that Crader is going to be a good player. If we had added Seaton, my fear is that Crader would have entered the portal.

The one thing DL needs to do differently, IMHO, is build an OL that plays together more than one year, as the Ducks had as recently as the Alex Forsyth cohort.

When Seaton didn’t come for a visit I figured that the Ducks were not going to get him despite predictions in our favor.

Money aside, he probably figures he'll have better chances of winning the "big one" with Kiffen at LSU.

From everything I read about this gentleman, I am not sure that he would have been a good fit with our Oregon culture. But what do I know?

I am not very disappointed that we were outbid.

I would have been disappointed if the Ducks were to pay him $4 million to play here.

I don't want to pay zillions for one great guy when we need 50-60 great guys to win a championship.

I don't mind a player going for the big bucks, if that is his priority. To each his own.

I share the sentiments of other posters that there is a silver lining here. This player has committed to Deion Sanders and Lane Kiffin after a lot of "look at me" drama. Between that and his asking price, I was worried about team chemistry and locker room culture.

Given our overall talent composite score, he is a luxury that has a downside at a particular price. I think Lanning made the right price/value prop by not outbidding LSU in this case. Fox Crader....c'mon down! I think he will abetter than Harkey and World were anyway.

On 1/23/2026 at 11:37 PM, Jemangi said:

I imagine that we got outbid. I don't know if we really need him.

I doubt Dan flew to Atlanta just for dinner with him.

If we needed him, or whomever we need to pull off a Natty... just spend the damn money and get it done.

Easy for me to say... but if I were worth over 30 billion it might be even easier.

Go Ducks... I am looking forward to next season eagerly.

I'm glad the Ducks took a seat; $3 million plus for one year of Seaton's services. 🤑

Jordan, for not being a trust fund baby, I BELIEVE you are reasonably well off for someone your age. 😁

Oregon Ducks On SI

The NIL Price Tag Attached to Transfer Jordan Seaton Is E...

The Oregon Ducks are firmly in the mix for five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton as the Ducks navigate one of the transfer portal’s most expensive recruitmen

I agree with the sentiment that CFB leaders need to rein in out-of-control payments to players.

However, any 'leader' that try to do so had better be ready to write checks for legal fees.

Programs like Ole Miss, LSU, and Miami will not be reined in without a court order or a large judgment. It's every program for itself, especially in the South.

https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/trojans/football/2026/01/25/usc-inhabits-wild-west-college-football-world/88330613007/?utm_source=smg-trojanswire-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_cam

Caveat: Great recruiter Riley didn't have to buy recruits to bring in the No. 1-ranked group of recruits? Right? 🤪

Why recruit and pay young guys you have to develop, when you can pay dudes that others already have and can play right away? Cignetti just proved that right there. In the old system, there was no way Indiana would've done what they just did.

Do we need rules, and enforce them? Absolutely!!!! Tampering needs to be enforced, there needs to be a no contact period for players and coaches. Contracts need to mean something again. You sign for two years, you stay for two years.

When you sign a deal to get paid, you have to honor the length of said contract.

Williams ultimately had to, LSU ultimately still got Leavitt. But you know Kiffin had to up the dollar amount after telling Leavitt to kick rocks at the basketball game.

Now you have Dabo calling out Ole Miss, who is calling out LSU.

You have Miami potentially getting taken to court for the second straight year over taking a player under contract. But ultimately they will just pay the fine, and get what they want.

What happens when Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, USC, Georgia, Oregon, and Florida start taking the handcuffs off their own initiatives? You're going to see twenty million dollar running backs. Fifty million dollar Quarterbacks, and roster turnover at a rate unlike any other sport in history.

Just look at Texas Tech.

Indiana, Miami, and Ole Miss made it to the final four using the transfer portal more aggressively than Alabama, Georgia, or Ohio State. Clemson has become an afterthought despite top ten classes, and a blue chip ratio that is higher than any of the three semifinal participants I mentioned.

Oregon has two transfer QBs in tow, both former five stars. When are we going to see a high school recruited QB under Dan Lanning? Why should we? Just go get somebody from the G6, or even lower like Ferris State. Let them be your farm system.

Indiana, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, and Miami have been. Worked out well for them. Rules? Michigan proved how much they matter.

Seems like a ridiculous value being placed on this young man.

11 hours ago, Jon Joseph said:

I agree with the sentiment that CFB leaders need to rein in out-of-control payments to players.

However, any 'leader' that try to do so had better be ready to write checks for legal fees.

Programs like Ole Miss, LSU, and Miami will not be reined in without a court order or a large judgment. It's every program for itself, especially in the South.

https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/trojans/football/2026/01/25/usc-inhabits-wild-west-college-football-world/88330613007/?utm_source=smg-trojanswire-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_cam

Caveat: Great recruiter Riley didn't have to buy recruits to bring in the No. 1-ranked group of recruits? Right? 🤪

Ha. Ha. Hahaha hahaha!

I was actually wondering how many decent 3* guys with high upside that investment that would cover.

Oregon has had a few of those over the years that worked out with a little development...

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by woundedknees
Thumbs get thicker with every passing OBD season

44 minutes ago, GatOrlando said:

Oregon has two transfer QBs in tow, both former five stars. When are we going to see a high school recruited QB under Dan Lanning? Why should we?

I get what your saying Gat but if Akili Smith Jr is anything like his dad, he could be one of the all time great Duck QBs. He was the number three player drafted in I believe 1998.

2 hours ago, The Kamikaze Kid said:

I get what your saying Gat but if Akili Smith Jr is anything like his dad, he could be one of the all time great Duck QBs. He was the number three player drafted in I believe 1998.

He's a legacy Duck, that might carry the weight to keep him there long enough to start. My point was more inline with the fact that a player like Akili might be poached before Lanning feels comfortable enough to start him.

I imagine Moore is starting this upcoming year, and Raiola the year after. A similar thing happened at Georgia Tech. Aaron Philo was being groomed to be the incumbent, but he transferred out to Florida. Now that's a unique situation, because his offensive coordinator moved on to Florida. But, I can see situations like this continue to happen as assistants and coaches move from job to job.

Duke , Vanderbilt, and Kentucky are now paying QBs north of four million a year. It's pure madness right now. An established power like Oregon will have their pick in the transfer portal. Every year is win now, especially with Phil Knight in his 80's. Will Oregon pay seven million to a guy like Mendoza, Mensah, Beck, Leavitt, Sorsby, or Simpson, or five million to keep an unproven guy with heaps of potential and hype like Smith Jr. ?

If things were like it is now in 2007, I could see Tebow getting passed over. So I really hope I'm wrong. Winning a championship with homegrown players just feels better. But winning a championship feels great regardless.