Haywarduck

I would argue the new era arrived when Leavitt took us from the worst to more than respectable. The problem is that era went on life support until Thibs decided to put the defense on his shoulders and brig it back to life. I will say the new era looks to have legs, lots of legs going forward. With Sewell, and others coming into their own, we can rest assured we won't see, what looked like sudden cardiac arrest, of our once healthy defense. Hopefully we will see a thriving defense throttle the cyclone and become a dominating force in college football going forward. I know I don't need to see such struggles, not good for my heart!

Back in the day the dawgs lost Jstew and now they are losing two of the top, elite, athletes to other states programs. Until they can recruit in state talent they are doomed to continue to be preseason champs and a program that was almost, but never really. Oregon lost some talent to other programs as the Helfrich era unwinded. Helfrich even joked about losing Talanoa cost him his job. Oregon is now getting the instate talent and the CA talent along with other. The article was insightful, but it comes down to recruiting to give a program a chance. Oregon has a chance, the dawgs, not so much. As far as Oregon basketball, the end of the Kamikaze Kids was when Harter didn't sign Danny Ainge. You have to sign big in state talent, or the job of coaching becomes much harder.

Agree, 30 is Ronnie Lee, there is no time limit to the appreciation Oregon should give to the number 30. A mistake to give that number to anyone, I don't care who he is.

Not sure how this new system is working, but posted this the old way and seems the discussion is going on here now. One word, Ngata! Try to kick a field goal blocked (7), block with one guy doesn’t work, run against stuffed, could cover a TE, quietly made everyone better, a lot better at 6′ 5″ 340lbs, and ran a 5.1 40. In 2005, Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, First team All-American, and I would have given him the Heisman. Pretty much what happened to any one man who tried to block him.

There were three players who changed the way I viewed the sport they played and how I live. First was Prefontaine in track and field, not an exciting sport, until Pre. Nobody ran like Pre, you weren't suppose to just go as hard and long as you could, that wasn't done. The next was Ronnie Lee, you weren't suppose to dive after loose balls, that wasn't done. The last was DAT, a guy who could break it all the way on any play, and you could't afford to miss even a minute of the game. These guys along with Phil Knight have made The Oregon Athletic Department famous around the world. The combination of talent and effort of these three guys has defined the way I live and experience sports. I try to give it my all because, as Pre said and lived, to give anything less is to sacrifice the gift that was given you. Ronnie Lee taught me to look for opportunities where few thought there were any, never give up. DAT taught me to always appreciate the talent in others, be grateful for the moment you are in. They were great to me, because they live within me everyday.

I would also take J.T. Tuimoloau as a surprise gift, but a team like LSU has too many DT's and the top DT in the nation coming in. I agree the D we dream of includes a dominant DT.

We need to effectively use the TE's we have first, right? We also have quite a few on the roster and two 4* recruits signed, adding to the total. We don't have any DT's on our recruit list, nor coming on. A dominant DT is a destructive force. With the LB's and Thibs the defense would be even more formidable with a DT transfer, IMHO. If I was a DT sitting behind a few guys, at say LSU, and saw the opportunity at Oregon, it would be of interest.

If you could pick up an elite transfer at one position which would it be? For me some programs have stockpiled the big ugly's, DT's, and it would be interesting to see us pick up an O-line wrecker. We have some talent, but it would be nice to see a little more competition at this position.

Completely agree, and he came in at a big disadvantage with little prep time or knowledge of the system. The offseason will tell which guy has it and don't count out Ashford or Thompson with plenty of reps and prep. I can't make out the next great Duck qb so far, but we will know when we see him. The other item is there is little information coming out of practices at this point. In the past we would hear rumors of a freshman killing it in practice, Herbert, LaMike, but we now hear nothing. Next year will be the time to, again, hear the rumors of the next great talent moving their way through the masses.

Shough and Brown are the short term answers. Who leads us to winning in the bowl game, not sure. The long-term, it is going to be one of the young guns, IMHO. I do think once a guy steps on the field you have a sense of if he can lead the team. The players also get this sense too. Right now nobody seems to be leading the team as we have come to expect. Brown may be the short term answer, but long-term we have an exciting mystery to see unfold. My bet is before next season we see some transfers, and our highly touted freshman beats out the dark horse, Ashford.