Fast and Rangy: Oregon Ducks Linebacker – Adrian Jackson

Mike Kelly Talent Evaluation

The Oregon Ducks Football team followed up talented additions to their linebacker corps in 2017 (Isaac Slade-Matautia and Sampson Niu) by signing one of the best linebacker prospects in the 2018 recruiting cycle, Adrian Jackson. Jackson was a four-year player at Mullin High school, a small Roman Catholic prep school in Denver, Colorado. Jackson was a Colorado First Team All-State Selection at …

The Complete Package: Oregon Running Back Travis Dye

Mike Kelly Talent Evaluation

In the 2018 recruiting cycle the Oregon Ducks signed two running backs, one in particular with a very high ceiling. That would be Travis Dye from California’s Norco High, a school with an enrollment of about 2,200 students located in North Riverside county in Southern California. Travis was a three year starter for the Cougars. He was a primarily a wide …

Oregon Ducks Football: The Maturation of Tyler Shough

Mike Kelly Talent Evaluation

The task of recruiting and receiving a commitment from a highly regarded quarterback each recruiting cycle is an arduous process. Keeping said commit in the fold is even harder. After having a commitment from Colson Yankoff only to lose him to the rivals up north, the Oregon Ducks focused their efforts on an Elite 11 quarterback that was committed elsewhere, Tyler Shough from Chandler, Arizona. …

Evaluation: Hard Hitting Strong Safety Steve Stephens

Mike Kelly Talent Evaluation

The Oregon Ducks football team signed one of the best safety tandems in all of college football in 2018 recruiting cycle: Jevon Holland from Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, California, and Steve Stephens from Edison High School in Fresno, California. Although both of these athletes are similar in size and athleticism, we’re going to focus on Stephens in this …

Oregon Ducks Football: Matchup Nightmare H-Back – Spencer Webb

Mike Kelly Talent Evaluation

  The ink is barely dry on the 2018 Oregon Duck recruiting class, considered by some as the second best class in school history and ranked No. 15 in the country by Herald and News, among others. Included in this 24-man class is a handful of elite prospects, among them Christian Brothers High School (Sacramento, California) tight end Spencer Webb. Webb, ranked …

Oregon Ducks Football: The Next “Big Thing” – Steven Jones

Mike Kelly Talent Evaluation

It’s a new day for Oregon Ducks football with the 2018 recruiting class. One area at the forefront of this era is the offensive line recruits who have been signed and/or committed. Gone are the days of the long and lithe men up front who were the staple of the zone-read angle blocking schemes. They’re being replaced by a bigger body …

Oregon Ducks Football: “Tackling Machine” Sampson Niu

Mike Kelly Talent Evaluation

The University of Oregon signed one of the best inside linebacker prospects in all of the 2017 recruiting cycle: Sampson Niu from San Diego, CA. The three-year starter for Madison High School grew up idolizing San Diego Chargers great Junior Seau. In fact, Sampson’s dad Sai played with Seau at Oceanside High School, before his own stint as a linebacker at San …

How Justin Herbert Stacks up Against the Best Quarterbacks

Mike Kelly Talent Evaluation

No position on the football team is as important as the quarterback. Duh… One only has to witness the struggles of the Oregon Ducks offense the past month and a half, and be a part of social media, or not live under a rock to know this. And there has been fan-base debate all over the spectrum as to why …

Great Young Talent at Wide Receiver: Johnny Johnson III

Mike Kelly Talent Evaluation

The Oregon Ducks coaching staff has an eye for talent. Sometimes, that talent comes from the “third wheel” in a very good wideout group at a prominent high school. That is the scenario I wrote about regarding freshman wide receiver Daewood Davis from Florida. Oregon coaches replicated that feat by plucking Johnny Johnson III (JJ3) from Chandler, Arizona during the 2017 …

Premier Defensive Lineman: Austin Faoliu

Mike Kelly Talent Evaluation

New Oregon Football Head Coach Willie Taggart seemed to make a living raiding the commit list of the Arizona Wildcats this past recruiting cycle. First there was the whirlwind courtship and successful commitment of All-World quarterback, Braxton Burmeister, and then he pried one of the best defensive linemen in Southern California Austin Faoliu from the ‘cats. Faoliu played at JSerra …

A Balance of Power and Speed: Running Back C.J. Verdell

Mike Kelly Talent Evaluation

One of the best running backs in the state of California the last three years has been C.J. Verdell of Mater Dei High School in Chula Vista. An all-state first team running back in California (Cal-Hi Sports), Verdell put together an impressive high school career including back-to-back 2,000-plus yard rushing seasons according to MaxPreps. In all, he rushed for 4,855 yards and …