Tyler Shough has not been as impressive as some fans had hoped. He looks inaccurate at times, he sails passes and struggles mightily under pressure.
Unlike Justin Herbert, who was only criticized before the draft for… inaccurate passing, sailing throws and struggling under pressure. Oh, maybe Herbert was just better at throwing for a lot of yards? Nope, Shough averages 277.8 yards per game while Herbert averaged only 247.9 as a senior. Was Herbert a more efficient passer? Again, no! Shough has a pass efficiency rating for the season of 165, while Herbert’s senior season saw him finish with a 156.8.
Let’s not forget that Shough already has more rushing yards this season than Herbert had in any season of college. That just adds to the indisputable fact that Shough is having a better season passing in his first year starting than Herbert did in his fourth. The two QB’s played in drastically different offenses, with Shough having more opportunities to throw to open receivers than Herbert did, but Shough has nowhere near the offensive line that Herbert had.
Justin Herbert in 2016 as a freshman.
Tyler doesn’t have any running back with the ceiling of Royce Freeman either, while Herbert had Freeman carrying the load on offense early in his career. Also remember that as a freshman, Herbert played on a 4-8 team, and only won two of those games himself while Shough has already won three games his first year as a starter.
After losing to California, in no small part due to the play of Shough, some fans are asking for the young QB to ride the bench next week. I assume the same fans wanted the same decision to be made in 2016 after Herbert threw for 179 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a losing effort to the Washington Huskies. (The Ducks scored only 21 points in a home game that day)
Thankfully the staff didn’t listen, and Herbert got to start in more than one football game…
Ryan Robertson
Yuma, Arizona
Top Photo by Tom Corno
Ryan Robertson is a defense contractor for the United States Marine Corps. A lifelong Duck fan from Grants Pass, he joined the Army out of high school. After four years as an Intelligence Analyst he decided it was time to further his education and pay more attention to his Ducks. One of Ryan’s first memories is of watching the Ducks, led by Joey Harrington, beating up on the Utah Utes in 2001. His grandfather ran track at Oregon in the ‘50s. He loves the Ducks, and has a passionate interest in reading every scrap of analysis centered around the football team.