Scott Reed

I went through my first transformation at 50 when I decided to 'retire' from competitive powerlifting and lost close to 90 pounds. I kept at the correct weight for about 4 years, but Covid really messed up everything (financially and health wise) for me. When we got our dog in 2022, I had worked back to being closer to where I wanted to be but - believe it or not - even though she walks like 10 miles per day, I actually started gaining weight. She took long walks, but never at pace and my sleep started to get skewed in a bad way so I was always exhausted and could never get any time to do my workouts. 10 years ago, I was still working out and I used 'green juice' to kick off my weight loss and it worked miracles. Every time I tried to get back to that starting point, the lack of time kept hitting me in the face. So this time I switched up to extending my evening fasting time from 8-10 hours to 16 hours and came up with a more disciplined approach to food that did not require excessive prep time like juicing did. I still need to get some actual workout time in, but I feel more energetic than I have in five years, so 60 is treating me well with these changes.

That is AWESOME work my friend! I was doing great... until covid.

For those that are paid subscribers to the Duck Sports Central Substack site, you know I regularly do premium recruiting updates. But I also do this cool 'reflective' weekly piece that ties Oregon football and other sports into some personal realities. This week my thoughts on how Oregon has built the talent, recruiting machine and hype of a championship program. Now comes the harder part: carrying the weight of expectations. Today on the Sidewalk weight loss, travel, pressure, and what lasting chage truly requires. api.omarshehata.me/substack-proxy/articles/ducksports-substack-com-p-sunday-sidewalk-what-the-system-can.html

Good evening all, Did a site redisgn for the Duck Sports Central website. The goal was a cleaner look with less clutter but some of the features I like (i.e., teh commit list, but I moved it from the left side to the right side) and the schedule for the current season readily available whenever you are on any page. I addede a link directly to this site under 'Forums' I think this is cleaner and fresher while still giving all of the links that were there before. DuckSportsCentral.com

The only portal OL addition was Michael Bennett III from Yale.

Apologies for the delay. Had these ready to go but took longer than expected to get to our destination yesterday and cell service is spotty with no wifi. Ducks add third elite commitment this week. As always we have you covered with two stories. Commit impact: Scouting Report:

Ducks go two for two. I really love this pickup for Oregon. Commit Impact: Premium Scouting Report:

AS always, commit impact and Premium Scouting Report are ready Tae Walden Commit Impact: Tae Walden Premium Scouting Report

There is one step forward I think that the defense in 2026 needs to make: Pressure vs. Finish rate. The Ducks had a very good (comparable to historically good defenses) pressure rate last season, but the sack rate of 4.7% was half that of teams like Ohio State (2024) and Georgia (2021) who had 9.5% and 9.6% respectively. If the Ducks can turn those pressures into a better sack rate, this defense has the chance to go down as one of the best defenses of the decade and I think that (plus Moore dealing with simulated pressure better against better teams like Ohio State) could lead the Ducks to the title. Broke it down in two different articles here: FREE: Wednesday War Room: What Oregon’s Defense Must Become in 2026 PREMIUM (Deeper Dive): Wednesday War Room: The Final Step for Oregon’s Defense

I also put together my normal premium scouting report for Cartwright earlier this week. Cartwright, is one of the more interesting offensive projections in the 2027 class. He is listed as a tight end, but his high school film shows much more than a traditional inline player. Detroit Country Day moved him around as a receiver, slot target, H-back, red-zone weapon and even occasional short-yardage option. The size is obvious, but what makes Cartwright intriguing is the combination of ball skills, catch radius and ability after the catch. This is not just a big body. It is a big skill player Oregon can develop into a true matchup problem. The full premium scouting report looks at his year-by-year growth, where he fits in Oregon’s offense, what still needs development and why the Ducks were willing to go into Michigan and battle hard for him. Full Scouting report here: https://open.substack.com/pub/ducksports/p/premium-scouting-report-anthony-cartwright?r=vtxsn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

