The evolution of recruiting has rocked college football. Never have fans been so heavily invested in the lives of high school athletes, tracking their every tweet, interview and lunch stop until they sign their letters of intent. In this recruiting-dominated landscape, it’s easy to forget that acquiring top-tier talent on paper doesn’t guarantee success. So what does this mean for …
Few things excite old-school football purists more than a well executed power run. The simple play encapsulates everything that they believe the game of football represents: strength, toughness, brute force and sheer determination. But there’s more to football than bone-crushing blocks and head-rattling collisions. Someone should tell Mario Cristobal. The Ducks’ coach is still under the flawed belief that straightforward …
Oregon’s all-time leading rusher Royce Freeman finally exhausted his eligibility after the 2017 season. That left the Ducks with the impossible task of replacing him in 2018. With few players on the roster with any experience, and expected starter Tony Brooks-James a questionable fit for Mario Cristobal’s downhill, between-the-tackles rushing attack, the school that has become “Running Back U” entered …
It’s hard to believe that this is supposed to be a relatively quiet time of the year for Oregon recruiting. It’s the evaluation period, so the Ducks are able to send 10 of their assistant coaches to visit the prospects of their choice. Of course, things have been anything but quiet. Top-100 quarterback Jay Butterfield and former top-50 defensive back …
What if I told you that the Ducks aren’t finished adding pieces to their program-best, seventh-ranked 2019 recruiting class? While most of the news has revolved around the Ducks’ 2020 class, an elite 2019 prospect has re-entered the fold. Four-star cornerback* Chris Steele is back on the market, entering his name in the transfer portal after enrolling at Florida earlier …
For a few years, there may not have been another school in the country that had the recruiting reach of Oregon. The Ducks filled up their classes with players from both the Southeast and the Pacific, doing whatever it took to level the playing field with the talent-laden programs east of the Mississippi. Unfortunately, this strategy has ruffled some feathers. …
The spring game was billed as maybe the biggest recruiting event in Oregon history. Top prospects from across the country were courted like kings, as Oregon looked to move back into the upper echelon of the recruiting rankings. ScoopDuck predicted that the Ducks would come out of the weekend with as many as nine new commits, more than tripling the …
This past weekend, the Ducks hosted a bunch of high-ranking recruiting prospects — including an unexpected surprise — in what turned out to be a very eventful couple of days. But this upcoming weekend is even more critical. With loads of premier prospects scheduled to visit, the weekend of the spring game has become one of the largest recruiting events …
There’s a bit of concern surrounding the Ducks’ 2020 recruiting class. Right now, the Ducks rank 33rd in 247Sports’ composite rankings, behind the likes of Iowa State, Boston College and BYU. For a team that ranked in the top 10 in the previous cycle, it seems problematic that the Ducks haven’t even cracked the top 25 in this year’s go …
It was fun, memorable and riveting. But yesterday afternoon, the Ducks’ magical season reached its end. The Oregon women knew that they faced a sizable obstacle, as they faced the best team in the country in the land for a chance to play for a National Championship. Baylor came into the game with only one loss on the season, earning …
Recruiting is a funny business. Many prospects prefer to keep things close to the vest and aren’t comfortable with the media circus that their play draws. Others welcome the limelight and use their high-profile statuses to build their brands and tour schools across the country. Trinity Christian, Tex. cornerback Dwight McGlothern definitely falls into the latter category. Most recruits are …
Winning the Pac-12 Tournament as a sixth seed was improbable. Upsetting fifth-seeded Wisconsin was spectacular. And advancing to the Sweet 16 was euphoric, given the Ducks’ struggles during the regular season. But all of those achievements pale in comparison to the task that the Ducks have ahead of them. The Virginia Cavaliers have become the gold standard for regular-season dominance, …