We have witnessed it many times as Greybeard-age fans; players who skip their senior season thinking they are NFL talent. Either they wash out, or it simply doesn’t work out for them and you wish they had remained at Oregon to make an impact in their final year for the Ducks. Is this true for Thomas Graham and Deommodore Lenoir? …
If only Saturday’s loss had been to USC, Stanford, or Washington — against one of the Pac-12’s better programs — I’d feel much better about things. I could say that the Ducks are a legit top-25 team, that they scratched and clawed to the bitter end against one the conference’s premier teams, and almost pulled it off. I could say …
On any college football team there is a direct correlation between NFL-caliber talent and winning. Sure, there are extenuating circumstances that explain why a very talented team under-performs – such as injuries, chemistry or coaching. But talent matters; it always has and it always will. The dearth of talent on Oregon’s 2016 football team manifested itself in the 2017 NFL Draft …
As a fan of college football, it’s sometimes easy to get lost in the sheer number of recruits and analyses given by coaches and teams during the off season. It can be hard to sort through the noise when sometimes all a dedicated fan wants to know is who is going to make plays next season. Who is going to be …
I am often surprised by these Spring scrimmages, but this one was for different reasons than you might think; this is a new offense, and the defense is improved and frankly things are progressing faster on both sides of the ball than I anticipated. Oh, sure – after freezing in Eugene last week from big pelting raindrops and hail – …
My friends, this article marks the beginning of a new phase for the site where we are replacing many of our writers with Coaches who write articles and give their opinions about Oregon football. Tomorrow it is an analysis article, while today it is a Coaches’ Opinion article by Coach Ruskin. What you will read are three major observations and …
The recruiting period is over, and now it’s time to analyze and reflect on the 2017 class. Incredibly, in the midst of doubt and scrutiny, coach Willie Taggart and his staff assembled a very respectable class in just seven weeks. It’s no secret that the headline recruits were the defensive ones, and they deserve a lot of recognition. Having young …
No doubt Oregon’s 2017 recruiting class is special and very good. Getting back inside the top 20 after a year outside the top 25, Coach Willie Taggart was able to preserve and add key components to provide necessary depth or immediate impact to compete for starting positions. I love focusing on the defensive side of the ball, knowing that defense …
The sudden yet not totally unexpected firing of former head coach Mark Helfrich means more uncertainty for the Ducks’ 2017 recruiting class. With the Pac-12 North schools of Washington, Washington State, and Stanford all looking stronger, Oregon has to step up its recruiting strategy. The looming question for this Oregon team is what to do about the defense. How does Willie Taggart recruit players to a defense that …
I realize its been about a week since the new head coach was announced at the University of Oregon, but we fans have had his itinerary for him for nearly a month. There are some things that must be covered amongst all the signing of contracts and creating a staff and meetings and photo shoots, etc., etc. Recruiting for the …
Oregon Ducks now have 15 committed players for the 2017 class. They are ranked back in the top 25 and starting to feel normal again. Most of the commitments are outspoken regarding how much they really want to be a part of the Oregon program. This is great news; unfortunately this year has a looming “what if?” that can change …
The Oregon football program has had better moments, but in terms of overall history you don’t have to go back too far to see that we fans had fun enjoying the little wins and nuggets of positive progress for many years. One thing is certain. Recruiting highly talented football players is essential to imminent success. A key to recruiting top …