Oregon’s 2023 Defense Rebuild: Look to the Portal!

[FishDuck Article]

 

OBD's defense - not exactly a team strength this season - is about to be gutted.  Time to poach talent from those who have too much of it.

 

Oregon's 2023 Defense Rebuild: Look to the Portal!

FISHDUCK.COM

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Oregon coach Dan Lanning has an opportunity to address issues with the Ducks defense when the transfer portal opens December 5th. Lanning must target players of...

 

[Kurt Rambis]

I wish I had a better sense of why the D was so underwhelming this year:  lack of fit between players and scheme?  Lack of player development?  Poor schemes/coaching?  Over-rated players?  Three DCs in three years basically screwing everyone and everything up?

 

Either way, we're losing a ton of players off an underperforming unit.  Freshman talent is important long term, but short term, some help has gotta come from the portal, or next year will be particularly ugly.

[12Duck72]

On 12/5/2022 at 3:19 AM, Kurt Rambis said:

I wish I had a better sense of why the D was so underwhelming this year:  lack of fit between players and scheme?  Lack of player development?  Poor schemes/coaching?  Over-rated players?  Three DCs in three years basically screwing everyone and everything up?

 

Either way, we're losing a ton of players off an underperforming unit.  Freshman talent is important long term, but short term, some help has gotta come from the portal, or next year will be particularly ugly.

I would say all of the above Kurt. Personally I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing there's going to be turnover on defense. I think it's needed. I can care less about how many stars a guy has. To me defense is about want to and attitude. 

[HappyToBeADuck]

DazeNconfused timely article. Great breakdown and assessment on the defensive departures. And more importantly, the positions of need to be filled.

 

I agree with Kurt Rambis, why was this defense so underwhelming? With potential QB heisman candidates at usc and washington on the Duck schedule in 2023 the front seven must be manned by elite players. Players who can contain, apply pressure, disrupt flow and get to the QB.

 

DnC, you are spot on that DL should emphasize the talent he helped put in the NFL. Not only at Georgia but the transfers who will head to the NFL off this years Duck D. That Natty ring on DL's finger will speak volumes. Street cred!

 

DL and staff did a good job utilizing portal transfers for the 2022 season. For 2023 they need to do a great job. One or two transfers won't be enough to build a aggressive 2-deep roster.

 

DL must win the portal like Baylor and MSU in 2021 and usc in 2022. If not we will not be amongst the favorites to win the PAC in 2023.

 

I have faith in DL when it comes to recruiting.......

[lownslowav8r]

On 12/5/2022 at 3:19 AM, Kurt Rambis said:

wish I had a better sense of why the D was so underwhelming this year

You and me both. 

[OhioDuck]

Great article Dazed! Thanks for the detailed breakdown both of our players and the example of some players possibly available in the portal.

 

I agree with some who said that a turnover of players on a squad that often wasn't very good isn't necessarily a bad thing.

 

But we need player, we need good players. The only place we may be solid (and still not deep) is at inside linebacker. Everywhere else the portal could really help. 

 

As well as looking at places not at the peak of their cycle, coaching changes are always places where players decide to leave. 

 

There is also the big fish in the small pond player or one bright shinning star on an otherwise bad team (see Gonzales) players to look out for. 

 

Bottom line is there will be good players in the portal that can help us. I'm looking forward to who the staff pulls in. I suspect they already have some in mind and will hit the ground running this morning.

[DazeNconfused]

On 12/5/2022 at 3:19 AM, Kurt Rambis said:

I wish I had a better sense of why the D was so underwhelming this year:  lack of fit between players and scheme?  Lack of player development?  Poor schemes/coaching?  Over-rated players?  Three DCs in three years basically screwing everyone and everything up?

I have a long end of season recap defensive analysis article done and being reviewed by Charles.

 

As you all know Charles and I wrote quite few defense analysis articles as the season progressed, and we spent lots of time putting our heads together.

