Friday evening, the Ducks experienced a blow to their recruiting momentum. Highly-recruited four-star LB Bryce Youngquist committed to the Oklahoma Sooners despite saying in June there was a “90 percent” chance that he would commit to Oregon. This comes on the heels of Oregon narrowly missing on many of their top linebacker targets in the class of 2015. More recently, in addition …
With the departure of linebacker Tony Washington, Oregon’s linebacking corps needs a new leader. Redshirt senior Rodney Hardrick has the ability to become that leader. I met up with Hardrick to discuss what the future of Oregon’s linebackers looks like. Daniel: It is a very young linebacking crew with [Tony] Washington gone. What are the young guys doing in order to get ready? …
With a new season just around the corner, a new Oregon team is about to emerge. The new players are now in the swing of spring practice and the veterans are ready for one final run as Ducks. A new quarterback, offensive line, secondary, and highly-ranked incoming freshmen for various positions are a lot to take in. So here is …
On Monday — March 30 — Oregon will begin its spring practices and the page officially turned from the greatness that was the 2014 season. There are several key story lines to keep an eye on as the Ducks begin preparation for the new football season. The offense often gets the majority of the accolades, and rightfully so, but the …
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out Lost in the excitement of the returning stars and the hope of stars to come is the quiet backbone of any football team. For the most part, these are the guys who didn’t grab the headlines their freshman years. They’ve been in the program for a year or two or three, possibly redshirting, biding their time behind …
What does it take to be a dominant linebacker? Strength, agility, competitiveness and leadership, all of these qualities in combination set the great apart from the journeyman. Additionally, strong linebackers help set the tempo on that side of the ball and become the “glue” of the defense. Oregon redshirt freshman Danny Mattingly is an exciting linebacker ready to contribute this …
Football Recruiting Editorial On the eve of my one-year anniversary with the fine folks of FISHDUCK, the news concerning Chip Kelly’s departure reared its head. As I processed the early morning ESPN text alert, I was strangely at peace with the announcement and similarly to new headman Mark Helfrich, directed my thoughts to February 6th and beyond. While not …
Well… kinda. After a rather stagnant October and November in the Oregon recruiting landscape, the Ducks have recently landed a 4-star stud named Danny Mattingly. Coming out of Spokane, WA, at Mead High School, Mattingly has created the reputation of being an extremely physical and disciplined athlete. He committed to Oregon on Dec 23rd after de-committing from Notre Dame earlier …
Football Recruiting Commitments Christmas came early for Oregon in the form of two verbal commitments coming by way of ultra-athlete Danny Mattingly (3-Star/Spokane, WA/Rivals Top-15LB) and offensive line behemoth Jake Pisarcik (2-Star/Medford, NJ). Mattingly, who wisely dropped an early season commitment to “over-Notre-rated” committed to head Coach Chip Kelly after a weekend visit to Eugene. A 6’5″, 225 lb. athlete …
Football Recruiting Commitments Oregon addressed a position of concern when newly offered linebacker Joe Walker (2-Star/Wilmington, CA) chose to pledge his commitment to head coach Chip Kelly & Co. Walker, a 6-3, 230 lb. west coast junior college standout, is Oregon’s second commit in the 2013 linebacker corps. “I just thought the coaches were honest. I like the players, and …