Just finished up with the portion of practice open to media, about 30 minutes worth of observations. Here are mine:

• Great times to start off practice. Always a big favorite, competition in the 'chutes', narrow lanes made up of pads. One OL and one RB vs one DL. The RB tries to get though untouched.
• Defense seemed to get the better of it today, or at least they cheered more often. I saw Sean Dollars squirt through once, but mostly the defense was able to bottle up the lane. The guys pack in around that drill so tightly you can't see though them to see what is happening exactly, but you sure can feel the excitement
• I'm going to list a few guys who have caught my eye starting with freshman WR JR Waters. It looks like at three stars he was underrated, but the jury is still out. He was running with the third string today along with Mycah Pittman. Yesterday Waters was the first offensive freshman Lamar Winston mentioned when talking about guys he has noticed.
• Freshman safety Jamal Hill, it is only a matter of time until he is a star. Looks almost like an OLB out there at safety...really long. Built nearly like an NFL player.
• I'm going to finish up with three position battles I see shaping up here after five days of fall camp

1. Safety: Juniors Brady Breeze vs Nick Pickett - Great battle, looks like Pickett may have the upper hand but Breeze is definitely holding his own
2. OLB: Senior Bryson Young vs sophomore DJ Johnson - With Johnson now eligible heading into camp, I have no idea which of these two will be the starter. Right now I would say Young but Johnson is coming on.
3. ILB: Soph Isaac Slade Matautia vs junior Sampson Niu - I think ISM will be the starter but Sampson Niu would start for a number of Pac-12 teams.

I'm going to try to do a live broadcast if I can get reception here at the HDC. We'll add that to this thread when it happens. I got some pictures for you today too.

All for now.

Hey AJ,

Wazzup with SS.....I expected big things from him this summer but I haven't heard hardly a thing....

Thanks.

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Too anxious to start his end zone dance.

Like everyone else I am very curious and anxious about Oregon’s offensive scheme and play calling this season. I would love to hear more inside information or anybody’s thoughts about what might make a big difference this season compared to last? Obviously player experience will help.

Why are the Oregon coaches so excited about 2019? Check out the War Room for details; plus some recruiting nuggets.

Wednesday War Room: 8/7/2019

I caught up with Davis for this exclusive interview. Heartfelt stuff talking about Taggart recruiting him then leaving, and his move to CB from WR.

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Just finished up with the portion of the practice open to the media. We had about 20 minutes to observe and here are some thoughts...

• Watching the QB/WR's I really like how Arroyo kept the drills moving. There was not time between the end of one and him hustling them into the next. Very efficient use of time with as little standing around as possible.
  
• They even run two identical QB/WR drills simultaneously in order to 1) maximize reps and 2) able to film twice as many guys with two drills/two cameras
• Great energy from the staff today, and as you know how it goes, it translated to the guys
• I like Jaylon Redd a lot but this is nothing new. He is so quick...I call him the jitterbug. I was watching him after the catch today and his cuts are crazy fast
• Will be interesting to watch the rep distribution around Thibodeaux, Cumberlander, Carlberg, Faoliu and that group. Lots of guys ready to go, should be good depth. I'm excited to see what they can do with a pass rush this year
• Still, I'm concerned with depth at DT/NT. More DE's than DT's even given they are using a base odd front
• This may be too far-fetched but I do not love our three-deep at QB. I love our 1-deep and like our 2-deep a lot. But if it gets to Cale Millen, I don't think he's ready yet. Maybe by the time he's called upon but not now. I also am not sure he has the arm of Herbert or Shough.
• I like what I'm seeing from Isaac Slade-Matautia. He and Dye should be a dynamic tandem in the middle of the defense, protected by Fat Mac in front of them.
• The big bummer news of the day was Coach Cristobal confirmed after practice that Brenden Schooler is out 6-8 weeks with an injury in which he already underwent a procedure. Lots of guys are going to need to step up especially special teams.
  
• All I have for now, may add more as I think of stuff. Moving on to a few photos from today

Great times talking with this studly OT.

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Catching up with the big fella for this exclusive one-on-one

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Talking about his goal of no dropped passes this season in this DSA exclusive interview.

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Okay, I can officially mention this on here.

Back in March, I started exploring the opportunity to return to Oregon. I emailed my boss and we began to formulate a plan. It involved a couple of moves - one by him, one by me. Well, that plan did not work out as expected due to some contract stuff with our customer.

But, earlier this month a different opportunity arose in Oregon that was unexpected. A position that would be considered a second promotion/advancement opened in Oregon. The position is in Madras.

We don't have an exact move date, but it is likely to be within the next ten days that we start heading out.

My wife and I have been discussing this for most of the year (at least since we returned from the Polynesian Bowl). We are going to keep our house here in South Carolina and use it as a vacation house until retirement time when we will spend winters down here and summers traveling around.

Part of this comes down to my mother not being able to drive and needing me closer; but we still have three children in Oregon and my wife misses being around friends/family.

This will also give me more time to focus on doing some scouting; AJ and I plan to go to games this year and do some more of that; being around again will be very beneficial.