 

We were at FishDuck were the first Oregon Ducks media to reveal the Bend-But-Don't-Break-Redux in the Cover-2 Lanning had committed to for the season. 

 

When Charles is done with editing it to see if I missed anything or he has some key points to add, then he will schedule it.

 

Charles has put in a lot of work along we me on the defense and two heads have been better than one. I want to thank him in advance for the time spent sharing his keen insight and thoughts - he's made my articles better. 

 

Since there seems to be an interest for an article that looks for the answers of why we had the worst statistical defense since the 2016 season under DC Brady Hoke - I'm gueesing Charles will give heads up to you all on the publish date. 

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by DazeNconfused

[DazeNconfused]

On 12/5/2022 at 6:35 AM, OhioDuck said:

Great article Dazed! Thanks for the detailed breakdown both of our players and the example of some players possibly available in the portal.

 

I agree with some who said that a turnover of players on a squad that often wasn't very good isn't necessarily a bad thing.

 

But we need player, we need good players. The only place we may be solid (and still not deep) is at inside linebacker. Everywhere else the portal could really help. 

 

As well as looking at places not at the peak of their cycle, coaching changes are always places where players decide to leave. 

 

There is also the big fish in the small pond player or one bright shinning star on an otherwise bad team (see Gonzales) players to look out for. 

 

Bottom line is there will be good players in the portal that can help us. I'm looking forward to who the staff pulls in. I suspect they already have some in mind and will hit the ground running this morning.

Great point about players leaving where they have coaching turnover. 

The portal is crazy this year and we could see close to 30 players leaving between those who move on to NFL and hit the portal. 

[The Kamikaze Kid]

To me,  the defense may have the similar issues as last years women's basketball team.  That team was pretty much the sophomore campaign of "the greatest recruiting class ever". After Coach Graves watched that team basically watch an injured Nyara Sabally try to win the tournament by herself, he called out the team as soft. How did they respond? They hit the portal and left.

 

A new group of top tier talent replaced them and they now appear to be the real deal. I think the Mario era of recruiting mimicked the USC model and just grabbed as many high ranking stars as they could, regardless of fit to a scheme. Swapping out DCs every year or two also makes recruiting to a scheme nearly impossible.

 

You see time and time again in the NBA when teams that just horde top talent without a real plan of how it will be used usually flop. I'm very interested to see how Lanning uses the portal to get the right guys in the right positions and how fast that improves the D. As of now, I'll trust the process.

[Smith72]

Thanks for the detailed need on defense and the players who could help.  That takes a great deal of time and energy!  Thank you DazeNConfused!

[Haywarduck]

On 12/5/2022 at 7:06 AM, The Kamikaze Kid said:

To me,  the defense may have the similar issues as last years women's basketball team.  That team was pretty much the sophomore campaign of "the greatest recruiting class ever". After Coach Graves watched that team basically watch an injured Nyara Sabally try to win the tournament by herself, he called out the team as soft. How did they respond? They hit the portal and left.

 

A new group of top tier talent replaced them and they now appear to be the real deal. I think the Mario era of recruiting mimicked the USC model and just grabbed as many high ranking stars as they could, regardless of fit to a scheme. Swapping out DCs every year or two also makes recruiting to a scheme nearly impossible.

 

You see time and time again in the NBA when teams that just horde top talent without a real plan of how it will be used usually flop. I'm very interested to see how Lanning uses the portal to get the right guys in the right positions and how fast that improves the D. As of now, I'll trust the process.

We must also remember Lanning was hired December 10th and was still coaching at Georgia. I agree with KK, Lanning is now ready to bring in his guys,  knows what he is looking for, and it will be more evident on the field. 

 

While I agree T A$M is full of talent I imagine he will be selective. There is a body of work with many of these guys, at the college level, not just high school. A coach can now evaluate how these guys compete, and deal with college football.