My initial thoughts on Cartwright. Oregon added another important piece to its 2027 class on Sunday with the commitment of Detroit Country Day tight end Anthony Cartwright III. Cartwright is a 6-foot-4.5, 235-pound tight end from Michigan who chose the Ducks over a strong final group that included Miami, LSU, Michigan and Michigan State. This was a significant win for Oregon not just because of the player, but because of where the Ducks won the recruitment. Oregon went into Big Ten territory, beat both in-state programs for a highly regarded local target and continued to show that its recruiting reach is truly national. The fit also makes a lot of sense. Cartwright gives Oregon a big, versatile pass-catching tight end who can move around the formation, create matchup problems and develop into the kind of multi-use offensive piece the Ducks have emphasized under Dan Lanning. His relationship with Drew Mehringer and Jack Smith was a major part of the recruitment, and Oregon’s usage of tight ends, especially the way Kenyon Sadiq has been developed and featured, helped make the offensive vision clear. Cartwright becomes Oregon’s second tight end commit in the 2027 class, joining George VanSandt, and that likely gives the Ducks the two-man tight end group they wanted. With that position now in strong shape, Oregon can turn even more attention toward other major targets still on the board, including Tae Walden Jr. and Hayden Stepp, who are expected to announce next week. Overall, this is another strong national recruiting win for Oregon and another example of the Ducks building the 2027 class with a clear plan rather than simply stacking commitments. Full commit mimpact story (always free) below https://www.ducksportscentral.com/2026/06/commit-impact-anthony-cartwright-gives.html

Charles, I really appreciate that more than you know. One of the things I have always respected about you is the way you have supported writers and given people a place to share their voice, myself included. That kind of encouragement matters, especially in a space where so much work happens behind the scenes. I am grateful for the kind words, but even more grateful for the way you continue to lift up people who care about Oregon, care about writing and care about building something meaningful around this community.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate you taking the time to say that. There is a lot of good Oregon coverage out there, so it means a great deal any time someone is willing to give my work a look. I have always tried to write in a way that is thoughtful, honest and worth the reader’s time, so your note is genuinely appreciated. I look forward to having you check in as we move forward, and I hope the site becomes something you enjoy following.

For those that do not know, I do two articles for every commit. One is always free and the other is on my premium Substack site. Here are the articles for Lex's commitment Lex Mailangi Commit Impact Lex Mailangi Premium Scouting Report

Much appreciated!

Hey all, I just wanted to jump on, join the conversation and share a little bit of news that I think could be good for some of Charles’ longtime readers. For those who do not know me, I am Scott Reed. I was a longtime writer and then publisher for Duck Sports Authority. When Rivals was purchased by On3, I was offered the opportunity to continue writing for them, but after a lot of thought, including the possibility that I might simply back away from the industry altogether, I decided to decline their offer and do my own thing. That is how Duck Sports Central came about. I created it as an independent place for people who still wanted to read whatever thoughts I might have on Oregon athletics. At first, I was happy with that being fairly simple. But when it came time for the Polynesian Bowl, I reached out to a few other sites to see if they wanted exclusive content from Hawai‘i. They passed, so I decided to create a separate Substack site where I could host premium content for people who wanted a little more depth. Up to this point, though, I have done all of the writing on my own. About a month ago, Charles reached out to let me know that the old FishDuck domain had been sold and that he had rebranded this message board as Our Beloved Ducks. He also let me know that, as part of that transition, some really good writers no longer had the same outlet for their work. He asked if I might be interested in giving some of them a place to write. To me, that was an easy yes. I thought it was a great way for Duck Sports Central to add some new voices, bring in a little more perspective and help keep good Oregon writing in front of the fans who appreciate it. So the good news is that I think some of those former FishDuck writers are going to continue writing through the free site at Duck Sports Central. I am also going to work on cross-linking directly to this forum when it makes sense, with the hope that it helps bring more people into the conversations Charles has built here. I have not been the best over the last year at being active on message boards, mostly because the day job has kept me pretty busy. I will do my best to be better here. But I wanted to at least stop by, introduce myself properly and let you all know that I have already talked with a couple of the former writers and hope to have more of them join the work DSC is doing to continue giving Oregon athletics coverage a unique and independent voice. Go Ducks.