Haywarduck

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!

I agree we go for most pounds per transfer, at this point for our needs.

I think we are all appreciating what Gary Campbell brought the program, more and more! He is also one of the truly great humans, people, amazing man.

I would be interested in what the experts say, but I think we didn't have a qb who could make the throws needed at the college level. A college qb needs to be able to throw over LB's and into zones. It seemed like Shough didn't have these throws in his repertoire. A college qb also needs to be able to see these zones and defensive players in game time, game speed. I remember Kellen Clemens and others struggled at this initially so all is not lost. We do need a qb who can put the ball where it needs to be and can see that in real time. For a go to receiver to make catches he needs a qb who can make those throws. I tend to think Kris Hutson could be the guy, but it is hard to tell when our qb's weren't making the throws to expose defenses and show who the go to receiver might be. I think this is what was said about Justin Herbert from day one. He made the throws and could read the defenses. So far we haven't seen the next guy who can do that.

Is Auburn in the hunt?

I am pretty sure most seasoned fans will balk at any talk about a bend don't break defense, lining up way back for the line of scrimmage, or having our DB's play behind the first down markers on 3rd and long. I look forward to hearing the new DC describe his defense. I am even more excited to see what he can do with all of this talent. I just ask that he build, don't break the defense! I am also hopeful the players will excited to play for the guy, probably most important.

My big fear is any of the older guys are going to have flaws, or the new guys generally means, fraught with mistakes. We need another generational talent, or the qb position is going to be an area of weakness. I have to pick our new guy to be the next generational talent, Ty Thompson is our next great qb! I have to say I still like Ashford, so who really knows?

Great point and maybe be straight up with the guy. If you really want to play basketball, you better go after the TE position. We will support you like no other school in reaching your goals, just let us know what they are. You can even be on a NCAA championship caliber Track and Field team at shot put, 3 sport athlete.

Not to worry, if history holds true, we will be doing what Alabama is doing in about 5 years. Alabama will be doing what Oregon is doing is about 5 years. All will be good in about 5 years. As far as Najee, he saw the train wreck we were at the time and never really considered us. Gary Campbell was retiring and we didn't have a chance. We do need a RB coach who can identify and recruit elite college talent. I do like Seven, and Sean, but would defer to what Campbell thought.

What I noticed, last night, is Alabama put in their LB as a fullback in short yardage situations. We have a ready made LB who would be a wrecking ball as a FB. Maybe in the future Cristobal will use our LB in short yardage situations? Maybe we should ask Gary Campbell what he thinks about our RB recruit list. He seemed to be a pretty good judge of talent in the past. This seems to be a big weakness is seeing who is going to have the talent at the next level when evaluating kids at the high school level, when you look at what Mastro has done so far. We need to go after kids Gary Campbell would have, or would. Maybe put Gary on as a consultant, not that he needs the money with his PERS benefits.

If I remember correctly Iaka from SLC was on our recruiting list at one point. He ended up transferring from LSU to Baylor. It seems like we need to get on these big boys again. Time for Big Joe to show us what he can do!

If you are interested in seeing what's available in the transfer portal here is a link. I went into the DT section of this candy store, and there are a couple big boys looking for a new place to call home. Does any position or prospect grab your attention? I would take Georgia's DT, Natori Johnson at 6' 3" 330lbs to help us out for a couple years. Sounds like he had some academic issues and our Jaqua Center could be just what he needs. It is time to fill out our roster for next season, what do we need?

JT Tuimoloau wants to play football at a high level, but he wants more than an opportunity to play on the line. He wants to play basketball, and maybe even on the offense for the football team. What can we offer JT and what is Cristobal doing with his magical abilities as a recruiter? I think he needs to be given the opportunity to play on the basketball team. Arik Armstead was given the opportunity to play on the team and this should be, explicitly, made for JT. I would think it has been. The other thing that would be interesting is to make JT know we want him to play TE too. The guy, as a basketball player, has the hands to be an elite TE. It wouldn't be a stretch to make a commitment to playing him as a two way player. This is what Oregon did with DAT, offer him the ability to play offense. At the time DAT was slotted for playing defense at sc and wanted to play offense, it made the difference. What do you think it would take to get JT in green and yellow? With JT on the line with Thibs, the defense would be formidable and amazing to watch. I also think it would be amazing to see him line up at TE, and maybe as a power forward too!

They're actually pretty good at bowing down, sitting down and, of course, laying down, as shown during last years game.

One of the resources on Fishduck is ChileDuck's depth chart. Go to Fishduck's homepage, go over to the upper right corner, nine little white squares, and click on that. From there go to the 'football repository' and click on that. Then scroll down to Chileduck's updated depth chart. Or click on this https://web.nmsu.edu/~ogden/oregon/depthchart.html There are some other valuable resources there, especially the talent evaluations, too many to name all, which are fun to read.