 

I trust Lanning has a more complete plan for what he wants to see on the field. This leads me to what I think will change next year. Instead of a laissez faire attitude with how the OC and DC run their groups Lanning is going to be more actively involved.

 

The coach we saw on the sideline with the defense at the end of the season firing them up is the one we will see next season. I think we will also see Lanning more involved with the offense. I think this will be the biggest difference in coaching next season. No longer will Lanning just let coordinators run the show.

 

He had to coach with MariØ's players and he won't have to as much this next season. I think he also realizes it is going to take a more active head coach on game day. We won't have the controlling coach again, but we will see Lanning's footprint on each part of the Oregon Program next season.

[DazeNconfused]

On 12/5/2022 at 7:23 AM, Smith72 said:

Thanks for the detailed need on defense and the players who could help.  That takes a great deal of time and energy!  Thanks you DazeNConfused!

You're welcome. 

[DazeNconfused]

On 12/5/2022 at 7:24 AM, Haywarduck said:

We must also remember Lanning was hired December 10th and was still coaching at Georgia. I agree with KK, Lanning is now ready to bring in his guys,  knows what he is looking for, and it will be more evident on the field. 

 

While I agree T A$M is full of talent I imagine he will be selective. There is a body of work with many of these guys, at the college level, not just high school. A coach can now evaluate how these guys compete, and deal with college football.

 

I trust Lanning has a more complete plan for what he wants to see on the field. This leads me to what I think will change next year. Instead of a laissez faire attitude with how the OC and DC run their groups Lanning is going to be more actively involved.

 

The coach we saw on the sideline with the defense at the end of the season firing them up is the one we will see next season. I think we will also see Lanning more involved with the offense. I think this will be the biggest difference in coaching next season. No longer will Lanning just let coordinators run the show.

 

He had to coach with MariØ's players and he won't have to as much this next season. I think he also realizes it is going to take a more active head coach on game day. We won't have the controlling coach again, but we will see Lanning's footprint on each part of the Oregon Program next season.

I think Lanning had Malchow doing prep for the portal. I'd guess they have a list of players the Lanning have a good connection to as a recruit but they didn't choose UGA. I'd bet if those kids pop up in the portal then Lanning will go after them. I'd guess that would apply to all the staff, if they got to know the kid and he hits the portal get back on him. This means they already know the type of kid the player is and had connections with him.

 

Charles has made the point to me and I agree - the new rule of having to honor the transfer players Scholly comes into effect. If you take a portal kid and he is a head case or can't play - you can't yank is Scholly. You own keeping his Scholly until he is done. So you can't take the wrong kids - blue-chips with bad Tudes are a huge risk.

[noDucknewby]

On 12/5/2022 at 7:34 AM, DazeNconfused said:

I think Lanning had Malchow doing prep for the portal. I'd guess they have a list of players the Lanning have a good connection to as a recruit but they didn't choose UGA. I'd bet if those kids pop up in the portal then Lanning will go after them. I'd guess that would apply to all the staff, if they got to know the kid and he hits the portal get back on him. This means they already know the type of kid the player is and had connections with him.

 

Charles has made the point to me and I agree - the new rule of having to honor the transfer players Scholly comes into effect. If you take a portal kid and he is a head case or can't play - you can't yank is Scholly. You own keeping his Scholly until he is done. So you can't take the wrong kids - blue-chips with bad Tudes are a huge risk.

I've been wondering about how DL is going to make room, I know a lot of turnover is going happen naturally, but I believe I saw recently that all three of Oregon's punters have hit the portal.  Makes me wonder if they're being "nudged" out the door.  Coaches can't yank their scholly, but they can sure yank their playing time.

[Haywarduck]

On 12/5/2022 at 7:34 AM, DazeNconfused said:

I think Lanning had Malchow doing prep for the portal. I'd guess they have a list of players the Lanning have a good connection to as a recruit but they didn't choose UGA. I'd bet if those kids pop up in the portal then Lanning will go after them. I'd guess that would apply to all the staff, if they got to know the kid and he hits the portal get back on him. This means they already know the type of kid the player is and had connections with him.

