Charles Fischer Administrator No. 1 Share Posted January 15, 2021 It’s hard to overstate how impactful Oregon’s starting quarterback in 2021 will be — for better or for worse. Despite an underwhelming 2020 season, it remains true that the Ducks have a good-enough roster to compete for a Pac-12 title and College Football Playoff berth. Oregon has its flaws, but most of them aren’t detrimental. Elite quarterback play is the ... Read the full article here... Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDucksFan No. 2 Share Posted January 15, 2021 IMO a National Playoff berth for the Oregon Ducks is still at least "another season away". For 2021 the Oregon Ducks still have things to work on and correct before reaching the National Playoffs. 1) A sputtering offense, 2) a QB question, 3) a new defense to learn. True, the 2021 Oregon QB battle will have ramifications for years to come and right now its very much up in the air who will improve enough to get the call. To me a bigger question is "do you want to make a run at it now with Shough/Brown or wait and give Ty Thompson his shot ??" If Ty can show large potential it would be better to get him in the game as soon as possible (2021) because he will give us a three year run at it. Three years at QB is very beneficial for a program. A three year run would also give us time to get our DC in place, caught up and running smooth. All this providing our OC stays around for the fun. For the Pac-12 championship keep in mind that USC is on the way up and has fewer problems then Oregon right now. IMO, Oregon is sitting at #2 for the Pac-12 title. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 3 Share Posted January 15, 2021 You're very right, Joshua. The Ducks need a quarterback playing at his highest level if it wants to achieve its goals. Winning the Pac-12 for a third year in a row is definitely possible, if not probable. But you're right again when you say that won't be enough to keep the 4's and 5's coming. A quarterback battle is always interesting, and this one for the Ducks is no exception. Shough had an up and down season that definitely ended on the downside, what does he bring to the table in the Spring? Is Brown still here? Ashford & Butterfield have chances to impress, as does heralded Freshman, Thompson, and all of the quarterbacks will have an outstanding WR corps to throw to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drake Moderator No. 4 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Without a “can’t miss” NFL type running back that can create yardage, the Ducks will need outstanding QB play to be a good team. To be realistic, we need both. I think you can be a good team without both, but not a championship caliber team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haywarduck Moderator No. 5 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Two things have to happen, we have to recognize the talent, and develop the talent at the qb position. Once these two things happen all will be good at the Oregon Football Program and their qb. Tom Brady, the GOAT, wasn't utilized at Michigan as one would think he would have been. He didn't start the first couple seasons, and was way down on the depth chart. Even when he started he was always under pressure by a back-up who never became the GOAT. The first item is Oregon needs to recognize who has it, even if he is way back on the depth chart. The next item, which is of concern, is we need to develop the qb. With Justin Herbert, the front runner for the NFL rookie of the year as an example, we haven't done the best job of developing the talent at qb. Moorhead has to show he can lead the next great Oregon qb to his potential. Can Moorhead develop a guy with potential into a leading college qb? It isn't the battle that will have a longterm impact, it is the process which will have a longterm impact on the Oregon Football Program. Can our coaching staff pick the next great one, and develop him. The other item is making sure we have a viable back-up, but the primary job is the process of who the next great one will be. My number one fear is we do what was done with Herbert. We don't see the guy, even if he is way back on the depth chart, and pick him because he has it. We can't just go with the experience and the safe choice. This battle needs to be wide open, and the choice needs incredible support along with a road map set out to create the next great one! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 6 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Great insights, Hayward Duck. Tom Brady was underused at Michigan, and wouldn't have gotten his chance at New England, but for former WSU Cougar, Drew Bledsoe being injured. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherOD No. 7 Share Posted January 15, 2021 (edited) Difficult to grill Moorhead too much on the QBs. He was hired, then COVID hit, and it looked very much like the Pac-12 was still going to bag the season after other conferences had already started playing. As well, he is working with guys he didn't recruit, and walked into a situation with a dynamic set in place before he even took the job. Its also the second instance where there has been open speculation/debate as to whether the Duck OC has complete say over the direction of the offense. Edited January 15, 2021 by AnotherOD Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Geezer No. 8 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Whomever takes the QB1 title will have elite receivers all over the field and a battle hardened offensive line to protect them. Coach Moorhead will hopefully have the spring and fall camps to evaluate the candidates. In the meantime we will keep our fingers crossed that Moorhead will be given the keys to the offense and the opportunity to fully implement his vision. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptdduck No. 9 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Agree 100%, Joshua. This goes back to the offensive philosophy of MC and JoMo, power running takes priority over passing. What we saw in the NC game is that high-powered passing teams light up the scoreboard with big plays. We're living in the golden era of passing but we haven't gotten on board. If we want to take the next step, we need to feature the passing game. Top notch skill players and elite passing QBs will eventually figure out that Oregon is not the place to showcase their skills. We can win a lot of games with the power running but it needs to be augmented with a QB that can really run and threaten the D on every play. Guys like Colin Kaepernick and Lamar Jackson lit teams up at Nevada and Louisville. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDucksFan No. 10 Share Posted January 15, 2021 1 hour ago, AnotherOD said: Its also the second instance where there has been open speculation/debate as to whether the Duck OC has complete say over the direction of the offense. You're correct, but after all this time it begs the question "why don't we know this by now ??" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