Somebody will need to rise to the top, but more importantly will need the development to become elite. Seeing Ashford sit at 5th on the depth chart makes me wonder about his development and talent level. I too was very excited about his potential and still am, but we didn't see too much happen with him as a freshman. The question with Ashford sitting at 5th is, can a freshman take over in this program? The good news is Jay Butterfield moved up to 3rd on the depth chart as a freshman. So maybe we look to Butterfield as the guy rising and showing he has what it takes to keep moving up? Butterfield also shows a freshman can makes some noise. Can Thompson make enough noise to rise all the way to the top, should be fun to watch.

I think we live in a society that is, sadly, increasingly less willing to make the sacrifices needed for a civil society. It use to be an honor to serve our country, now lip service is about all we see. During WWII the USA sold $185 million worth of war bonds, at below market rate. Now we just tack on debt, print money, and say we will pay it back. The whole vaccine argument is a microcosm of our country not being willing to do the tough things. We can create amazing things, like the vaccine, but to make it work, too many sacrifices. Even right now we see people complaining about those who are getting the vaccine and those who are not. If you don't like helping others stay safe, stay home. Our society functions because people make sacrifices, end of story. As far as the legal issue Charles spoke of I would love to hear a lawyer take a stab at the legality of blaming somebody of spreading Covid when they also haven't been vaccinated. Do the tough thing, and live with that decision. Again, at what point does personal responsibility start to matter again?

All I can say is that the Covid-19 pandemic has raised the vaccination issue to a whole new level. I side with the fact that it is your right to not get vaccinated, but it is not your right to have all the freedoms a civil society has. Societies have norms and if one of those norms is to be vaccinated to enter Autzen, so be it. Have a well thought out opinion, disagree, agree to disagree, but be part of civil discourse and root for the Ducks. I will also state, Charles, you are pushing expectations by inviting discussion on this topic.

The qb makes all the difference. I mean the qb position is cumulative, in a way no other position effects the team. It can be a multiplier and the team can be much greater than it's parts. The qb position can also be more than merely negative from a mistake or turnover. When a qb doesn't have confidence the team is no longer a team, just a divided group of individuals trying to do their individual best. This is where our team was at the end of the year. We didn't have strong leadership on the field and the mistakes were multiplied by a lack of confidence at the position. So yes Ty Thompson, or somebody else can save Oregon Football by providing strong leadership and skill at the position we didn't see this season develop. I say develop because we may again see mistakes, but how does the qb react, will be the question? We need a qb who inspires, while doing all the little things a qb needs to do. Who that will be is the most exciting question of the coming preseason.

Knowing how to recruit highly touted talent is important. Boise State has always been very good at identifying and developing under appreciated kids. He better not take his eye off what has made BSU successful up to this point. I too wish him well going forward, except for those games against our Ducks!

I think it is great when one of our coaches is up for a move up the food chain. The last thing we want, a bunch of coaches nobody is interested in, and the reason why. Cristobal's job is to put coaches and players in position to succeed. When a program has success putting kids in the NFL, elite talent often follows. When coaches have success meeting their goals, talent follow also. For us fans it all leads to wins on the field and success in the big bowl games!

Love Alliotti, but he isn't the right coach going forward. It is interesting that he is still in the game after retiring from the Oregon staff. Hire somebody from within, if Cristobal thinks they can elevate the program. If not hire somebody who will create synergy and get JTT to commit, pretty simple.

Agree, the job isn't like taking over the Duck defense after Helfrich's tenure. The right choice should have no problem making this group one of the best in the country. I am grateful for what Avalos gave to the program, but the candidates should be making calls, not just taking calls for this job. I can actually imagine the next DC being a guy who actually calls Cristobal and inquires about the job. This would prove his recruiting chops and show just motivated he was to coach at Oregon.

In our scheme and many college programs, TE's mostly block. If you watch the pro game the OC's use them as receivers more often. I will never understand why we don't follow the pro game and get the ball to the TE, one of my pet peeves. Oregon use to think outside the box, maybe we will again and start using our bruisers for more than blocking. Let the TE give some bruises while running with the ball, Mario's dream, right? I still remember watching Dante Rosario and the matchup nightmares he caused, but we rarely got him the ball.

Oregon has a new preferred walk-on with legit, 4.33 40, speed. I love a walk-on, because they come in with something to prove. I also love the little guy with speed, because nobody can stay with the guy. Having big, tall and fast TE is a great threat, but little quick guys are deadly.