 

Charles has made the point to me and I agree - the new rule of having to honor the transfer players Scholly comes into effect. If you take a portal kid and he is a head case or can't play - you can't yank is Scholly. You own keeping his Scholly until he is done. So you can't take the wrong kids - blue-chips with bad Tudes are a huge risk.

Interesting, coaches now have to recruit, evaluate high school kids, and evaluate potential portal entrants. The programs which are ready, will win.

 

The job of a college coach, assistant is never done. I imagine this is also where support staff are critical. These coaches need to have staff they can trust.

 

I wonder if it will ever get to, or has it, where support staff are sent to a Texas A$M practice during the season to watch players practice, investigate players on campus during the season. This is happening for the high school players, and I imagine it will shift to the portal players as well.

[Mudslide]

Thanks for another fine article, Dazed. 

 

A worthy view or the Ducks' 2022 defense might include the team's sack stats.  Oregon ranked #1 in sacks allowed with 4!  The team ranked #125 in sacks generated.  125th...right next to Arizona!  That's not exactly my idea of the Lanning attacking defense that many of us expected.  I'm unsure if this was TL's take on the bend-but-not-break D or simply a lack of player talent and/or scheme familiarity due to the coaching change.  Further, the Ducks' scoring defense ranked #77 in FBS.

 

I believe that DL will get his recruiting chops rolling this year, portal talent included.  TL also has a strong recruiting record.  I'm also not disillusioned that the team has an uphill battle in the new, pass-happy PAC teams will place a big challenge on the 2023 back 7.  So improvement, by a large margin, needs to occur next year, even assuming another stellar year of offense.

 

GO DUCKS!

[EastBayDuckDad]

Thanks to DznC for another great analysis of Oregon's needs on defense. I noted this morning that DL has offered a blue chip DB at Alabama that he recruited at UGA. The DB position was spotty this year but Gonzo was the lock down corner that kept it from being a lot worse. His development after transferring from Colorado will have him drafted high in round 1 and will be a beacon for potential transfers.

 

The graduation and mass exodus of edge/Jack LBs creates a real challenge for the Ducks. Lanning was asked about it relating to depth for the Holiday Bowl and he more or less brushed it aside. It seems that there may be more to it than we see on the surface.

 

I wonder at what point the coaches sit down with players to give them honest assesments of past performance and future opportunity. Do the transfers indicate a reality of limited future playing time? A perceived mis-fit of skills and the defensive scheme that DL is implementing? After a less than optimal year, perhaps those electing to hit the portal know that Oregon will be bringing in players that better fit Lanning's vision.

 

Regardless, I would anticipate the next several days will reveal a stream of defensive portal talent committing to Oregon. Go get a couple Gonzo level players and find the second coming of KT!

 

Go Ducks!

Edited December 5, 2022 by EastBayDuckDad
Grammar and an addition

[Drake]

Improving a defense that was ranked so poorly should not require a huge uptick in talent. The portal will certainly provide a means to replace players that are leaving.
 

Overall, I am not concerned about the players we have on defense. A bigger concern would be that the problem actually is a coaching issue. Would rookie head coach DL assess the problem correctly and replace someone he just hired?  
 

I don’t pretend to be able to assess talent of players, or coaches. However, i know a good one when i see one. Right now the coaches have the ball and we will see what happens next. 

[Dave23]

Funa still has a year left?! Seems like he's been here forever. That being said I like how he developed this year in the pass protection.

 

He was a little shaky at the start of the season but by the end he was pretty locked in and made some big plays. He sets the edge extremely well in the run game but his pass rush had never been great.

 

A guy that could benefit allot in the draft by staying another year and developing more coverage skills. His lack of pass rush ability could be nullified by his ability to cover TE's and the flats.

 

He's never been the flashy guy but he's been solid and that pick 6 this year was awesome!